Phil Horvath is having a bad case of deja vu. P The 6-foot-3, 194-pounder has replaced injured senior Josh Haldi. But the way Horvath found out he would start – the confusion, the rumors – it was something with which he was all too familiar. P Was Horvath imagining things? Had he experienced this in another life? No. It was almost the same scenario that played out four years ago as a junior in high school.

A 20-year-old marketing major, Horvath hails from Naperville Central High School. A school known as a Chicago-area football power, Horvath was No. 2 on the Redhawks’ depth chart behind team-captain Owen Daniels.

Daniels – now a tight end at Wisconsin – threw seven touchdowns in Central’s first two games of 2000.

Then Daniels went down with a torn ACL. After the injury, Daniels practiced anyhow, so Horvath thought he was still a back-up.

Then the rumors began to swirl. His friends and teammates told Horvath that he may need to start the next game. That Tuesday, he heard the shocking news.

“I got a pass out of class and they told me [Daniels] was done for the year and I was starting that week,” Horvath said. “That day was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been for football.”

Horvath was good friends with Daniels at the time. At NIU, he is also close with the player he replaced, Haldi.

At the beginning of the week going into this year’s season-opener against Maryland, Horvath began to hear the rumors once again.

“They were like, ‘You’re going to be starting,’” Horvath said. “I was like, ‘Stop joking around.’ Then they said, ‘No, serious.’ Then that’s when I thought it was bringing back the old days. That’s how it happened in high school.”

Haldi has been experiencing foot problems since the summer and was rumored to miss the Maryland game.

Horvath planned on starting all week. Then Haldi practiced Wednesday and Thursday.

“To be honest, going into the game I really had no idea what was going on,” Horvath said. “After that first series, coach [Joe] Novak told me to warm up.”

When Haldi had to leave after re-aggravating a stress fracture in his right foot, Horvath stepped in just like he had before.

Similar situations

Haldi came into the season only 2,152 yards away from breaking NIU’s all-time passing record.

His value to the Huskies is stated in his record of 18-6 the past two seasons as a starter. But things weren’t always so positive for Haldi.

Taking over for four-year starter Chris Finlen, Haldi, who has a 56 percent career completion percentage, began his first five games 54-of-119 with only two touchdowns in 2002.

“A lot of the comments we are getting now about Horvath are the same ones we got about Haldi a few years ago,” Novak said.

Horvath and Haldi talk often on the field but are friends outside of football as well.

“It’s not easy being a quarterback at this level,” said Haldi, who added the toughest part for him not playing is seeing the great atmosphere before the game. “I struggled my sophomore year early, too.”

In two games this season, Horvath is 30-of-58 with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

With Haldi’s return date unknown, the team is asking a lot of Horvath, but Novak thinks he’ll be up to the challenge.

“The same talk with Phil [Horvath] is the same talk with Josh [Haldi],” Novak said. “Josh has come around to be a very effective quarterback, and I’d like to think if we are patient with Phil, we can hope for the same out of him.”

Horvath said that he’s the first one to admit if he has a bad game, but when it is all said and done, he wants to help NIU host a MAC championship and play in a bowl game as early as this year.

One who knows him best, Naperville Central coach Joe Bunge, doesn’t put that lofty goal past him.

“This is what I know about Phil Horvath: The guy is a winner,” said Bunge, who has been coaching for 32 years. “He’s out there to get better all the time. I’ve had some great quarterbacks, and he’s right up there with some great ones.

“He has helped us out the past two summers. He works our skills camp and takes these young kids, eighth graders, and works with them to become quarterbacks. I know all these kids look up to him and say, ‘Oh, that’s Phil Horvath.’”

Soon everyone will recognize Horvath.