Page 58 - 2020 Sollenberger

With COVID-19 battle behind him and family, Blue Ridge’s London anticipating big season
By Andy Morales azpreps365.com
P.J. London is set for his senior season with Blue Ridge, but that was not his priority during the break.
Q: You have a very high GPA. Tell us how you’ve been able to keep your studies together and your QB skills intact during the pandemic.
A: My family has always told me to be a student first and athlete second. My parents have helped me learn to manage my time, so when I get to college I know how to manage my day with sports and school. Hopefully, having a 4.4 GPA will help me look better for colleges. While doing online school this spring, I had my brother and sister help tutor me. Both of them graduated from the University of Notre Dame. They are both teachers and have helped me a lot with becoming a better student.
His family fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic, with each family member seemingly taking turns dealing with the serious effects of the disease and various levels of reactions and symptoms. London is happy to be on “this side” of the disease, and for good reason.
Q: Blue Ridge has seen some tremendous success the last couple of years. Can you tell us what you attribute that to and how you view your upcoming season? A: When I was little, I would go watch my dad coach when Blue Ridge was one of the best in the state. I would go to their workouts and watch how hard they worked. I saw exactly what it takes to win championships. My teammates and I have been working hard and are excited for this season. We are all determined to win games.
The Yellowjackets have one of the most storied histories in all of Arizona, with an incredible 15 state championships, including 11 undefeated seasons. The first championship came under Joe Girardi in 1974, and Tom Marsing led the Yellow- jackets to four straight championship appearances before winning it all in 1983, the first undefeated season (11-0) in program history.
Then came Paul Moro.
Moro passed away in January of 2019 with 336 career wins (318 at Blue Ridge), 13 state championships and 10 undefeated seasons with the Yellowjack- ets. The school’s football field was named after Moro that month.
Then came P.J.
The Yellowjackets went from 2-8 in 2016 to 9-3 in 2019 with London throwing for 2,349 yards passing. London (6-3, 202) enters his senior season with 4,614 career passing yards, the most successful total since Blue Ridge’s Bryan Williams graduated in 2007 with 4,172 career passing yards.
We caught up with P.J. London to get his thoughts on Blue Ridge football and the anxious moments he and his family experienced this summer.
Q: Can you give us some insight on what it’s like to play for your father. Did he coach you in youth football or any other sports?
A: Playing for my dad is awesome. I get to spend a lot of time with him. He pushes me hard, twice as hard as everyone else, and I love it. We’ve developed
a great relationship. When my brother was a sophomore, he broke his neck in a practice and couldn’t play football any more. After that, my dad decided to take a year off from coaching high school and coach me in 6th grade. He wanted to make sure that we were being taught how to play the game the right way. Then, he went back to high school after that and has been my coach since freshman year. Also, my dad coaches me in track and during this offseason he had me on a speed and agility workout that got me faster for this season.
Q: Tell us about your experience at the Elite11 QB camp in Los Angeles.
A: I had an amazing time at the Elite 11 camp in LA. I had the opportunity to throw with great quarterbacks and had a fun time doing it. Going against some of the best quarterbacks in the nation really pushed me to do better. I also throw with my QB coach, Dan Manucci, and he’s got me throwing the ball better than ever. When I throw with coach Manucci, I get to throw with (Mesquite’s) Ty Thompson, and we’ve developed a great relationship. Ty pushes me to throw better, and I’m thankful to throw with one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
Q: How is your college recruiting going?
A: My college recruiting has been slow, but with the help of coach (recruiting coordinator) Lou Perrone, my recruiting started to turn up. I was hoping to be able to go to college camps this summer, but, due to Covid-19, I wasn’t able to do that. I’m hoping to have a senior season and be able to have the opportunity to play at the next level.
Q: Can you walk us through your recovery from COVID and how it affected your family? What did you experience? How did you find out? What were the treat- ments like?
A: I think the craziest part of it all was that we took every precaution. We limited where we went, wore masks, sanitized and disinfected, but that goes to show how awful a bug it is. My mom helped my sister move, and we are pretty sure that’s how it started for us. My mom got sick first. She pretty much had every symptom. She had a bad cough, a fever, body aches, loss of smell and taste, and chills. She was sick for eight days, went to the ER, the whole works. It was scary at moments, so I’m really thankful to be on this side of it. I got sick next. I had chills, a light fever, a small cough, body aches, and loss of taste and smell, but for me it came and went in a couple days. My brother got sick after me and had the same symptoms as my mom, as well as having it just as badly affect him.
He was sick for around 10 days, and only this past weekend fully recovered. My dad didn’t have it as bad as anyone in the family. He tested positive, but for him it was just like a sinus infection. In the end, my mom, dad, and brother were all tested and came back positive, and while I wasn’t tested because I didn’t have enough symptoms, I was a presumptive positive. In all, it was a scary experience; there was no treatments we could really do, besides bed rest and staying hydrat- ed. I am so thankful we are all on this side of it, and I hope people understand how scary and powerful the virus is, and it just takes one exposure to get sick.
Moro left the school in 2013, Jake Belshe led the team in 2014 and Bob Lon- don, P.J.’s dad, took over in 2015. London had immediate success with a playoff appearance, but the program just had two wins in 2016.
58
Blue Ridge quarterback P.J. London (middle back with reddish hair), his dad Robert, Blue Ridge’s coach (far right), and other family members battled COVID-19 this summer. Thankfully, the Londons have recovered. (London family photo)