Today’s interviewee is Pope wide receiver John Stuetzer, who had nine receptions for 246 yards and five touchdowns in last week’s 65-42 loss to Cherokee. Stuetzer also racked up nine catches for 266 yards and five touchdowns the previous week in a win against Dunwoody. He leads the state in receiving yards and is tied for second in touchdowns. The senior is committed to play baseball at Florida State. Pope plays Sprayberry tonight.
1. How have you been so successful this season? What do you do that makes you hard to defend? “I think what makes me so successful is just trusting my teammates and playing as hard as I can. And playing the way I have been my whole life, kind of just trusting what I do. I think my skill set is obviously my speed, but I like improving on the jump ball. I think that’s one of my best strengths for sure. I think [these games] show me that I am only getting better because I am off to a better start than I was last year.”
2. What’s it like to see your name in these rankings? Do they give you confidence? “Yes, I mean, it is a goal. It’s awesome. It’s great seeing work being paid off. But it’s only the first two weeks, and I see myself staying in those rankings through the next couple. They do [give me confidence], a lot. The people that I’m playing aren’t on the leaderboards, and it just kind of shows me where I am at compared to everyone else.”
3. Has baseball always been the focus for you as opposed to football? Are you considering trying to be a dual-sport athlete at FSU? “Football was actually my main sport until my sophomore year. I’ve always wanted to play college football until I started getting looks in baseball, and then I switched over. And now, I just play football for fun. The success in baseball feels a lot better than the success in football. And I’m a big competitor, so it’s something that I thrive in. I had a long talk with my head coach about staying with baseball and not playing football anymore. But all the college coaches I talked to for baseball, every single one of them, told me that they love dual-sport athletes, so I stuck with it. And it’s only going to help me with baseball. Tracking a ball in center field is easier for me because I track down the route all the time from the quarterback. I’m going to stay with baseball because I have a bigger future in baseball than I do football. But if Florida State football reached out, then I would maybe consider it. I’m going to try to reach out and try to put my name out there.”
4. What is it like to have a very successful game personally, but still lose as a team? What makes you keep coming back to play when you could have just stuck to baseball? “For me, I still don’t feel satisfied having good games because I don’t like to lose. So when we lose, it feels the same as if I were to have no touchdowns or no receiving yards. If we win and I don’t play as well, it feels a lot better than having five touchdowns and 300 yards, or something like that. I’ve played with these guys since second grade, and they’re my best friends, and they’re who I hang out around every single day. I wouldn’t do that to them. They mean too much to me. We support each other. We have each other’s backs, and it’s a lot of fun for our last year – one last ride.”
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