Sounds of Silence

Football is a sport of sounds.

Audibles are yelled. Snap counts are called out. Players grunt. Players growl. Whistles blow. Coaches scream. Coaches scream some more.

Will Scherzberg plays cornerback for Moorpark High. He doesn’t start for the Musketeers, who play St. Monica in the Southern Section Division X championship on Saturday at Moorpark.

But it’s impressive that Scherzberg plays football at all, even though this is his first season on the team. He was born deaf.

Through the help of Kimberlee Eggly, a sign language interpreter employed by the Moorpark Unified School District, Scherzberg can communicate with his coaches and teammates.

Eggly, who often carries around the team playbook during practice, relays plays and coverages to Scherzberg. If defensive backs coach Dan DiNapoli wants to communicate a technique or new scheme to Scherzberg, he goes through Eggly.

Scherzberg, a junior, is shy. When communicating with a reporter, which he does through Eggly, he signs one-word answers. Yes. No. Yes again.

Shyness takes a permanent back seat when football is brought up.

“I feel like I belong,” Scherzberg said. “Football makes me aware. It makes me responsible. I just wish I could play it better.”

Scherzberg started the season at receiver, but after picking up audibles proved to be difficult, he switched to cornerback.

He has played in the fourth quarter of several Moorpark victories this season.

“He’s done very well for having walked-on as a junior,” Moorpark Coach Ron Wilford said. “He’s competing with kids who have already played two years more than him, but he’s really improved a great deal. He has as much chance to start as anybody else [next season].”

Fellow cornerback Andy Allison sees some changes in Scherzberg.

“He probably didn’t know that many people before, but through football, he knows 60 guys now,” Allison said. “Sometimes I see him looking at people, trying to figure out what they’re doing, what they’re saying. He smiles a lot.”

Allison and some of the other defensive backs have learned numbers in sign language so they can communicate coverage zones to Scherzberg.

“He’s learned [the defense] faster than any of us did,” Allison said. “I’m amazed.”

Scherzberg’s mother, Denise Pride, has learned sign language. His stepfather, Dana Pride, is hard of hearing and also knows how to sign.

Scherzberg credits his stepfather, with whom he watches Monday Night Football every week, for giving him the idea to play. After Dana planted a mental seed, Scherzberg approached Wilford during the summer about playing this season.

Wilford gave the green light and, after Eggly agreed to help out on the practice field, Scherzberg’s career began.

At first, there was some awkwardness.

“If I got in the way, they’d be like, ‘Hey, the interpreter’s in the middle of the scrimmage . . . what should we do?’ ” Eggly said.

Scherzberg and his teammates have adapted. Eggly is now called Coach Kim. She might as well be called Scherzberg’s sister.

Eggly decided to help Scherzberg two years ago when he enrolled at Moorpark.

Scherzberg was born without cilia, tiny hair-like structures in his ears. He can read lips at around a 30% comprehension rate and his verbal skills are minimal. His learning skills, however, are limitless.

“Somewhere, I don’t know where he got it, he thought he was stupid,” Eggly said. “For some strange reason, he was mislabeled and stuck in [special education] classes.”

Eggly prodded school administrators to move Scherzberg into regular education, where he takes five core classes. She sits with him in every class and interprets daily lectures. She shows up at 7:30 a.m., stays through school and practice, and drives him home.

“He was boxed [in] for so many years but now he’s starting to come out,” Eggly said. “He’s asking a lot of questions.

“He’s very proud to be deaf. He doesn’t consider it to be a handicap at all. As far as he’s concerned, he’s out here having fun, just trying to be like everybody else. His goal is to be a normal kid.”