By John Raffel
Spence DeMull remembers what it was like to not win the Division 6 state football title in 2014.
When he gets healthy this fall, DeMull hopes to have the opportunity to help Ithaca return to its state title-winning ways.
The 6’1″, 175-pound senior wide receiver and safety earned all-state honors last year and was expected to play a huge role for the 2015 Yellowjackets. Unfortunately, he tore his meniscus during a summer 7-on-7 camp and won’t be able to play until late in the regular season. It was obviously a major disappointment for DeMull.
“In the meantime, I’ll be working on keeping my upper body in shape and waiting until I get my knee all healed, make sure rehab is good, and make sure I’m 100 percent,” DeMull said. “I plan on playing, hopefully by week 7, and start at receiver. I don’t know if I’ll start at safety at the start. I’ll start at receiver, and hopefully we can make it at the state championship this year.”
As a second-year varsity player last year, DeMull was impressive. He had 66 catches and more than 1,100 yards. “I thought it was pretty good,” he said. “I had a good quarterback, and he got me the ball in the right situations. Overall, I thought my overall performance was pretty good.”
His jumping abilities and his hands helped DeMull become an all-state receiver.
When he returns from his injury, DeMull hopes to be an improved blocker.
But he just wants to help the team return to state championship status.
“Last year, we had a very young team full of juniors,” he said. “We made a good run at it. We gave it our best shot. A couple of things didn’t go our way in the state game. We overcame a lot of obstacles and made it to the state championship.”
Leadership will be a key team strength, DeMull indicated.
Beyond high school, De Mull is looking at college football or basketball.