Friday, October 15, 1999
Ryle in good hands with Setters
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer contributor
Ryle senior receiver Mike Setters took up football just last year so his dad and Raider coaches would quit nagging him to try it.
Setters now loves the game, and he's pretty good at it, too: His 54 catches lead Greater Cincinnati this season and he has 776 yards and seven touchdowns.
“I've been playing basketball since I was little,” Setters said. “I thought it would be fun just to try something different.”
His receptions have led to two of Ryle's biggest victories.
A 19-yard catch from senior quarterback Justin Parr set up the winning touchdown in a 25-20 victory Sept.4 over Covington Catholic — Ryle's first-ever victory over the Colonels — and a 34-yard touchdown catch with 56 seconds left gave the Raiders a 25-20 victory last week over then-undefeated Franklin County.
Parr and Ryle coach Kyle Hockman are still talking about the Franklin County catch.
“He went up between two defenders to get the ball,” Hockman said. “I haven't seen anybody that's got his size and range and hands; he just catches everything.”
Parr said Setters' size (6-foot-3, 200 pounds) kept the Franklin County TD from being an incompletion or interception.
“I hesitated and double coverage got there,” Parr said. “I got knocked down and got up and saw him run it in.”
Setters already owns school records for career receptions (98), single-season catches (this year's 54), career yards (1,445) and career receiving TDs (13).
“What I'm surprised about is his toughness,” Hockman said. “I thought he was going to be fragile, but he has worked hard in the weight room. He wants to be as physical as he can be.”
Setters knew last year he was as green as the Raiders' field, and he worried about getting hurt.
“(Coaches) just showed me what to do,” he said. “I just listened and learned ... After the first few games last year, I felt I could play.”
Setters' statistics this year are a continuation of an impressive 1998 season, in which he caught 34 passes for 669 yards and six TDs. He also averaged 12 points and five assists last year as a guard on the basketball team.
Football isn't foreign to Setters. His father, Mike Sr., played at CovCath — which made for some nervous moments after Ryle beat the Colonels.
“All my uncles and cousins went to CovCath,” Mike Jr. said. “They came back to my house. I didn't say too much. It was a real big win.”
Besides getting Ryle to the playoffs in their first year in Class AAAA, Setters would like to continue playing football in college.
“I always dreamed about basketball,” Setters said. “If I'm going to do anything, it'll be in football. I just go out and do the job. Whatever comes, comes.”
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