TENNERTON — On paper, taking a spread quarterback and telling him to run the option sounds as quirky as trying to get a dog to purr like a kitten.
That is the situation University High freshman Chase Edwards now finds himself in, yet there was nothing quirky about it Friday night, as the Hawks ran away with a 53-6 victory against Buckhannon-Upshur.
A year ago at this time, Edwards was throwing the ball all over the lot as the quarterback at Mountaineer Middle School. Since becoming the starter two weeks ago, he is now asked to become a runner just as much as a thrower.
“It’s been a big change,” he said. “It’s taken some getting used to.”
His transition period looked rather comfortable against the Buccaneers (1-6), who were playing without their top receiver/outside linebacker Brayden Cutlip.
In what was a big first half for the Hawks (3-5), Edwards threw for 150 yards and two touchdowns and also added 45 yards on the ground and added another touchdown on a 10-yard run.
“I’m actually starting to pick up on the option better,” Edwards said. “They were crashing the middle on us, so we went to the outside. They were keying on our pitch man, so I kept it most of the time. Well, there were a couple of times I probably could have pitched it, but I kept it.”
He just recently turned 15 and he spent all of last week being nervous about his first start — “It was all I could think about last week,” he said — but he turned his second start into a sign of the future for the Hawks.
“I really have to give all the credit to coach (Shane) Ziats for helping Chase develop in our offense,” UHS head coach John Kelley said. “Chase’s experience at quarterback and his intelligence also makes things a little easier for him. He plays very confident for a freshman.”
As for that future, Kelley said the Hawks would likely change to more of a spread offense next season to build around Edwards’ throwing ability, some of which he put on display against B-U.
“Well, they were really crowding the box and were challenging us to throw,” Kelley said. “They probably thought (Edwards) couldn’t throw it, but he showed tonight he can.”
On this night, Edwards had plenty of help, too.
Logan Raber needed only 12 carries to rack up 122 yards and three scores. His third touchdown came on a 40-yard run late in the third quarter to give the Hawks a 47-6 advantage. Raber also completed a 26-yard pass on the final play of the first half.
“He makes things so much easier for me,” Edwards said. “He’s a tank out there. He was breaking tackles left and right out there.”
“He’s the straw that stirs the drink for us,” Kelley added. “If he’s not having big games for us, it’s going to be hard to compete.”
UHS won the game in the first half, holding the Buccaneers to just 1-yard rushing and picking off three passes on defense. Edwards accounted for three scores in the first half, and Raber and Joseph McBee also had touchdown runs to help UHS build up a 34-6 lead at the half.
In all, the UHS defense picked off four passes and forced six turnovers.
“We really didn’t do anything different than we normally do,” said University’s Jacob Spearen, who had an interception and also caught two passes for 42 yards. “Guys were making pretty good reads on the passes and made some big plays.”
Colin McBee, Jaeden Hammack and Andrew Myers also intercepted passes for the Hawks and Daniel Henderson had the fumble recovery.
“Without Cutlip, they were pretty limited,” Kelley said. “I give our kids a lot of credit. They did give up some yards here and there, but they held them out of the end zone.”
