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By Travis L. Pickens, January 7, 2009

Last updated: Wednesday, January 7, 2009 5:29 AM EST

Tyler Shover wasn’t always this driven.

Throughout his exploits in youth sports and into junior high, Shover didn’t need to put in a lot of work off the field to be one of the best athletes on any given day.

All Shover had to do was show up, put the pads or the mitt on and play ball. The rest took care of itself.

That is, until junior high ended and Shover stepped onto the football field with the juniors and seniors.

“My first year of football I saw how I had to become motivated to be better,” said Shover, who polished off a two-year stint as Camp Hill’s quarterback with a 17-8 record and an appearance in the District 3 Class A final this fall. “I was always motivated in junior high and took it seriously but (conditioning) wasn’t too important compared to varsity.”

Shover’s first year playing with the big boys was spent on the defensive line. After taking his lumps and paying his dues, Shover stepped under center for his junior year and led the Lions to an 8-4 record and a spot in the district semifinals where Camp Hill lost to eventual state champion Steelton-Highspire.

Shover accounted for an eye-popping 71.7 percent of the Lions’ offense that year and was named The Sentinel’s Player of the Year on offense.

As a senior, Shover led the Lions a step further before being derailed by the Rollers, who limited the quarterback to 176 total yards, his lowest output of the season.

Despite that game, Shover still rolled up an impressive 3,430 yards of offense, good for 81.5 percent of the team’s yardage, to garner his second Player of the Year honor. Near the end of December, the Associated Press honored Shover as the Class A first-team all-state quarterback. Shover wasn’t the only Camp Hill player the Associated Press recognized as senior wide receivers Jordan Weber and Trevor Polly were first- and second-team selections, respectively.

As a senior, Shover led the area in passing yards with 2,462, led the team in rushing yards with 968 and totaled 44 touchdowns — 24 passing and 20 rushing.

“The biggest thing I saw was that he grew so much from his junior to senior year,” said Weber, who had a banner year of his own with an area-best 898 receiving yards, 543 rushing yards and 17 total touchdowns and is The Sentinel’s first-team all-purpose back. “Last season he got flustered like any first-year quarterback would. If he made a mistake he put his head down. This year he was the one picking up anybody when they made a mistake.

“When I fumbled against Middletown, he was the first one to come over and say, ‘Forget it, I need you to do this.’ His maturity has grown over the last two years.”

Winning a state title will do that for a person’s confidence.

In June, Shover was the catcher — he also served as coach and uncle Brad Shover’s No. 3 pitcher — on Camp Hill’s first state baseball championship team since 1999 and carried that momentum into the American Legion season where his Enola team captured the county title.

That success transferred to the gridiron where Shover’s new mental outlook was obvious.

“I think for his personal psyche, winning the state baseball championship did a lot for him in terms of confidence,” Camp Hill coach Frank Kindler said. “I think the difference was, when he made mistakes last year he got down on himself a little more. This year, he had mostly good games but accepted the fact that things won’t always go your way and he was able to bounce back.”

“Having those two things under my belt (state championship and county legion title) helps with pressure in a game and knowing how to play a game,” Shover said. “After we won the state title some of the legion guys said I know how to deal with a big-game atmosphere.

“Some of the football players asked me about the experience and I think I was able to help them play the game better.”

What gets lost in translation is the fact that the long legion season sometimes interfered with the preseason football preparations.

Shover, Matt Spiegel and Seth Crossley were members of the Enola legion team that advanced deep into the postseason and thus started to step on the toes of football.

But Kindler and his staff worked with the baseball players during the hectic time.

“We’re not lunatics when it comes to this stuff,” Kindler said. “If you miss (a workout), you miss. It’s not the end of the world.

“Tyler did a good job (with the two sports) and knew once summer hit, football was the main priority.”

Now that football is over, the focus is back to baseball, the sport Shover hopes to play at West Virginia University.

Over the next month or so, Shover will spend his time lifting weights and working his hardest to be bigger, stronger and faster for the next season.

“Everyone likes a little more free time,” Shover said, “but I’m doing what I like to do, playing football and baseball.”

And this fall, Shover played a lot of football. Camp Hill boasted a mere 23 players on the varsity roster, which meant everyone had to play both ways.

On defense, Shover played free safety and sometimes doubled as an extra linebacker when Kindler, also the defensive coordinator, moved eight men into the box to stuff the run.

It’s likely that even if Camp Hill had more than 23 available bodies, Shover would have been out there on defense.

“This year he was a huge part of our defense,” Kindler said. “It’s a big deal for a quarterback to play both ways and it takes a lot out of him. I think all of our kids are in good shape but it’s just a tribute to his toughness.

“Tyler’s a funny kid and knew people would try to hit him so he took pleasure being able to play defense and hit them. It was a payback thing, which is how he thinks and that’s great.”

All-Sentinel Football

First Team Offense

Player of the Year – Tyler Shover, sr. quarterback, Camp Hill

Quarterback – Jake Zeigler, sr., Mechanicsburg

Running back – Mike Frenette, sr., Cumberland Valley

Fullback – Travis Mease, jr., Carlisle

All-purpose back – Jordan Weber, sr., Camp Hill

Wideout – Ryan Aumiller, sr., Northern

Wideout – Trevor Polly, sr., Camp Hill

Tight end – Billy Phillipy, sr., Trinity

Offensive line – Ethan Mengle, sr., Cumberland Valley

Offensive line – Brandon Morris, sr., Cumberland Valley

Offensive line – Nick Kindler, sr., Trinity

Offensive line – Antonio Myers, sr., Northern

Offensive line – Tyler Bullock, sr., Mechanicsburg

Kicker – Andrew Reiersen, sr., Cumberland Valley

Second Team

Quarterback – Nate Rhodes, sr., Cumberland Valley

Running back – Tarik Leftenant, jr., Mechanicsburg

Fullback – Tank Miller, sr., East Pennsboro

All-purpose back – Dan Yenger, sr., Red Land

Wideout – Josh Shearer, jr., Susquenita

Wideout – Brandon Varner, jr., West Perry

Tight end – Matt Lengel, sr., Cumberland Valley

Offensive line – Matt Couch, sr., East Pennsboro

Offensive line – Josh Myers, sr., Big Spring

Offensive line – Todd McMillen, sr., West Perry

Offensive line – Chuck Turner-Diaz, sr., Camp Hill

Offensive line – Garret Breon, sr., Boiling Springs

Kicker – Jake Warner, jr., Northern