MORGANTOWN — The official roster for the University High School football team listed on the WVSSAC web site doesn’t even list Glenn Brown as a quarterback.
No. 86 WR/DB, that’s wide receiver and defensive back.
And No. 86 isn’t exactly the first number any quarterback would select. It doesn’t bring back memories of Peyton Manning, John Elway or even Bubby Brister.
But on Friday night, Brown, a junior, was lined up behind center to face rival Morgantown.
“I definitely would not have believed it,” Brown said of being the UHS starter. “I would have thought I would be at my normal receiver position.”
However, after he accounted for 425 yards of total offense in a win against Preston last week it was Brown who got the call against MHS.
“I wasn’t surprised that Glenn started today. At the beginning of the season, he was right in the mix, and he played a lot of quarterback in our seven-on-seven summer activities,” UHS head coach Eric Snyder said. “We probably put a little too much on him tonight and tried to ask him to do a little too much.”
Brown finished Friday’s 49-7 loss to the Mohigans with 127 yards on 14-of-29 passing and one touchdown toss. Unfortunately for UHS, he wasn’t able to have the same success on the ground as he did against Preston. Brown finished with two yards rushing on 10 carries with a long run of 11 yards.
“Last week I thought I played pretty well,” Brown said. “I had some nice runs and made it harder on the defense to contain me and I was able to find some open receivers at the same time.”
Against the Mohigans’ stout defense, it was tougher to get the Hawks’ offense in gear.
UHS finished with just 205 yards of total offense and just 29 on the ground.
“They were more physical tonight than we were,” Snyder said. “That was the message to my guys at the end of the game in the locker room. It’s about our preparation in the offseason. We have to do everything it takes to be able to make ourselves bigger, fast, stronger. Even though we had a wonder offseason this past year, it’s got to be even more now.”
Brown echoed his head coach’s comments about what the young Hawks learned in the lopsided defeat.
“We know we got a lot to work on and we know what we need to work on,” Brown said. “We need to get bigger, get better and get ready for these playoffs that are coming up.”
Snyder, who has played three quarterbacks this season, said he wasn’t sure if Brown would be the starter in the regular season finale against Oak Hill.
“Glenn is one heck of an athlete, and he has to be on the field and has to have the ball in his hands,” Snyder said. “He’s able to do wonderful things with the ball, and I still think he’s got that ability to do that stuff. So, we will definitely take a look at what Oak Hill does and what they present to us to be able to see our best point of attack.”
The Hawks (4-5) host the Red Devils (8-1) 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8.
— Story by Eric Herter
