Scotty Graziano is not a conventional quarterback.
Then again, Westminster Christian has gone beyond being a conventional high school team. The Warriors followed a disappointing 40-6 loss to Hope by beating defending Northeastern Athletic Conference champion Rockford Christian Life 14-7 Saturday.
“I ultimately like playing receiver, but playing quarterback is stepping up and doing what the team needs,” Graziano said.
Graziano is all about winning, and believes his the time for Westminster (2-1, 2-1) has arrived. Substance has replaced style. He’s the first to admit he doesn’t have the arm of a slick-passing quarterback. He can run the read-option, though, and that’s this year’s emphasis.
“Coach knows we don’t have Max Tucker, who was our main passing option last year and the year before, so we needed to run read-option,” Graziano said. “You just read the ends and the coach trusts you, which is the biggest part.”
So Westminster coach John Davis is blending junior passer/runner Tannor Park into the quarterback game plan with Graziano, much the way the Warriors have taken his offense and blended in running plays from the style of his new offensive coordinator, Dan Cavanaugh, the former Hampshire head coach.
“Scotty and Tannor are a great two-quarterback team,” Davis said. “We see who’s feeling it, and who’s not feeling it, and we change gears.
“I mean, Graziano is our captain. If you’re in a situation, you put your captain at the wheel.”
Graziano has 24 carries for 158 yards, and is 4-for-8 as a passer. He also has four catches for 58 yards. Graziano simply finds ways to get it done when passing, like with a 35-yard alley-oop pass he threw to Connor Albrecht Saturday to set up Westminster Christian’s go-ahead touchdown.
“Honestly, it could have been a much better pass,” Graziano said. “Connor did a great job of catching it. And really, that’s all we can ask for. He’s an all-conference receiver.”
Holding for the extra-point kick, Graziano also pulled off a two-point conversion after Westminster drew within 7-6. He threw a high lob on the run just beyond the reach of defenders that Noah Anderson caught on his fingertips from his knees to make it 8-7.
“Scotty has got experience,” said running back Xavier Brown, who delivered 127 yards and broke a 79-yard TD run to put Westminster up 14-7. “He helped us win a game last year at quarterback. So we’ve got all the faith in the world in Scotty to lead us.”
Davis displayed his confidence in Graziano near the game’s end at midfield. Facing fourth-and-1, Davis went with a Graziano sneak rather than punt. The Warriors converted and ran off virtually all the remaining time.
“Zach Anderson (6-foot, 220-pound lineman) said call it off, tell Scotty to keep the ball and get right behind me,” Davis said. “As soon as he said that, I said, ‘Let’s do it.'”
So the Warriors pursue their first NEC title and playoff berth with a defense that backed the do-it-any-way-possible offense by taking away the ball three times and making a goal-line stand.
Park displayed the prevailing attitude as well as anyone. After being pulled at quarterback in favor of Graziano, he kept his head in the game and saved the win at safety by racing back to deflect what could have been an easy game-tying TD pass for Rockford Christian Life.
“This game defined who we were,” Davis said. “It lets us know we can contend and we can play.”
Twitter: @genechamberlai2
FOOTBALL TOP 5
Results through Sunday. Last week’s ranking in parentheses.
1. St. Charles North 3-0 (1)
2. Huntley 3-0 (2)
3. Jacobs 3-0 (3)
4. South Elgin 2-1 (4)
5. St. Charles East 1-2 (NR)
Player of the Week: Hampshire junior quarterback Jake Vincent went 23-for-31 for 286 yards with three touchdown passes in a 40-17 Fox Valley Fox victory at home over Grayslake Central.
