Goforth to Waterloo
The start of Tyler Goforth’s football career can be traced back to when he was in Grade 8 at Kate S. Durdan Public School in Niagara Falls.
He was playing in an elementary school basketball tournament at Myer when Myer football coaches, Jamie French and Dave Buchanan, came up to him and told him he should come to the high school and play football.
Goforth decided he would do just that and he walked away from AA travel hockey and a sport he had been playing since he was three to focus on football. He clearly made the right choice and validation of that came Tuesday when he signed to play Ontario University Athletics football with the Waterloo Warriors.
The 5-foot-10, 150-pound quarterback had interest from a couple other schools down east but it was Waterloo that was most interested in his services.
“Waterloo has been the main communicator,” the 12B student said.
It was an easy choice for Goforth to sign with Waterloo.
“Arden (Myer teammate Martinez) just signed there too. They have a really good program and their coaches are very involved. We have a relationship already and it’s not going to be completely new.”
Goforth is not new to the quarterback position but this was the first year he got to start at that position at the senior high school level.
“It is pretty exciting to get the opportunity to play at the next level as a quarterback because there has been a lot of on and off, especially last year learning from Drake (Somerville),” he said. “My experience is limited compared to other quarterbacks around here.”
He feels he made great strides this past season.
“I grew a lot. Coming into my first actual year of playing at that level as a quarterback, I was a bit nervous but we got a couple preseason games in and I calmed down. I learned the plays, I learned how to read defences and stay calm in the pocket.”
He is looking forward to taking the next step in his progression at quarterback.
“Hopefully I can put some size on. I have been trying but I have to keep eating and I am working out a lot. Hopefully that will put some size on. When I go in the summer to their training camp, I just have to be ready to compete because it’s going to be tough, They have some good quarterbacks already.”
His goal for his freshman year is simple.
“It’s to learn the playbook and get comfortable with it so hopefully by second year, when I am competing and get put in a game, I will know what to do and I will be ready to take that opportunity.
He is planning to major in health sciences.
Waterloo head coach Chris Bertoia was delighted to have Goforth sign on the dotted line.
“He is a gamer and a pretty refined quarterback. He has worked on his craft and his skill and that has been shown and validated in his film and his productivity on the field,” he said. “His completion percentage in a high-end passing offence is what stands out to me.”
There were many other things Bertoia also liked about Goforth.
“He has great leadership skills and a great work ethic. It’s another case of people overlooking him based on his size but we are certainly going to give him an opportunity to come in and compete at the quarterback spot.”
Myer offensive coordinator Dan Pepe is going to miss Goforth’s play and leadership.
“Everybody can see that he is a very dynamic player but as a leader, he is quiet but he knew when to speak and the players reacted really well to him. They guys would run through a brick wall for him.”
Pepe watched Goforth improve every game.
“By the end of the year, I thought he had full command of the offence. He had a lot of success.”
The Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Tier 1 offensive MVP was able to beat teams with his arm and his legs.
“Not only that, but he has got very good eyes. He sees the field well and the game is not too fast for him. He has a really good feel for the speed of the game,” Pepe said.
He expects Goforth to continue to get better.
“It is going to be getting familiar with a new playbook. He has all the physical tools to be very successful. It might just be getting up to speed at that level.”
