Steel-High coach Andrew Erby discusses special season for Mehki Flowers
Steel-High is no stranger to the bright lights of the PIAA playoffs, but Friday’s 1A state championship against Jeannette is the first for the school since 2008.
But that doesn't mean they haven't had success in recent years. Since head coach Andrew Erby took over the program in 2014, the Rollers made it to the semifinals in both 2016 and 2017. It was around that same time that this year’s team, led by Rivals250 athlete Mehki Flowers, was beginning to gel and become comfortable with each other at the youth level. Erby said that’s a major reason for their success this season.
“This is a close group. They've been close-knit coming out of our youth program," Erby said. "I actually coached them in our youth program when they were younger, and they were a pretty good group then. I knew once they would gel together, once they got to the high school level, this would be a group that really had a chance to do something big.”
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It helps when you have a player of Flowers’ caliber. His ability to make plays in the must pressure-packed moments has never been more evident than the past two weeks. Against Old Forge in the quarterfinals, Flowers made a leaping, game-winning catch with no time left on the clock, sealing a 39-33 win. Then, against Bishop Guilfoyle last week, he scored both of his team’s touchdowns, including an 86-yard screen pass where he broke five tackles to give the Rollers the lead with just six minutes left to play. Steel-High ultimately needed another field goal, which they got on the final play of the game, winning 16-14.
“One thing that has really stood out about Mehki this year is just his preparation,” Erby said. “Defensively, he's taking those big chances that good defensive players take to change the outcome of the game. So many people have been giving him attention for what he does on offense, but he made a couple of big blitzes off the edge and other big plays that have had a major impact in these [playoff] games. That all came from preparation. His athleticism is incredible, but you got to put yourself in the right spot to take advantage of it.”
Erby also praised Flowers’ leadership throughout the year.
“We have a leadership council. About every month, we just go over our core values, life lessons and a lot of leadership stuff," he said. "Mehki is always very active in those and is always pushing guys to what's right. From those meetings, we also let our players vote for our captains. We've only ever had two freshman voted as captains, and they were Mehki when he was a freshman and now Alex [Erby], who's a freshman this year. So, I think that speaks for who they both are. Mehki has always been great from that perspective.
If you haven’t heard of Steel-High’s freshman quarterback, and the coach’s son, be sure to check him out tomorrow. Already standing at 6-foot-2, and pushing 200 pounds, Alex has thrown for more than 2,300 yards and 31 touchdowns this season. His ability to just manage the game at such a young age is no doubt impressive, but he’s gone above and beyond what’s expected from most quarterbacks his age.
"A lot of those throws and those plays that have gotten people's attention this year have actually been checked and changed by him at the line of scrimmage,” Erby said. “The [86-yard screen pass last week] was actually an RPO that he checked out of and switched to a screen to Mehki because of the numbers.”
Erby went on to add, “Alex is still young, but I'm comfortable enough letting him do that because he and Mehki have incredible communication with each other. They're shooting like 97 percent this year when it comes to making those RPO decisions and when to check to something else. That all comes down to communication and being on the same page with each other. I've been proud of both of them. That speaks to their relationship. ...They totally trust each other, and in those big moments, they lean on each other, and that all comes back to communication.”
Just like Flowers when he was a freshman, Erby is beginning to grab the attention of multiple Division I programs, including Penn State.
“Penn State has been following Alex and seeing how he develops,” Erby said. “Syracuse and Marshall have also been following his progress. I'm sure others will come. One of the Dakota schools reached out, and I got a call from Rutgers about him.”
Speaking of Penn State, Nittany Lion fans across the country have been eagerly waiting to see what Flowers decides. Earlier this month, he posted on social media that he was planning to end his recruitment in the near future, although no dates have been set. Penn State has long been considered the favorite with Flowers.
“Yeah, I think Penn State is in a good spot, but he's pretty close with a couple schools,” Erby said. “I haven't been as involved with that lately. Obviously, with this season and now our playoff run, I've been letting that up to him. But when we do talk, I've just been telling him to go where you're comfortable at. Go where you're happy. Penn State offers a lot of positives and his family can always come.”
Flowers’ play this season has grabbed the attention of a few programs that haven’t offered yet, including Cincinnati, Notre Dame and Oklahoma. He's currently the fifth-ranked player in Pennsylvania and No. 163 overall in the nation.
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