QB quandary: Keeping quarterbacks healthy is key but many also wind up on defense
Waynesburg Central head coach Chad Coss shares a laugh with senior Caleb Shriver during media day. Shriver played quarterback and defensive back for the Raiders last year, but will switch to tailback this season. (Photo by Darnell Graham)
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Carmichaels starting quarterback Kevin Kelly throws a pass during heat acclimation week at Carmichaels. Kelly is expected to play some defensive back this season although Mikes coach Ryan Krull prefers his quarterbacks to play offense only. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
The 2019 high school football season gets underway tonight, and when teams take the field the one position that most fans will focus on will be the quarterback.
He鈥檚 the one who takes the snap and runs the offense, and the player the coach usually relies on as a leader.
Keeping the starting quarterback healthy can sometimes mean the difference between a winning and losing season.
Many times quarterbacks at the high school level also wind up on the defensive side of the football though, especially at smaller schools.
It鈥檚 a decision coaches have to make. Is risking an injury to the player who runs your offense worth it to improve your defense?
鈥淭he quarterback position is a very valued position, from youth leagues to the NFL,鈥� Jefferson-Morgan coach Aaron Giorgi said. 鈥淚deally you want your quarterback to be protected from any unwarranted contact as well as maintaining a clear focus. It鈥檚 important for coaches to be able to communicate with that player on a regular basis throughout the game.
鈥淚 consider it a luxury if that is able to occur at the single-A level.鈥�
Giorgi pointed out most quarterbacks are among the team鈥檚 best players and many times end up in the secondary on defense.
Waynesburg Central coach Chad Coss agreed.
The Raiders play in Class AAA and have a 30-man roster. Last year, Caleb Shriver played both quarterback and defensive back for Waynesburg. This year, Shriver has been switched to tailback due to the rippling effect of an injury and Darnell Johnson will play quarterback as well as safety.
鈥淚deally you would like to be able to just have him play offense, however, most teams use one of their best if not the best athlete in that position,鈥� Coss said. 鈥淭eams with smaller rosters, like ours, usually don鈥檛 have the luxury of resting their best athlete on defense.鈥�
Mapletown coach George Messich has 22 players on his Class A roster and plans to use sophomore quarterback Max Vanata on defense at either linebacker or defensive back, depending on what defensive set his team is in.
鈥淎t the small Class A schools almost always the QB will play both ways because of numbers and he鈥檚 usually one of your better athletes,鈥� Messich said. 鈥淚f that means your quarterback鈥檚 on defense so be it. Sometimes he may be one of your toughest kids so play him.鈥�
Carmichaels coach Ryan Krull, on the other hand, prefers not to have his quarterback play defense, at least not all the time. Senior Kevin Kelly, a run-pass threat, suffered an injury just before last year鈥檚 opener and his play was hampered much of the season. Krull would like to do all he can to keep his quarterback healthy in 2019.
鈥淜evin will be a situational defensive back for us,鈥� Krull said. 鈥淗e won鈥檛 be in there all the time. He鈥檚 as athletic as anybody we have. But, and this is just my personal philosophy, our quarterbacks traditionally don鈥檛 play much defense just because, as we saw last year, we had him go down and then we鈥檙e really scrambling.
鈥淵ou might see him a little bit back there.鈥�
Giorgi may actually be able to play his quarterback solely on offense the way his roster sets up this season, which plays into his preference to have direct communication with his QB most of the game.
鈥淲ith our quarterback situation now, Cole Jones will be our starter and only play quarterback,鈥� said Giorgi, who has 30 players on his roster.
Jones, a freshman, and Colt Fowler, a sophomore, had been battling for the starting quarterback job.
鈥淭his is the first time I have had a quarterback only play that one position,鈥� Giorgi said. 鈥淚鈥檓 very fortunate this year because of that. I feel more confident having Cole on the sideline with me during the other two phases of the game, being able to provide instant feedback as to what he鈥檚 seeing on the field and what we want to accomplish as a unit.鈥�
Giorgi is confident Fowler can run the team鈥檚 offense effectively also but the drawback would be less interaction during the game.
鈥淚f we have to move to Colt Fowler, that will make things more difficult communication-wise because he plays on defense as well as special teams,鈥� Giorgi said.
A good quarterback can make a good running back that much more effective, as is the case with the Pioneers.
West Greene features one of the WPIAL鈥檚 best running backs in senior Benjamin Jackson but one of the Pioneers鈥� other threats who gives the offense some balance is senior quarterback Gavin Scott, who can run and throw.
Pioneers coach Brian Hanson, who has a 23-man roster, feels Scott is good enough on the other side of the ball to warrant playing him there as well.
鈥淔or us, we have to play Gavin on defense because he鈥檚 a difference-maker,鈥� Hanson said. 鈥淚n six years as a head coach, I鈥檝e only had one year where I didn鈥檛 use my QB on defense.
鈥淚 think if you have a quarterback who is the best choice at a specific position on defense, you need to play him. At Class A, we don鈥檛 have the luxury of large rosters, so we play a ton of guys both ways, quarterbacks included.鈥