MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — There is a lot of uncertainty for University High football coach John Kelley as the Hawks began its summer camp Monday morning.
One thing is certain, though — there will not be much experience with over 40 of the expected 56 players on the roster being freshmen and sophomores. Almost every position was hit hard with attrition and graduation from last year’s team that went 5-5 and missed the postseason for the first time in three years.
Despite overall struggles, quarterback play was not one of them, with Logan Holgorsen garnering second team all-state honors after tallying 2,100 yards and 27 touchdowns in eight games.
Although Clay Bailey, a three-year starter, graduated following the 2017 season, it was no secret that Holgorsen was the likely replacement with his previous success at Morgantown High.
With Holgorsen now gone to the University of Houston, the picture isn’t quite as clear as previous seasons as to who will take over behind center.
Four battled it out during the three-week summer workout period, but according to Kelley, none separated himself from the pack.
With four weeks before the season-opener against John Marshall, Chris Burke, Joseph McBee, Jaeden Hammack and Chase Edwards will fight for the top spot.
“We’ve got four quarterbacks — two of them are freshmen, one’s a senior and one’s a junior — all are quality kids,” Kelley said. “I like all of them, but one of them is going to have to step up and say, ‘I’m the guy.’
“I’m not going to be afraid to go with a freshman if that’s the guy that steps up and does it.”
Hammack and Edwards are freshmen and obviously new to the program, while McBee, a junior, has been around the Hawks for two years, though at different positions.
That leaves Burke as the most experienced QB on the roster, but this is his first season at UHS after, like Holgorsen, transferring from MHS.
Burke, a 6-foot-3 senior lefty, was beaten out by Cam Rice during the Mohigans’ preseason camp a year ago. Burke saw an opportunity with the Hawks and hopes to make the most of it during his final year of high school football.
“I just think we have a good possibility of doing something this year and I just wanted to help with that,” Burke said. “I want to play my position better, so hopefully we do well this year.”
While Burke has far from locked down the starting quarterback job, he doesn’t want his battle for the spot to diminish that he is one of the few seniors on the team, even if he is new to the program. Even though it was at a crosstown rival, he’s been through the grind of a preseason camp, so he wants to help the younger players as much as possible
“You have to teach them how to do it, it’s really that simple,” Burke said. “I was teaching them how to not feel like they’re younger. I don’t want to put them down — I’ve been in that position for the last three years behind everybody. I just want them to know that even if I’m starting or whoever else is starting, that doesn’t mean they’re worse than anybody else.”
And that was a lesson learned last season with the Mohigans following camp. After losing the job to Rice, Burke took it as a learning experience to try and get better, rather than sulking that he was passed over yet again.
“I learned from that on how to mature better and take the blows,” he said. “I’ve just gone along with it, put it behind me and forgot about it. I don’t even think about anything that happened at Morgantown the last couple years.”
