Kiski Area’s ‘Hollywood’ Greece set for featured role

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, August 17, 2017 | 10:45 PM

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Sam Albert took one look at Ross Greece and knew which nickname to bestow on his new player.

Hollywood.

“If I looked like him, if I was built like him, forget football — he should be in Hollywood,” said Albert, Kiski Area’s first-year coach, of his blonde-haired senior standout. “I think he’s a movie star.”

And so it became that Greece, an all-conference pick in the Big East 9 last season after starring at running back and linebacker, received the same nickname as Thomas Henderson, a former Dallas Cowboy perhaps most famous for taunting Terry Bradshaw before Super Bowl XIII.

Although Greece didn’t quite know what to make of it, he’s running with it.

“It makes me laugh every time he says it still,” Greece said. “Now my family and all that is calling me Hollywood. It’s like, aw, man. I like it, though.

“He never really told me where it (came) from, but I think it’s me being the man, something like that. That’s how I’m taking it.”

Greece is the word for Kiski Area this fall, and maybe the time, place and motion, too. If the Cavaliers can get their first WPIAL playoff victory in more than a quarter century, Greece likely will play the leading role, particularly after a breakout junior season in which he rushed for 1,044 yards and 13 touchdowns as the team’s workhorse in the backfield.

“If you block for just a little bit, maybe a second or two, he can find his own hole,” senior lineman Kadin Harden said. “He knows where to go.”

To put his breakout in perspective, Greece rushed for 74 yards in 2015. He more than doubled that total in the first game last fall, with 156 yards in the season opener at Canon-McMillan. Then he carried nine times out of 10 plays and scored the winning touchdown against Franklin Regional two weeks later, part of a 146-yard performance.

“(After that) I was like, ‘This is my year to shock the world,’ ” Greece said.

After a four-game winning streak put Kiski Area on top of the Big East 9 Conference midway through the season, however, the Cavaliers’ success came crashing down. They dropped their final five games, including four in conference play, to miss the playoffs entirely.

With an inconsistent passing game, opposing defenses could turn their full attention to shutting down “Greece Lightning.”

“I think that was part of the struggle,” Greece said. “They kind of put too much pressure on me that we didn’t give our other players a chance to show off, so teams keyed off on me a little bit. So I think that’s why we struggled down the line as well.

“But I love having that role, that responsibility that coaches want to trust me (to) make the big plays and do all that kind of stuff.”

In anticipation of shouldering a heavy load again, Greece dedicated himself to strength and conditioning in the offseason. Working with trainer Ryan O’Toole, also Kiski Area’s strength and conditioning coach, Greece added about 15 pounds of muscle to his frame.

“He’s as good as I’ve seen in his position,” Albert said. “I’ve coached some great running backs, great defensive kids. He’s as good as I’ve seen. What I’m pleased about is when one of your best players is also your best worker in the weight room, on the field, that makes it so much easier. When you get people like Ross Greece, he’s a great role model for the younger kids because I’ve got to throw him out of the weight room. He doesn’t want to leave.”

Greece is taking a different role on defense this fall, moving from his safety position to linebacker in Albert’s attacking 3-4 defense. He had 52 tackles and two interceptions at safety last season.

Although he said learning new instincts represented a challenge, Greece is taking to the position switch. Edinboro offered him a scholarship after seeing him play linebacker at a Pitt camp this summer, and other Division II and Football Championship Subdivision schools are showing interest.

“At safety, I was the leader of the defense. I’ve been leader of the defense since my freshman year,” Greece said. “But now, moving to outside linebacker, it’s going to be a challenge because I’m not making all the adjustment calls, so I just get to play and focus on my position.

“I’m excited for that. I feel I’ll get to take advantage of that and actually get to play more aggressive on defense and get those tackle records up. I’m trying to get after the quarterback, make big plays in the backfield.”

Greece eventually may become a star under Hollywood lights. For now, it’ll be stadium lights.

“He’s the real deal,” Albert said. “He’s good, and we just pray that he stays healthy.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Kiski School