By Andrew Petyak

New Castle News

A month ago, Cody Llewellyn sat in the dull, sterile environment of a hospital room.

The Wilmington High quarterback had a virus that was killing his white blood cells. At first, doctors didn’t know what was wrong with the sophomore, even though he was given three blood tests in three days.

“When I first was told about it, they made it seem like if my fever broke that next day I could play that week, but it didn’t.” Llewellyn said. “Once my white blood cells started to come back up, my platelets dropped really far.”

Llewellyn missed that week’s game against Sharpsville while his platelet count recovered, and the Greyhounds missed him, losing 20-14.

Last Saturday, Llewellyn was in a more comfortable setting.

Under center.

Four yards ahead of him was the goal line. The Greyhounds (now 9-2) were deadlocked in a 3-3 double overtime battle with Greenville (6-6) in the semifinals of the District 10, Class AA playoffs. A spot in the championship game Saturday against Hickory (10-1) was on the line. Crowd noise shook Mihalik-Thompson Stadium at Slippery Rock University as fans of both teams were in full force. In a game that had been dominated by defense and running the football, Llewellyn was starving to make a play.

“We’re hungry. We’re hungry as a team. We’re hungry to win,” he said. “We don’t like losing. It was really exciting. Missing that game against Sharpsville, this was the complete opposite end of the spectrum in moods.”

Llewellyn reached his destination, running to his left and diving into the end zone for the Greyhounds’ only touchdown. Wilmington edged the Trojans 10-9, with Llewellyn as the unlikely hero. His performance earned him Lawrence County Athlete of the Week honors, an award sponsored by Washington Centre Physical Therapy and selected by the New Castle News sports staff.

The play to get Llewellyn into the end zone was an uncharacteristic move for the Greyhounds.

“We don’t run him, he’s not really a runner,” Wilmington coach Terry Verrelli said. “When he’s the only quarterback on the team, you run the risk when you run him that he’ll get injured. Now that we’re in the playoffs and it’s do-or-die, we knew he needs to get in there and contribute a little bit on the running part.”

Llewellyn’s importance to Wilmington was evident during his illness. After missing the game against Sharpsville, Llewellyn returned the following week and reestablished himself as the field general for the ’Hounds’ run-heavy offense. Wilmington won its next four contests en route to the title game against the Hornets at 7 p.m. Saturday at Slippery Rock University.

“We have a good running game, and he controls things. He doesn’t make many mistakes at all,” Verrelli said. “He’s very smart and he’s calm in there, which is an unusual thing for being a sophomore. If he reads, and if somebody is not open, he won’t throw the ball like a young kid would. He tries to get everything he can out of it.”

Mistakes aren’t part of Llewellyn’s repertoire, as he’s only been intercepted once this season, while passing for 569 yards and seven scores.

Controlling the game from the quarterback position was a goal for Llewellyn from an early age. A fan of Wilmington High football since 2002, his commitment to making the team came from watching the Greyhounds win four straight district titles from 2006-09.

“I love being the quarterback,” he said. “I just wanted to be part of the tradition. I wanted to win a district title myself. I’ve been playing since third grade, it’s just something that I love doing.”

In his time away from football, Llewellyn enjoys running, playing video games and shooting hoops. He previously played for Wilmington’s basketball team, but decided to solely focus on football this season. His brother, Zack, played middle linebacker last season as a senior for the Greyhounds.

As a freshman, Cody didn’t get to play much on the varsity team with his brother. Although he was the quarterback for the junior varsity squad, it was clear to the Wilmington coaching staff that he had the talent for the position, but he wasn’t quite ready to start. Llewellyn changed their minds quickly.

“If you would have seen Cody last year as a freshman, our concern to begin this year was he was certainly not ready to be the starting quarterback and expect to have a good team,” Verrelli said. “He wasn’t ready, being that young. But I give him all the credit in the world because he worked hard. He came out all last summer, threw on his own. He’s just done a great job for us.”

*****

THE CODY LLEWELLYN FILE ...

POSITION: Quarterback/linebacker

TEAM: Wilmington

GRADE: 10

KNOWN FOR: Llewellyn’s four-yard touchdown run led Wilmington to a 10-9 double overtime triumph against Greenville to advance to the District 10, Class AA Championship.

PARENTS: Dave and Tracey Llewellyn

FAVORITE PRO PLAYER AND WHY: Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. “I’m a big Oklahoma fan, and that’s where he played in college.”

FAVORITE PRO TEAM AND WHY: Pittsburgh Steelers. “They are the hometown team.”

FUTURE PLANS: “I am planning on attending law school, hopefully. I'd also like to play football in college.”