He watched the games from the sidelines all year. There were brief moments where he got to play, but only when the game was already in hand. He waited, hoping for his chance to show his talents. The opportunity is here tonight.
Starting quarterback Kennedy Jones injured his leg last Friday in the playoff win against the Eastern Hills Highlanders . Second string quarterback, Quentin Hasten earned playing time after Jones went down in the playoff game against the Highlanders, scoring a touchdown and maintaining the offense’s flow to an eventual win. This time he won’t have a two touchdown lead and one quarter to work with. He will be starting four quarters with the score at 0-0.
Although Hasten admits he comes into the game nervous, he doesn’t doubt his confidence. The quarterback believes the strong support he’d been receiving from both his players and coaches is enough to aid him in pulling through with a win.
“I’m going into this game pretty confident,” Hasten said. “As long as I got all of my players just kind of pushing me through and telling me it’s going to be alright with me then I think we can pull through and win this thing.”
Hasten refuses to let the mental part of playing quarterback out in his preparation for the game. He worked hard memorizing all of the offensive plays, making sure he knew them with no hesitation. In addition to memorization, he studied game film of the opposition’s defense, making sure he could recognize certain blitz and coverage packages along with mismatches between his receivers and rivaling defensive backs. Hasten’s mental structure also enables him to not crack under pressure if things begin to not go in his favor.
“Being thrown into a playoff game is a whole different setting,” Hasten said. “If something happens that doesn’t go your way you just have to push through it and keep everybody’s composure up.”
Hasten’s teammates had been giving him encouragement the entire week. Wide receiver Rodney Whitmore acknowledged his talent and believes he is ready for the role of starting quarterback in a playoff environment.
“He knows what he’s got to do just like we have to know our assignments,” Whitmore said. “We don’t have to boost his confidence or his ego because he’s got the swagger and the team’s got ours so we’re going into this thing ready to win.”
