Quarterbacks have evolved at every level of football — they’re not just turning and handing off anymore

By Steve Ruman

sports@vindy.com

In a different era, Struthers senior A.J. Musolino likely would have been a running back — and a standout one at that.

Given his athleticism, his size (6-foot-3, 205 pounds) and his speed, Musolino would have perfectly fit the Mahoning Valley mold, where running backs were the glamor boys of the high school gridiron.

From Bo Rein to Ted Bell, from Rick Badanjek to Maurice Clarett, area football for decades thrived on those athletes who took the handoff from the quarterback. They generally scored the touchdowns and garnered the headlines.

In the current landscape of high school football, Musolino’s role is much different and much more complex. All of the attributes which once would have made Musolino a star running back now make him the ideal quarterback.

“With today’s offenses, I think many times you’re looking to put the best athlete on your roster at the quarterback spot,” Struthers coach Curt Kuntz said. “Today’s game requires the quarterback to do so much. It’s not just about handing off the ball. It’s certainly not just about being able to throw the ball.”

Musolino’s numbers and his all-around play back up Kuntz. Heading into his senior season, Musolino already has rushed for 1,476 yards and 21 touchdowns. He has thrown for 1,768 yards and 19 TDs. And Musolino — who has committed to Kent State — was recruited for his defensive play at the safety position.

“I take great pride in being able to do a lot of different things on the football field,” Musolino said. “I love having the ball in my hands whether it’s running or throwing, because I just enjoy having a part in every play.

“Defensively, I always loved going after the ball.”

Wealth of qbs

While Musolino’s play is indeed special, it is not unique to the area. Heading into the 2016 football season, the Mahoning Valley possesses a wealth of quarterbacks who have already established themselves as some of Ohio’s best.

They are also among a group of new-age athletes who have changed the way a position is played.

“Quite honestly, a lot of today’s quarterbacks would have been running backs just a decade or so ago,” Warren Harding coach Steve Arnold said. “Not too long ago, quarterbacks ran out of necessity. They weren’t asked to do nearly as much as what is expected from them today.

“Now, a quarterback who can run is the necessity in a lot of the spread formations.”

Harding senior Lynn Bowden is arguably the area’s most talented all-around player. In the first three years of his high school career, Bowden has amassed more than 7,000 all-purpose yards.

As a freshman at Liberty he was used primarily as a running back and gained 1,427 yards. Last season, his first with the Raiders, he rushed for 1,827 yards and passed for 640.

While Bowden’s athletic talents are obvious from the stands, Arnold said that his football intelligence often gets overlooked.

“Lynn knows the game He understands everything that is happening out on the field and he adjusts accordingly,” Arnold said. “In this day and age, athletes can’t just get by on God-given talent alone. Sports are too specialized and too competitive. To be an elite player, you have to know the game.”

“Lynn is special because he takes his talents and he combines that with a knowledge of the game. He knows how to manage things, and he is as competitive as they come.”

Warriors

Brookfield coach Randy Clark echoed the comments made by Arnold.

“Nearly all of the quarterbacks I’ve had at Brookfield, in an earlier era they probably would have been feature running backs,” Clark said.

Clark is quick to point out that his last two quarterbacks — Jeremy Quinlan and Augustus Necastro — were 4.0 students.

“In today’s game, quarterbacks definitely can’t get by on just their athletic skills,” Clark said. “You’re putting a kid back there and asking him to read complex defenses, to decide whether to throw or pass in a moment’s time.

“Kids today, they really have to be extremely smart. If you see a kid running today’s style of offense, you can bet he is a bright kid.”

Oddly enough, as the game becomes more complex, the athletes who evolve into quarterbacks appear to be developing their skills and knowledge of the game at an earlier age.

EXPERIENCE COUNTS

At least eight area quarterbacks expected to be starters this season have been playing the position at the varsity level since they were sophomores or freshmen.

