SAN ANTONIO – After coming off a 10-2 season which ended in the area round of the 6A Texas high school playoffs, one would think it would be easier for the Johnson Jaguars football team to pick up where it left off. However, during the offseason, starting quarterback Ty Hawkins left the program to play his senior season at the prestigious IMG Academy in Florida.
When it comes to replacing your starting quarterback, there isn’t a clear-cut option for who will take over in that spot. After the Jaguars’ first practice, Johnson’s head football coach Theodore “TP” Miller told KSAT they currently have 14 quarterbacks, ranging from freshmen to seniors, who are all competing to be the next starting quarterback.
Whoever gets chosen out of the 14 options shouldn’t be an issue for this team.
“Having a new guy at quarterback we gotta adapt and he’s gotta learn the playbook but I mean I feel really good about our young quarterbacks ready to step up for this big role so I’m just very excited for the season,” said senior wide receiver Ethan Day.
“You know I feel like we’ve handled it well. When stuff happened, you know, we had a QB leave, no one was down. We had Zeke and Elvis (Estrada) step in almost immediately, and you know, practice kept moving. We adapted, and I feel very confident about where we are now,” said senior left tackle Austin Sekula.
Having senior leadership is always important for a program to have, but Johnson has 43 seniors on a roster made up of 66 players, which is roughly 65% of the varsity roster. But these Jaguars are excited to have so much experience to help them take the next step for the program.
“I feel like this year’s team, you know, we have a lot of returning guys, so while they might have started, they have a lot of experience in the field,” said Sekula. “I feel this year, we want it more. We had a taste of success last year, and now I think everyone wants it again and wants to go further than last year.”
How much further?
“I’m ready to play in Jerry’s world (AT&T Stadium for the state championship game) in December. That’s what I’m looking forward to having a deep run ‘cause this team’s got a lot of talent, and we’re ready to show it to the world,” said Day.
Not having anyone in set positions already this season has made practices that much more competitive.
“Every day they’re competing for a position, one day you may be starting, one day you may be not, but iron sharpens iron, so guys are really elevated their plane,” said Coach Miller.
The Jaguars will need to elevate their game when they host Judson for the first game of the season on Aug. 30 at 7:30 p.m.
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