Posted: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:50 PM - 10,147 Readers
By: Danny Davis
In the past two high school football seasons, Preston Dewey got used to watching Westlake's rivalry game with Lake Travis from afar.
As a backup quarterback on Westlake's varsity team, Dewey stood on the sidelines as Tanner Price led the Chaparrals against the Cavaliers defense. He threw three passes against the Cavaliers as a sophomore, but his stat sheet was left blank after last season's 42-21 loss.
On Saturday, Dewey isn't going to play against Lake Travis. He won't be on the Westlake bench, either. Instead, Dewey will watch the game from the Royal- Memorial Stadium stands, with other Chaparral fans.
He is no longer a member of the program. This summer, after two seasons as a backup, Dewey transferred to St. Andrew's.
"I've been watching Westlake football since I was five years old," Dewey said. "It was a tough decision for me and my family but ultimately it was the best decision for me."
At Westlake, Dewey was never the top quarterback. He made varsity as a sophomore but wasn't able to unseat Price, who is now at Wake Forest University.
A season after Price threw for 22 touchdowns and more than 2,600 yards , Westlake decided that junior Lewis Guilbeau would be the better fit for Westlake's run-first offense. Dewey, a senior, would be relegated to backup duty for a third straight season.
"I just wasn't a good fit for that," Dewey said. "I wanted to be the starting quarterback at Westlake but I've got to be realistic."
So he made his decision to transfer.
Dewey initially considered moving to live with relatives in another city so that he could enroll at another public school. His father, however, had a mutual friend with Ty Detmer, who was hired to coach St. Andrew's in December.
The chance to play for Detmer — a former Heisman Trophy winner who spent 14 years in the NFL — sealed the deal for Dewey. He announced his intention to transfer to the Westlake Picayune in July.
Dewey will take his first snaps as a Crusader on Friday against Stony Point. But instead of trying to figure out a Stony Point defense that features Oklahoma commitments Jordan Wade and P.L. Lindley, Dewey will try to dissect the Tigers' junior varsity team.
The St. Andrew's schedule — which also features non-district games against Eastside and Regents — is one of the differences that Dewey will notice at his new school. His old school will play Lake Travis, Pflugerville and New Braunfels during the first five weeks of the season.
Westlake went 13-3 last season and went to the Class 5A, Division I championship game. St. Andrew's has won a combined 12 games during the last six seasons.
Westlake will play five home games at a stadium that can host more than 10,000 fans. The stands at the St. Andrew's stadium can likely seat a few hundred people.
"It's definitely a lot different," said Dewey .
However, one advantage of playing at St. Andrew's is that Dewey will get to play under the tutelage of one of the best quarterbacks in the history of college football. Detmer was the starter at BYU for three seasons and threw for more than 15,000 yards and 121 touchdowns . He broke 59 NCAA records, won the 1990 Heisman and had his jersey retired by the school in 2007.
Detmer was picked in the ninth round of the 1992 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers, and was primarily a backup for the next 14 seasons.
"(It's a) pretty cool deal playing for an NFL quarterback and one of the greatest college quarterbacks of all time," Dewey said. "I've learned a lot from him in my short time here and I'm sure I'm going to learn a lot more."
Because of Southwest Preparatory Conference rules, Dewey will be granted an additional year of eligibility and will enter this year as a junior. Detmer said that St. Andrew's typically does not want players to transfer in for just their senior year, and "academically it makes more sense for him to come in as a junior."
The additional year could give Dewey more opportunities to be seen by college scouts and more time to help turn around a program that didn't win a game last season.
Dewey won't be on the field this weekend as Westlake tries to end Lake Travis' 46-game winning streak. He won't be part of a team that is trying to make its fifth state championship game appearance in 11 years.
Instead, he'll wear a new number, at a new school, with a new tradition. And he's fine with that:
"I just want to play."
