Air Force Academy – Adam Fitch has found another niche on the Air Force football team. This time, the appropriate nickname might be “Cat Man” – the senior quarterback has seemingly had nine lives trying to get onto the field.
His latest role, heading into Saturday’s game against San Diego State, is as the engineer of a special offensive plan coach Fisher DeBerry hopes will shock opponents. DeBerry sends in his entire second team offense, led by Fitch, when the team needs a lift.
It certainly worked in Saturday’s 20-17 comeback victory over Washington.
“My job is to create a spark if I can,” Fitch said. “It’s no big deal for me to come off the bench.”
That’s what Fitch did against the Huskies, when DeBerry surprised everyone with a two-quarterback game plan. After his first appearance in the second quarter ended with a fumble at the Washington 26-yard line, Fitch got another chance in the second half. That’s when he and receiver Greg Kirkwood teamed up on an 84-yard touchdown pass that got the Falcons back in the game at 17-13. Starter Shaun Carney came on to drive the Air Force offense 83 yards for the winning touchdown, which came with 34 seconds remaining.
DeBerry is determined to keep giving Fitch opportunities.
“I think you’ll see it sometime in every game,” DeBerry said. “The purpose is to change the tempo and the pace. We had about 157 yards of offense from that phase. Adam brings a lot to the table. He knows how to run our offense. We’re not calling plays. He’s in control of the game.”
The only question is when he will be called upon. Judging by Saturday’s game, that might be anywhere on the field. DeBerry sent Fitch in during the second half with Air Force at its 1-yard line.
“I feel comfortable going in whether we have the ball on the 10-yard line or the 1-yard line,” Fitch said. “But Shaun’s the guy. He’s always been the guy. We go in to give the ones (the first team) a rest and make the defense react quickly.”
About his substituting, DeBerry said, “I think we built some pride on our second unit. They showed that they could be just as effective as the first unit. You build good morale when more players get into the game.”
Carney said he was inspired by Fitch’s showing.
“It put us in a mind-set that it was time for the rest of us to get the job done, too.”
San Diego State coach Tom Craft said he isn’t concerned about how DeBerry uses his quarterbacks.
“We defend their offense,” Craft said. “We don’t defend a person. Their two quarterbacks are similar.”
For Fitch, it’s a fitting way to end what has been a frustrating career.
Two years ago, he was an unknown backup when the Falcons played at Northwestern. Starter Chance Harrington got ejected for fighting, however, and Fitch directed Air Force to a come-from-behind 22-21 victory. A year ago, he suffered an Achilles tendon injury in spring ball that cost him most of the season. He started late in the year in a 31-22 victory at Army.
This past spring, he was moved to halfback, gained some extra weight to play the position, then was moved back to quarterback during practice when junior reserve Luke Ewing was injured.
Now he’s back in the game plan.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
