MORGANTOWN — Legendary football coach John Madden once said, “If you have two quarterbacks, you actually have none.”
That’s not the case for the 2024 Morgantown Mohigans and University Hawks.
Between the two teams, a total of five quarterbacks have played significant sets this season.
Some of those game plans were out of necessity because of injuries, but the schemes with various players under center helped advance the offenses for both University and Morgantown.
When the teams meet tonight for the annual Mohawk Bowl, don’t be surprised if there are different signal callers on each drive.
“Some of it is planned out and some of it is how the game is going to decide which quarterback we’re going to go with,” said MHS head coach Sean Biser.
Of his quarterbacks, UHS head coach Eric Snyder said, “They’re always up for the challenge. We have full confidence in what they each bring to the table.”
The Hawks started the year with junior Jack Byrer at quarterback. He fought through injuries in the first game, which led to sophomore Harrison Helbig getting substantial playing time.
When Byrer was healthier, he saw more action around Week 5, with both Helbig and him guiding the offense.
A new wrinkle for the Hawks (4-4) was added last week in a nail-biting 42-35 win against Preston. Junior Glenn Brown, who has played wide receiver for most of the season, lined up at quarterback and led University High to victory.
Brown completed 15 of 18 pass attempts for 285 yards and added 140 rushing yards on 18 carries.
“Glenn’s got the hot hand,” Snyder said. “Hopefully, he’s going to continue riding with that hot hand.”
Helbig will likely get some snaps at quarterback against Morgantown, too, though Byrer is still not 100% healthy heading into this week.
For the Mohigans (6-3), senior Alex Himes inherited the starting quarterback role heading into this season following the graduation of Maddox Bowers.
Himes has performed admirably all season as both a prolific passer and a team leader. He was on board when a freshman, Maddox Twigg, arrived on the scene and pushed for more playing time.
In Week 5, Twigg made his debut for Morgantown in a 49-6 win at Buckhannon-Upshur. In Week 8, Himes and Twigg split time at quarterback in the first half and Twigg played most of the second half for a 28-14 win at Parkersburg South.
“They both have different skill sets and we just try to maximize both of those things,” Biser said. “Alex has the most experience and that helps him in certain situations. Maddox has a lot of athleticism and he’s a true dual-threat quarterback.”
For any freshman to see the field in a varsity contest is something fairly rare. The big stage hasn’t scared Twigg at all.
“He embraces it and welcomes the challenges that come with it,” Biser said. “The schedule we play is pretty tough, but he meets it head-on. The mechanics of running the offense slowed him down a bit when he was dinged up in spots, but he really works at it. He’s got a lot of goals set for himself. He has some natural ability and works really hard on top of that.
“He came in and tried to learn as much as he could. Early on, it may have been a lot for him with everything we threw at him. We tried to go slow, but at the same time, we had expectations that he was going to play for us and potentially start for us.”
The quarterbacks for both Morgantown and University don’t see the situation as a competition, but rather a real cohesion of skills with the ultimate goal of winning football games.
“We joke that they share a brain,” Biser said. “They are very close and hang with each other in practice. They have a really good relationship. They’ll be the first one to congratulate the other when they make a big play. Alex does a great job in his role. He’s been an excellent leader and an excellent role model for Maddox.”
Now, the real test comes when each team has to prepare for how their defense will handle the unique quarterback system on the other side of the ball.
“You have to prepare for them both,” Snyder said. “We’re seeing the other end of that. We can have a handle a little bit on how they’re going to use their quarterbacks. They’re athletic enough to change things up on the fly and that’s something we’ll have to be ready for.”
Biser said, “Each of them have their own skill set, so you just have to see who is in the game and that’s how you determine how you’re going to play it. They have similar aspects in that they all throw the football, but one of them is a little more of a runner than the others, and that kind of changes what they do offensively. You just prepare for everything you think you’re going to see.”
In the Mohawk Bowl, anything can happen.
“When it comes to a rivalry game, it brings the best out of everyone,” Snyder said. “We can be prepared for what they like to do, but also be prepared that they’re going to pull out something new.”
— Story by Matthew Peaslee
