Jason Worilds has a knack for ‘Beamerball’

By Darrell Laurant  |   Wednesday, August 29, 2007  |  Comments( 0 )

Virginia Tech Hokies
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Jason Worilds is Frank Beamer's kind of football player.

He's fast (a high school sprinter), he's aggressive, and he's a monster in the weight room. But best of all for the coach who made "Beamerball" a national catch phrase, Worilds blocks punts.

"He's had a great preseason camp," Beamer said of Worilds, a 6-foot-2, 256-pound redshirt freshman from Carteret, N.J. "He's a talented guy. He's got a burst, and he's got a knack."

Most of the Hokies' signature victories over the past 10 years have featured a key interception, a blocked punt, a sack leading to a fumble. It's their M.O., and Worilds fits right in.

Actually, his breakout year was supposed to be 2006. As a true freshman, Worilds played in two games, making four tackles and recovering a fumble, before injuring his shoulder. He was a granted a medical redshirt, and now he's a rookie all over again.

But a very high-profile rookie. Worilds has blocked two punts in preseason scrimmages, most recently on Wednesday, and come close on a couple of others. In his first August scrimmage, he not only swatted away another punt but stripped the ball from a running back and dashed 57 yards to the distant end zone.

Last year, Worilds played as Jason Adjepong, but he changed his last name to that of his mother during the offseason to honor her. That was one difference from 2006. The other was an inch in height and about 20 extra pounds, none of it fat.

Except for Worilds' still-average height, Beamer couldn't have constructed a better punt blocker from spare parts. Listed as the No. 8 defensive end nationally by Rivals.com in 2005, Worilds doubled as a fullback in high school, rushing for 183 yards and two touchdowns in one memorable outing against Perth Amboy. He was also, as previously mentioned, a sprinter on the Carteret track team, and he tops all the Tech defensive ends with a 35.5-inch vertical leap.

In other words, he has the speed to burst through gaps in punt protection, the strength to bull his way through if there are no gaps, and the finishing leap to take the ball off a punter's foot. And like all good special teams players, he's fearless.

Worilds won't start on defense, at least not at first, but he should work his way into the backup rotation behind Chris Ellis and Orion Martin rather quickly.

And if not, he has other ways of getting attention.
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