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Out of the air, down to earth

Alton Voss, the county's top rusher, is one of several area quarterbacks relying more on his legs and less on his arm.

By FRANK PASTOR
Published October 21, 2005

Gulf coach Jay Fulmer has made it clear to quarterback Alton Voss: If a receiver is wide open when he sprints out, throw him the ball.

Otherwise, his first priority is to run.

"If he gets out there and he's got green grass in front of him, we expect him to run the ball," Fulmer said. "If somebody is not wide open, squeeze it, tuck it and run and get all you can."

Voss has gotten more yards than any player in the county this season.

Rushing, not passing.

His 940 yards on 96 attempts are 33 more than Ridgewood running back Byronell Arline, who has carried 65 more times.

But Voss is not the only quarterback turning heads with his legs.

Tate Humphrey of Mitchell ranks third in the county with 731 yards. Hudson's Kyle Hatcher (12th with 260 yards) and Zephyrhills' Sederrik Cunningham (14th with 238) are among the top 15. Pasco's Josh Johnson (78 yards) recently got into the act after playing behind Tony Smith earlier in the season.

Some quarterbacks run by design, others when defenses give them certain looks or the pocket breaks down around them. In almost every case, coaches are trying to put their best players in position to make plays as often as possible.

"As a coach, you've got to find ways to keep the ball in their hands and give them opportunities to win football games," said Mitchell coach Scott Schmitz. "I don't know if it's so much a trend, I just think that there's some pretty good quarterbacks in the county this year."

Hudson coach Mark Nash said he thinks the success Florida coach Urban Meyer has enjoyed with the spread option offense has played a part, too. The offense is built around the option run in which the quarterback, in the shotgun, reads the defensive end and hands off to the tailback or runs the option with a trailing back or receiver.

"It seems like every time a new offense comes down the pike and has some success, everybody jumps on the bandwagon," Nash said.

Fulmer brought his run-oriented offense from Kentucky. He designs most of the runs for Voss, who developed his ability to change directions quickly as a youth league running back. By getting good depth on his drops and taking advantage of his mobility, Voss can get downfield on off tackle plays or sweeps before even the fastest linebacker or defensive end can catch him.

If defenses play off the ball, it gives Voss room to run. If they load up the line of scrimmage, he can throw downfield to receivers Shawn Williamson, A.J. Lowther or Marcus Neesen.

"A lot of defenses don't account for the quarterback, and if they do they account for them with a linebacker," Fulmer said. "Put a linebacker on Humphrey, on Alton, on Cunningham, and you're going to get beat all night."

Schmitz scripts most of the runs for Humphrey, a converted defensive end whom he calls Mitchell's best running back. The Mustangs like to spread out defenses to spring Humphrey for long runs off counter plays, traps, sweeps or draws. On plays where Humphrey hands off to fullback Ian Beckett, he has the option to pull the ball back and run depending on the look a defense gives him.

"I think when you look at Tate and the Voss kid, those two kids could be a starting running back in a lot of backfields," Schmitz said. "They're just also capable of throwing the ball very well."

Unlike Voss and Humphrey, Hatcher is a quarterback who can run. Because he is capable of making every type of throw - the short ball with touch, the deep ball, across the field, the deep out with velocity - Hudson always looks pass first.

Though he runs mostly out of necessity, Hatcher's strength, elusiveness and deceptive quickness are enough to keep defenses honest, particularly out of Hudson's shotgun, spread-type passing offense.

"Maybe we're in a a situation where we're in a one-back set in the shotgun, so if you've only got one back, you can't threaten both sides of the field with him in the shotgun," Nash said. "So, you've got to have another weapon, i.e., the quarterback, to threaten the other side of the ball."

Cunningham and Johnson pose threats of their own.

Though he doesn't run as often as the others - possibly so Zephyrhills can get the ball to its best athlete, wide receiver Bryan Thomas - Cunningham shows great leadership and command of the offense and does just enough to win, Fulmer said.

Johnson, a freshman whose father, Issac, played quarterback on Pasco's 1992 state title team, can run or throw and makes good decisions with the ball, particularly off play-action fakes where he has to throw to spots downfield.

Whether they're an anomaly or a trend, county coaches say dual-threat quarterbacks are here to stay.

"Shoot," Schmitz said, "you've got to go with your horse."

[Last modified October 21, 2005, 02:15:38]