MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It’s been a roller coaster year for University High (3-6) quarterbacks.
Joseph McBee took the lead after Logan Holgorsen graduated and shipped off to the University of Houston with his father, and McBee, a natural running back, had a tough time generating much in the air.
On the ground, however, McBee performed better in the Hawks’ option scheme, picking up 119 yards and five touchdowns on 94 carries in six games before freshman Chase Edwards took the starting job for good.
Although one player in particular — senior Logan Raber — was a major conversation piece when the UHS offense came up, there was another senior solidifying the receiver group amid the quarterback shakeup.
Jacob Spearen kept his head on straight with the changing offense, and so far through nine games, he has generated 237 all-purpose yards with 208 coming off 11 receptions. He also has one touchdown, the only receiving score in the 39-15 win over Brooke on Sept. 13.
“I’ve just been doing my routes and having faith in my coaches that they’re calling the plays,” Spearen said.
It’s no doubt the run-heavy offense has skewed the numbers Spearen in his final stanza, who accumulated 68 yards on seven receptions with Holgorsen at the helm. That’s in addition to having Randy Moss Award winner Evan Parow and stud wideout Amir Richardson downfield, who both ate up a large chunk of yardage and targets.
Those numbers from last year “were almost always key third down conversions,” UHS coach John Kelley said.
“He’s the most experienced receiver we had coming back — a piece of the four-receiver (set) we had over the last two years — and he’s been a great possession receiver. That’s what he’s been for us this year. You better know where he’s at because if you forget about him, he’ll be open. He caught more balls earlier in the season, but he still does a nice job for us.”
And although Spearen saw a little more targets in the previous weeks, he has the utmost faith in his young quarterback, noting that the two hit it off from the beginning of the season. He also relayed that although the team is young this year and has faced adversity due to that, the Hawks will be back in the larger conversation next year, albeit he’ll be graduated and onto his next journey in life.
And with his high school career ending tonight on the Mohawk Bowl against Morgantown, the humble senior never mentioned the impact he had on the team, but his coach was quick to do so.
“Jake’s not a vocal leader, he leads by example,” Kelley said. “To me, he’s not going to get on anyone, he just has his expectations and expects everyone else to do the same thing.”
Playing for UHS “has been the best four years of my life so far — I looked up to the guys (like Holgorsen, Parow and Richardson) from the last few years and the professionalism they had and preparing for games,” Spearen said, “and coach Kelley has taught me to just get your job done and things will work out.”
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