DURING spring training camp in May, Justin Serrette was focused on being a running back.

After all, the Maples Collegiate football player had enjoyed great success at that position last year in the Winnipeg High School Football League. The team made it all the way to the A division final, losing to the Eagles from Dryden, Ont.

"Then, after summer holidays, coach Brown told me he wanted me to play quarterback," says Serrette, 17, who led his team to a perfect 7-0 record in A division play this season. In the league semi-final on Oct. 30, Maples defeated Sturgeon Creek 33-0 to once again advance to the championship game. That will be played this Friday against Miles Macdonell.

Against Sturgeon Creek, Serrette passed for one touchdown and ran for another. He also returned punts and kickoffs in the game.

Coach Dave Brown notes that Serrette played a little bit of quarterback last season.

"He was our leading rusher last season. In the fall, when I told him that I wanted him to switch to quarterback full time, he did so for the good of the team. It was an unselfish thing for him to do," he adds, noting that Serrette is very quick and still one of the league's top 10 rushers. Brown adds that his pivot's pass completion average is 61 per cent.

"But his future (in football) is at running back. He's a hard worker and intelligent player," Borwn says of the 5-foot-6, 157 pounder.

Serrette's brother, Peter, a former Maples and University of Manitoba Bisons football player who is one of Brown's assistant coaches now, first broke the news of the position change to Justin.

"He came up to me after a coaching meeting and smiled and said that I'd better learn how to throw," says Serrette, who's in Grade 12.

"Quarterback is a demanding position. But, it was for the team, so I didn't want to complain."

Besides a strong throwing game, Serrette mixes it up on the ground, too.

"Our whole backfield has been sharing the ball. All three running backs share the load. We know that even if one of our running backs is having a good day, we still share the load. We don't want to be too predictable," says Serrette, who got his start in football six years ago in the North Winnipeg Nomads organization before switching to high school football in Grade 10.

Besides the gridiron game, he also plays the power position for the school's varsity volleyball team, plays badminton, and runs the 100 and 200 metres and the 4 X 100-metre relay in track. He also sings in the school choir.

Serrette states that the only reason he played slotback in his first year with the Marauders was because he was following in his brother's footsteps.

"I look up to him," says Justin. "I'd like to teach and coach, like Peter, someday."

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 5, 2003 $sourceSection$sourcePage