McGee a burgeoning star as QB, chef

HAMMOND -- In the high-profile, pressure-packed world of high school football, survival hinges on one thing: if things get too hot, will you stay in the kitchen?

And perhaps no Northwest Indiana quarterback has had more success based on that motto than Hammond's Antwion McGee.

Only a sophomore, he already has surpassed his peers by staying cool, no matter what temperature the oven might be.

Oh, and he's a pretty good quarterback, too.

Confused? Give us a minute and we'll explain.

For starters, McGee, who leads Hammond into a Class 4A sectional semifinal rematch with Morton on Friday, is one of the best young players in Northwest Indiana.

He's passed the ball for 1,140 yards and 18 touchdowns while rushing for 376 yards on 86 carries, scoring eight more times.

"I learned that you can't give up during games," said McGee, who has even caught two passes this season. "You have to stay tough out there."

His surprising play is part of a recipe for success for the Wildcats, who have a three-game winning streak heading into Friday.

"He's a hard worker," Hammond coach Robert Robinson said. "He goes to camp to make sure he works on things he knows he has to get better at. He's grown from the first day of practice till now and he's been magnificent. He's becoming the leader that we need on this football team."

There are other ingredients for McGee's success: add a pinch of one the strongest arms in the region with a dash of foot speed, then season with good genes (his cousin is Louis Willis, the super-successful starting quarterback of last year's Wildcats team) and -- voila! -- you have a kid who can really cook on the field.

And off of it, too.

Like waffles made from scratch? McGee's your guy. How about a nice omelet with bacon and eggs? No problem.

How about a breakfast skillet that includes eggs, cheese, bell peppers, onions, sausage, and bacon? Coming right up, from the quarterback whose mom says has been a fan of cooking since his early years.

"He's been doing that since he was 7 or 8 years old," said McGee's mom, Cassandra McClendon, who says her oldest son watches the Food Network as much as football on television. "Every time I would go into the kitchen, he would sit on a stool and watch me cook."

And according to McClendon, her son learned his lessons well.

"As a 16-year-old, being able to cook and throw that football the way he does, he throws down both ways," she said. "I'm amazed at what he can do."

McGee's most amazing dish of the season? How about the way he cooked Clark on Oct. 17, throwing for 305 yards and five touchdowns on 18-of-35 passing as the Wildcats defeated the Pioneers 32-26 in overtime. A 6-yard bull's-eye to Daron Houston was the icing on the cake for Hammond, which enjoys a 7-3 record.

"I think he's one of the best in the region," Houston said. "For him to be this young and doing this well in his career makes him one of the best. He's just like his cousin. They play about the same way except Antwion is a little more accurate."

As with most quarterback-receiver combinations in their first year, Houston is still adjusting to his quarterback. But not the way you might think.

"I read that he wanted to go to a school for cooking and it tickled me so bad because he doesn't look like a cook to me," Houston said. "It made me look at him in a whole different way."

There are some changes McGee's coach says he wants to see from his quarterback, whom he doesn't want to see be a galloping gourmet.

"Sometimes he has happy feet back there and he'll rush his throws a little bit," Robinson said. "I think once the game slows down for him, he'll be able to plant his feet and deliver the ball the way we need him to. But that will come with maturity."

Come Friday, McGee will have to grow up fast. The last time Morton and Hammond shared a football field, it wasn't pretty for the Wildcats. With pre-game trash-talking turning the temperature up on an already heated rivalry, Morton throttled Hammond 63-8, with both McGee and Houston knocked out of the game in the second quarter because of injury.

"I felt bad because it was a bad loss," McGee said. "But I knew we would see them again in the sectionals."

And to stay with the red-hot Governors, who have won four of their last five, scoring 50-plus points against Gavit and West Side, the Wildcats defense has to keep the Morton offense off the field and their own best offensive weapon on it.

Sticking with that game plan could allow Hammond and Chef Antwion to cook up what they hope will be a Friday night special dish for the Governors: Revenge. Served cold.

"We changed our offense scheme about three weeks ago and now we run a spread offense," Robinson said. "We're spreading our four or five receivers out there and Antwion is pretty good at reading the defenses and finding the open guy. We've got some good things going here so we'll be ready for them."