Tigers giving Chase a chance

With Central facing the situation of replacing the Southeast Missourian player of the year at quarterback, the Tigers coaching staff has selected an all-state track runner, senior Chase Johnson, to lead their offense.

"He is like one of those little Whippet dogs," Central coach Lawrence Brookins said. "Have you ever seen one of those Whippets? They are skinny and they look like little hot dogs with legs, but they're faster than hell. They're like the second-fastest land animal.

"Johnson's real quick," Brookins added. "He's not big, but he throws a good ball and throws good on the move. So we're adjusting some things and tweaking some things without overhauling the whole system to where we let him take advantage of what he can do."

Johnson, a former wide receiver, will head the offense Friday at 7 p.m., when Central visits Parkway North in its opener.

Brookins last season had two experienced quarterbacks to select from and went with Blake Slattery, who passed for 1,636 yards and 10 touchdowns en route to earning player of the year honors.

Senior running back Joe Uhls is a returning starter for Central, which was 4-7 but made the Class 4 playoffs last year. (Southeast Missourian file)

He had beaten out Garrett Stevens, who had started as a freshman in 2004.

Slattery now is at Southeast Missouri State as a baseball recruit while Stevens opted not to join the football team for his senior season.

Johnson said Stevens told him he was pursuing other passions besides football. With Stevens no longer in the picture, Johnson is glad to be leading the offense.

"I found out we had no quarterback so I just stepped up," Johnson said. "Nobody else wanted to step up. ... I'm a team player, and I'm going to share the ball with everybody. We have good receivers, so I think this is going to be a pretty good year.

"I think I am good at both [running and throwing]. I prefer running because I think I can hit the yardage that we might need."

Johnson said he told Brookins about his interest in the position during the spring track season. The coach told him if he worked hard during the summer, he would have a chance to win the job.

The job is relatively new to Johnson. He spent half of his ninth-grade season as quarterback for the freshman team. He opted to become a receiver during his sophomore year because he knew how good Slattery and Stevens would be and he wanted to earn some playing time.

"At first, there were plays I wasn't getting but now the plays are just fluent," he said. "I know my reads and everything. I just decided I'd step up and take the role of a leader."

Brookins said he will let Johnson run as well as pass. He said the offense will focus more on the ground attack.

"Most of our offense, we're throwing for seven yards here and hoping to run for 70 more," Brookins said. "Every night in practice we're telling him, 'Hey, if you're turning the corner coming downhill and it looks cloudy, tuck that sucker and run out of bounds if you need to and don't be a hero. But if it looks good for a few more yards, go ahead and get it.

"Most offenses around here -- including ours -- are not asking any quarterback to throw Dan Marino seven-step drop 70-yard bombs," Brookins added.

Johnson's favorite receiver so far is tight end Tyler McNabb.

"Great hands," Johnson said. "I can throw it anywhere, and he'll catch it."

Last year's top receiver, George Hamilton III, who led the team with 32 receptions for approximately 566 yards, relocated to Tampa, Fla., with his mother and sister and will not be on this year's team. Brookins and Johnson, who counts Hamilton as a close friend, both have been in touch with Hamilton, who had expressed interest in returning.

But the Tigers are moving on in their plans with the expectation Hamilton won't be back this season.

Brookins said 5-foot-7, 160-pound junior Cantrell Andrews will be someone Johnson might throw to this season. Andrews was an all-conference player last year as a sophomore.

McNabb, Jonathan Siemers and Shawn Prince also have soft hands and could see their fair share of catches.

"Are they as fast and shifty as George? No," Brookins said. "They're not the jitterbug type of kid he was. We are just asking them to catch it. If we can get it to you, and you can catch it, that's positive yardage."

Johnson's backup will be 6-3, 170 pound freshman Andrew Williams, son of Steve Williams, the Tigers' offensive coordinator. Sophomore Raymond Woldtvedt will be the third-stringer.

Williams already has a size 16 shoe.

"In first grade, I had a 10 or 9 [size shoe]," Williams said. "Pretty big."

Williams said he wants to earn some playing time as the year progresses but he mostly just wants what is best for his team. Williams began playing last year. He said Johnson is stronger and faster than him.

"Andrew is going to be a good quarterback when he get's a little varsity experience," Johnson said.

Some good news for all Central's quarterbacks is that the offensive line will be larger than normal. The Tigers line has typically lacked size, Brookins said.

"I don't know why that is," Brookins said. "You can go down the street and round the corner to Jackson and they'll pull out at least three or four 6-foot-6, 260, and they are a rock stool away from us and they may even be related to some of these guys. I can't figure it out.

"I'm excited because some of these kids here actually have some bulk. You can be small and you can be good, but if you're big and can be good, that's even better."

Cody Mayes (6-2 215), David Ludolph (6-4 235), Rickien Russell (6-4 280) Eric Rueseler (6-5 250), Jared Siemers (6-2 195) and Mason Hess (6-0 170) all should see time on the line.

As for Johnson, who suffered a thumb injury last week in practice but will still start Friday, Brookins said he is ready for game action.

"It's going to be tough trying to replace Slattery," Johnson said. "But I'm just going to go out there and lead my team to some victories."