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GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 31 Todd Griffin/Princeton Times Leader Pitch 'Perfect' Sindelar delivers more than big numbers Elijah Sindelar still can't quite believe what he accomplished at Caldwell County High School, breaking passing records and piling up yards at a "video game" rate. He'll have more challenges at Purdue. BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com Elijah Sindelar has never got- ten a 'B.' He has a reputation of being nice, almost to a fault. He has not even a trace of selfishness exuding from him, even though he's a teenager whose accomplishments would easily lend to pride and puffing up. He was a four-year starting quarterback in high school — and wasn't exactly a game manager. By the time he was done running Caldwell County's no-huddle offense, he'd thrown for 12,637 yards, completed 64 percent of his passes and shat- tered the Kentucky state record for passing touchdowns with 144. His senior season was good enough to earn him an unexpected Mr. Football honor, a surprise only because he was from the Western part of the state instead of the often-cele- brated Louisville and Lexington areas. He had only four intercep- tions among 294 pass attempts as a senior. He was sacked only six times as a senior, following a junior year in which he was only twice. He may be a ridiculously spe- cial healer, too, as he's figuring a return from surgery to repair a torn ACL in five months. Eljiah Sindelar, it seems, is too good to be true. And even those who know him find it hard to pinpoint faults. "He's not only the perfect model quarterback, he's the per- fect model person, roommate, anything you can think of," said freshman running back Markell Jones, who enrolled early with Sindelar. "He should be on the cover of whatever magazine they put perfect people on. He's an awesome guy. I haven't had a single complaint about him. Truly." Sindelar is eager to enter a new level of football and life, not just to build more successes but to see how he responds when he fails. It's not something he's had much experience with, but