“I’ve had just two quarterbacks in the past seven-plus years,” Clark said. “Years ago, coaches were hesitant to put a young kid back there. Now it’s becoming more commonplace.”

Columbiana senior Mitch Davidson was just a 14-year-old freshman when he was thrown into the fire in the opening game of the 2013 season.

By the end of his freshman season, Davidson compiled 1,182 passing yards and rushed for 715 yards. By the end of his sophomore season, Davidson had already become the Clippers’ all-time leading passer.

Heading into his senior season, The Vindicator’s 2015 Offensive Player of the Year already possesses video game-like numbers as a passer (6,127 passing yards, 66 TDs), and he has racked up 2,758 yards and 32 touchdowns on the ground.

Davidson will expand his game further this year, as he is expected to regularly play on defense.

“I’ve been playing quarterback since the third grade, so it has always been pretty natural to me,” Davidson said. “The biggest adjustment was when I started as a freshman. The speed of the game at the varsity level is so much faster and more intense.

“I’m only as good as my teammates. They run the routes, they trust that I’ll get the ball to them and they do the work once they catch the ball. The line opens the holes and gives me the yards when I run.”

Columbiana coach Bob Spaite acknowledges the importance of team play, but is also quick to suggest that in today’s game, the role of the quarterback cannot be ignored.

“Right now, the quarterback is the single most important position in any sport,” Spaite said. “They play a bigger role than your point guard [or] your pitcher. ... The responsibility they have in operating today’s style of offense is enormous.

“It’s crazy how early the quarterbacks are developing their game. I’ve watched clips of Pop Warner games, and I can’t fathom what I’m seeing from these young kids,” Spaite said. “The game is so specialized now. Guys are making a living through quarterback camps and by being personal coaches.”

In 1994, Mike Winters became the first quarterback in Columbiana County history to throw and pass for 1,000 yards in a single season. Today, the feat is not out of the norm.

“Some of the players we’ve had in the past, I see them now and they’re like, ‘I wish we could have done some of the things that are happening now from an offensive standpoint,’” Spaite said. “It would be interesting to take some of the past players and put them in today’s game.”

IT FACTOR

In addition to athleticism and intelligence, Spaite said that quarterbacks such as Musolino, Bowden and Davidson all possess another characteristic which cannot be taught on the football field.

“There’s just an ‘it’ factor some players have that separate them from others,” Spaite said. “You take their skill and their knowledge of the game, then combine it with their temperament, and the whole package brings it all together.

“Mitch, he never gets rattled. He’s probably at his calmest when the game is on the line.”

DEFENSE HELPS

The “it” factor is something that Niles senior quarterback Tyler Srbinovich possesses, according to Dragons coach Brian Shaner.

Srbinovich was a starting safety during his freshman season and led the varsity team in tackles. He took over the quarterbacking duties as a sophomore. Last year, he threw for 1,687 yards and rushed for 480 yards for a Niles team that averaged 26.4 points.

“Some things you just can’t coach,” Shaner said. “With Tyler, the more pressure there is on him, the better he seems to perform.

“He just doesn’t get rattled. That’s a special trait, and it’s probably something you’ll find in most of today’s quarterbacks. There is so much pressure on these kids. So much is thrown at them, yet they respond.”

Srbinovich says he doesn’t feel the pressure, but instead “just has a blast” playing in a system where so much can happen on any given play.

“It might seem like the quarterback is doing most of the work, but all 11 players are very involved, and so many different players can touch the ball on any given drive,” Srbinovich said.

Srbinovich said that his play at safety as a freshman helped prepare him to run an offense which prides itself in getting off plays perhaps faster than any other team in the area.

“I think that by playing defense when I first started varsity, I understood the crazy pace of the game. It made me much more prepared to handle the craziness of our offense,” Srbinovich said.

FANTASTIC FRESHMEN

East Palestine coach Tony Foster referred to Parker Sherry as “no ordinary freshman” last season when he led the Bulldogs to the playoffs. Sherry threw for 1,320 yards and 15 touchdowns, and ran for another 842 yards and 13 TDs. Sherry was one of several Mahoning Valley freshmen in 2015 who started at the varsity level.

“Fans see these kids come in as freshmen, and they get the impression that it’s getting easier to play the position. The reality is that it’s more challenging than ever,” Foster said. “Parker is a football junkie.

“No one on the team watches more film. He came in last year and was very business-like and extremely mature for his age.”

Girard’s Mark Waid also started as a freshman last fall, throwing for 1,152 yards and rushing for 392. Indians coach Pat Pearson says that in the not-so-distant past, Waid would have likely played the tailback position.

But because of his athleticism, he is a perfect fit for an offense which requires its signal-caller to possess speed, strength and an accurate arm.

And while Pearson agrees coaches are now looking to turn their best athlete into a quarterback, like Foster he insists that today’s quarterback can’t get by on talent alone.

“If you see a quarterback starting as a freshman, he’s a special breed,” Pearson said. “Don’t think for a minute that it all comes naturally, or that these young men are getting by on talent alone. It takes a tremendous amount of hard work, and a great deal of studying the game.”

TRICKLE-DOWN OFFENSES

Western Reserve senior quarterback Wyatt Larimer returns after completing 86 of 150 passes for 1,241 yards and 12 touchdowns a year ago. Larimer also led the team in rushing with 663 yards (5.0 yards per carry) and scored nine touchdowns.

Larimer offers a different take on why so many quarterbacks — even freshmen and sophomores — are thriving while having to deal with the complexities that go along with running today’s wide-open offenses. He notes that while many fans and longtime coaches view the spread offense as a newfangled invention to football, he and his peers have been part of the system their entire football lives.

“I grew up watching Oregon, Texas A&M, any college team that ran a spread offense because it was a blast to watch,” Larimer said. “We were learning this as kids. I always grew up around this type of offense so coming in to high school it was really no big change for me and my teammates.”

MULTI-TASKERS

Like many of the other area standout quarterbacks, Larimer also plays defense and special teams. Fans may feel as though the heavy workload is too taxing for a player already playing quarterback, but Larimer wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I want to be on that field as much as possible, I love the sport,” he said. “Besides, playing defense helps me understand my role of quarterback a lot better. It’s like a learning tool.”

Bowden said he loves being on the field so much that in his younger days he would sometimes work his way into the guard, tackle or center positions “just so they couldn’t take me out.” He too says that running an offense which requires fast reflexes and quick thinking has been a natural process.

“I just believe in myself and have confidence, I just go out there and do my thing,” Bowden said. “Running a wide-open offense is part mental, part physical. You have to believe in yourself.”

Bowden, who is being heavily recruited by some of the nation’s top college programs, expects to play either as a wide receiver or a cornerback at the next level.

“Being a new-wave quarterback changed me and it made me ready for anything they’ll throw at me in college,” Bowden said.

CHANGING IT UP

The “new-wave” quarterback, and the offense he controls certainly has changed football in the Mahoning Valley.

“The spread offenses have been the single greatest equalizer in our game,” Spaite said. “Back in the ’60s and ’70s, football came down to who had the bigger hammer. Most all schools completely dominated by running the ball down your throat.

“Today, you can have smaller athletes control the game. Now, you still have to have talent, but it has given more players the ability to have an impact. And it’s forcing the defense to cover the entire field.”

Even veteran coach Bill Bohren — known for his love of the running game — has embraced the notion of allowing the quarterback to take center stage.

“What we’re seeing now, it’s good for football and it’s good for the fans,” Bohren said. “The quarterback may be the focal point, but the reality is that today’s offenses are incorporating six or seven skilled guys. More players are involved than ever before. It’s keeping a lot more players happy.

“Fans love it. It’s good for the game. It might not always be good for my game, but it’s good for football.”