Jennifer Hoffer – Sports Editor
After breaking his finger, quarterback Jacob Jablonski is going to be unable to return to the field for his last season here as an Owl.
Head Coach Rich Cavanaugh was faced with the decision on who would start to take Jablonski’s spot at quarterback.
The team had a Sunday night practice the day after Jablonski’s injury. Freshman quarterback Brandon Basil said he felt horrible for him.
“It’s his senior year,” Basil said. “He was doing a great job this year for us, and it’s tough to have to deal with what he had to.”
But that same night, Basil was curious and went to Cavanaugh to see where he fell on the depth chart. Basil said that Cavanaugh was planning on making him the starter. And if anything, Basil said he was very surprised.
“Once I became the starter, my goal was to manage the game and lead the team to victories,” Basil said. “Whether it be handing the ball off to Moscatel or Magee, or putting the ball in the air. My goal is to win games.”
Basil gives the credit to his improved success on his game this year because of the support of his teammates, coaches.
“I’ve had an amazing amount of support throughout this year,” Basil said. “My dad, being a high school football coach, helped me a lot with the process of transitioning to college football.”
And as Basil said, college football is a completely different animal than high school football.
“This being my first year of college football, I have learned a lot from this season,” Basil said. “College football may be different than high school football because of the speed and size, but it’s still just a game. I have learned a lot about football this year, including reading defenses and learning how to counteract defenses.”
Not only have his dad and coaches been big supporters of him, Basil said, but one teammate in particular, Jablonski, has been a huge supporter of his.
“He is constantly helping me on little fundamentals and reads,” Basil said. “He has really been a huge help throughout for me.”
Another one of Basil’s teammates, senior Vaughn Magee, said he credits him a lot going out there for the team as a freshman because he knows how hard that is to do.
“He’s a very good quarterback,” Magee said. “He works hard in practice and always keeps his poise. I think he’s played well in the games he’s started so far. I know as time goes on he will get a lot better and will continue to play his heart out every game.”
Basil aid he really credits his enjoyment this year from playing with his teammates like Jablonski.
“It’s all been a great experience so far,” Basil said. “I love playing with this team. Everyone on the team is close and we have great chemistry.”
As far as the team goes, Basil said, they lost a great leader and great quarterback when Jablonski went down with the injury, but said the team keeps plowing along and will bounce back from this.
Overall, Basil said that he is impressed with how the team did this season and is excited for the seasons to come.
“Next season we will lose some of our key players on both sides of the ball,” Basil said. “But next year we will have back a bunch of great players including John Moscatel, and hopefully Gary Williams. These two playmakers will make for a high-powered, successful offense and a strong offensive line that I trust a lot.”
For Basil though, he said he has a lot of work to do regarding his personal improvements.
“Footwork, arm strength and speed are the big three,” Basil said. “I also need to continue to work on my reads and understand the playbook inside and out.”
He said he felt like he became more comfortable once he became the starter and could get more reps in when he took the field.
“All of the coaches and upperclassmen are really helping me to improve on what I need to,” Basil said. “As a team, we have faced a lot of adversity throughout the year, and we have shown that we are strong physically and mentally.”
