Updated: September 16, 2010, 8:57 PM ET
Holy Cross QBs prepared to split time
When two quarterbacks share the ball, it's hard not to draw comparisons. Junior Yanni Gavalas is a more polished passer. Senior Kevin Durkan is more comfortable on the field and a bigger threat on the ground.
Superstar wideout Devon Cajuste says Gavalas has a cannon for an arm but he's still a touch more comfortable with Durkan, who took some in-game snaps last year. Holy Cross coach Tom Pugh said there is no competition. The quarterbacks will split time.
"The kids don't even know the difference," Pugh said.
Who's in the game could depend on the defense, or the offensive set or simply who's playing better. But when you field a player 6-4, 220-pound, all-everything receiver like Cajuste, it's important to know who's responsible for getting him the ball, especially when the team is aiming for a CHSFL title run.
Durkan rushed five times for 102 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown score in the Knights' 31-6 win over St. Francis Prep Friday night in the Battle of the Boulevard at Mitchel Field Athletic Complex. (Both schools are located on Francis Lewis Blvd.) Galavas went 3 for 4 passing for 109 yards. All three completions, one of which was a 63-yard score, went to the Stanford-bound Cajuste.
"You think Yanni, because he's a predominant thrower, and Durkan because he's a predominant scrambler, that Yanni is always going to throw and Durk is always going to run," Cajuste said. "But it's not like that. We're just rotating every drive. It's always a different quarterback so don't ever assume that he's just going to throw or the other is just going to run."
In fact, of the two passing attempts for Durkan Friday, one was 38-yard completion after Durkan called an audible once he recognized a blitz coming late in the second quarter. Pugh is showing faith in his double-headed quarterback attack after graduating standout quarterback/defensive back Dean Marlowe, now a safety at James Madison.
"Dean was the best athlete on the field in most games," Pugh said. "If he didn't see something he took off. He could throw 15 times and run 15 times."
Pugh may not have the same flexibility every down but there's always a threat downfield with Cajuste, who led the CHFSL in receiving last season, with 40 catches for 921 yards. The most lethal offensive player in the league was sidelined with an injured right knee last year when his team dropped the CHSFL Class AAA semifinal to St. Anthony's. As luck would have it, Holy Cross visits top-ranked St. Anthony's Friday at 7 p.m.
Pugh said the team doesn't talk about that playoff game anymore and instead is focused on the new season. But Cajuste remembers. He also remembered when standout lineman Chris Braithwaite, now at Virginia, strained his MCL in the first quarter and how his team held the Friars' scoreless for three quarters once St. Anthony posted 28 point in the first. It may not be a revenge game but it certainly means something.
"This game really means everything," Cajuste said. "It's not like we're going to take the season off light. It just makes a statement to everyone else."
Awwwww! I'm so proud of Chris-- pretty soon we'll see him as a commentator on ESPN? Whacha think?
ReplyDeleteJust got to stay on the grind you know we all believe in him.
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