Former West Catholic standout Jake Zuzek leads Navy into the Linc on Saturday against Army. Photo by Jesse Simmers/contrastphotography.com

Like many standout high school football players, former West Catholic offensive lineman Jake Zuzek had several opportunities for his future put on his table.

The Aston, PA native chose go to the Naval Academy to become an officer and play football for the Midshipmen.

The experience has been much more than he thought it could ever be.

Last year, as a sophomore, Zuzek became the starting right guard.

His overall performance plus some truly heads up plays had an impact on the success of the season for Navy (7-4) including the the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy which is awarded to each season’s winner of the American college football triangular series among the teams of the United States Military Academy – Army, Navy and the Air Force.

Against Air Force in overtime Zuzek recovered a fumble in the end zone for the winning touchdown. Against Army in Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field, Zuzek recovered another fumble to keep a key drive alive as the Midshipmen beat Army 17-13 and a earned trip to the White House and an audience with President Obama.

This year Navy has logged another winning season, possibly another Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and a another bowl game.

On December 30, 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas the Midshipmen take on Middle Tennessee in the  Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.

The  success Zuzek has enjoyed was not something he admits he could have foreseen.

“It’s not the way I expected it to be,” Zuzek told Footballstories recently. “Unless you’re a big time recruit and expected to  start right away…I was not that type of player, it was more like something I hoped would happen.”

Having said that, Zuzek said he did not  let any individual plays change how he approaches his role on the team. In fact, the team is just about  the only thing Zuzek would talk about when plays or success were brought up.

“It’s all of us just doing our job,” said Zuzek, who is listed at 6-foot-0, 310 pounds. “Everybody’s got a job on the team…you just do it. I don’t look at what I do personally as long as the team wins, you’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do.”

What he and his teammates do year-round is work on their conditioning, and for a lineman that means many hours in the weight room.

Zuzek says he has a routine he does whether  he is training at the Naval Academy on Annapolis, MD or at Summit Sports in Villanova on his rare trips home.

Last year Zuzek recorded a bench routine for the ages.

Starting at 405 for reps, he ended the session with a  50o-pound bench press that was clean and done raw, not even a weight lifting belt. Some said it was a Navy team record, Zuzek wasn’t sure but hoped gaining that kind of strength would help him become a better player.

“I don’t know if it is a record or not, but I did it at Summit,” Zuzek recalled. “As a team we lift twice a week…it’s not about maintaining, it’s about getting stronger throughout the season. We have a great weightlifting program here over the summer.”

Naval Academy cadets on the football team are allowed to go home for two weeks over the summer., but most choose to stay in Annapolis and train.

“A lot of guys choose to stay here,” Zuzek said. “And make themselves better for the season. A lot of people use less than the two weeks and decide to stay here. I live close so I can still go home on weekends but still stay here to get more workouts in.”

Navy plays a tough independent schedule that includes schools from the Big 10, the ACC and Notre Dame. All have lineman they face are taller, bigger and stronger that the Naval Academy can sign.

Yet the Midshipmen always hold their own regardless of the opponent. Against the Fighting Irish this year, Navy almost pulled off a major upset before losing 38-34.

Zuzek talked about the challenges playing line for Navy and how they deal with them.

“I’d say for us here, it’s a little bit of both strength and technique,” said Zuzek, who informs he will have to lose weight after he is done playing to comply with Navy standards. “Obviously we’re not the strongest in the NCAA, we’re not the best in technique either. I think the offensive here at Navy  has to find a happy medium between their strength and their technique.

“I’d say our weight is the big  difference too,” Zuzek continued. “I think I am the only offensive lineman playing right now that is over 300 pounds.”

Zuzek said coming to the Navy has opened his eyes to what the Naval Academy can offer him and  his future.

Yes he would love to still dream about the NFL but at some point a young man has to make life decisions.

Zuzek listed two former Eagles whose careers he followed because they made NFL rosters and were only about six-feet tall, his  height.

Center Nick Cole lasted five seasons in the NFL- all with the Eagles and  former Penn State standout center A.Q. Shipley , who has bounced around the league for about five years with Pittsburgh Steelers, the Eagles, the Indianapolis  Colts, and now with the Baltimore Ravens.

“It’s always been a dream of mine but sometimes you have to look at reality,” Zuzek said. “I look at the school where I’m at. I signed up for something that bigger than anything you can think of.”

Every summer, all Navy cadets have the opportunity to explore the various paths they can follow for  their five-year commitment after graduation.

“A lot of people don’t decide what they want to until the very end,” said Zuzek, who still attends West Catholic games when he can and keeps up with results on Twitter. “Some people say they want to get out after five years. But they get out on the fleet and they love the job they do, they love what they are doing for their country and they decide to make a career  out of it. It really varies from person to person how things are going to work out.”

For now it’s the Naval Academy for Zuzek and playing football in front of packed stadiums, like the one he will again play  at in Philadelphia December 14 at the Linc.

“Every week it is a great experience that I dreamed of when I was a kid,” Zuzek said. “This is what I worked for. You want to play D-1 football but with the Navy you also get a great education.”

And a few incredible dreams.