Summer practice has consisted of hard work and analyzing plays in the past few years for Huntley football players Carson Rowe and Malik Carter.
This recent summer, though, has challenged both players the most, competing for the role of starting quarterback. For them, it all depended on showing up.
“They both took coaching very critically and well,” football coach Michael Naymola said. “They both had on and off days where sometimes Carson would look better and sometimes Malik would look better, but they knew that going in that they had to show up every day and prove it every day.”
Both athletes have their strengths and weaknesses, but they worked with each other as teammates to see who would be playing more often. Their coaches’ decision wasn’t easy.
“So far, our season has been good since we beat [Crystal Lake Central], and that was a big win,” Carter said. “Week two, we played Dundee Crown, which was difficult, but we got the momentum going. This past Friday, we didn’t do as good as we wanted to, but we beat Crystal Lake South.”
With a successful season this far, a few setbacks began to come across individual players. For Rowe, unfortunately, the season that he worked for ended during the game on Sept 5 against Dundee Crown.
“I dropped the snap, went to go pick it up, ran back and got tackled,” Rowe said. “My right ankle was pinned to the ground. [The opposing player] was lying on it. I got up and tried to keep running with my left, and it just broke.
Rowe reflected on his injury with both a discouraged but confident mindset. His teammates and coaches helped him through the process. Most importantly, this meant that Carter had to step up into Rowe’s position.
Last year, Carter trained as one of the strongest and most mature players on the field. He moved up to Varsity during his current sophomore year. Throughout the season and after his injury, without a thought, Rowe encouraged Carter as he took over his position.
“Carson’s been with me by my side since it’s probably day one,” Carter said. “Starting off, we were competing during the summer, then during weeks one through three before he got injured. Now, he’s just been there helping me. I come off the field with a bad drive, he lets me know, ‘you’re good, you can bounce back.’”
In Carter’s first game as the starting quarterback, he put points on the board, but he believes he has improvements to make. He set many big goals to keep up stability this season, leading as far as into playoffs. An opportunity to play awaited both athletes this season. Good sportsmanship and support were necessary, and that was exactly what was provided to the quarterbacks.
“He’s going to come back as strong as ever. He’ll be prepared. We’ve already had the conversation with him,” Naymola said. “Next year, he’s going to continue to work as a quarterback, but he’s such a dynamic athlete that he could end up being in many other positions and do just as well.”
For now, Rowe still shows up on the sidelines in support of his team.
“It’s just a setback. My teammates have been keeping my head up, and I’m staying involved with the team, going to practice daily,” Rowe said. “I’ll be back.”
