‘The 12th Mid’ about to kick off

Midshipman First Class John Reuland never has played organized football. Growing up in Orleans, Mass., one of the many small towns along Cape Cod, he always was a hockey player. From nearly the day he could walk, Reuland has been on skates.

“The Boston area is a hockey town, and my high school didn’t have much of a football team,” Reuland said. “Not playing high school football is one of my greatest regrets in life.”

Now, however, he might get his chance.

Navy coach Paul Johnson fields questions from a live audience during his TV show every week at O’Brien’s Oyster Bar & Grill in downtown Annapolis. One week, Midshipman First Class Tony DiFranco had an intriguing idea: What if Navy had something similar to the 12th man at Texas A&M? The Aggies always reserve a spot on the kickoff team for a walk-on.

Johnson liked the idea so much that he had DiFranco contact Capt. Tom Vanderhorst, who is in his first season as military liaison for the Mids. Vanderhorst helped coordinate tryouts for “the 12th Mid.”

“It was just a spur-of-the moment-question,” DiFranco said. “I was pretty surprised at first that [Johnson] thought it was such a great idea.”

Each of the nine battalions at the academy selected two First Class representatives for the tryout, which was held Monday after practice. After Vanderhorst measured everyone’s height and weight, the prospective players went through the Shuttle Drill, which judges lateral quickness, and were timed in the 40-yard dash.

“[We’re looking for] speed and agility — guys we think can run down the field and cover a kick,” Johnson said. “It’s not going to be rocket science, but we need somebody that can get down the field in a hurry.”

Two were selected from the tryout group to cover one Navy kickoff each; one will dress Oct.30 against Delaware and the other Nov.20 against Rutgers. Their identities will be announced tonight at the pep rally for this weekend’s game against Rice.

Reuland and DiFranco took part in the tryout. Reuland wasn’t the only one with zero football experience. Midshipman First Class Nate Lufkin, easily the most physically imposing of the group, is the captain of Navy’s track and field team. He throws the hammer and the discus but never a football.

Others like Midshipman First Class Matt Bernhardt have previous football experience. Bernhardt played high school ball in Philadelphia and was on Navy’s sprint football team.

“It would be one of the coolest experiences at the academy,” Bernhardt said. “It would be crazy. Throwing on the pads one last time, running out on the field and seeing all your classmates in the stands. I want to run down the field and blow up the wedge.”

At Texas A&M, a walk-on player wears No.12 to signify the 12th man. At first, that might have been a problem at Navy because there was a guy named Roger Staubach who donned No.12 for the Midshipmen. But Staubach gave the OK for his number to be unretired.

A potential concern is players not warming up to the idea of a spot on special teams being given away, even if just for one play.

“When it was first announced, there was some talk [among the players],” senior Tyson Stahl said. “No one went to Coach Johnson about it, but he heard some people bickering. He brought it up with us one day after practice and explained why he’s doing it. And it turns out that it is a great idea. I don’t think anyone is getting shortchanged.”