Big Shoes to Fill: Albert steps in as Shelby's quarterback

SHELBY - At first the idea of starting at quarterback for the 2017 Shelby Whippets was a frightening for sophomore McGwire Albert. 

And who could blame him? The Whippets were coming off an 11-2 season a year ago, making it all the way to the Division IV Regional Championship for the first time since 1998. They were led by No. 1 ranked dual threat quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who was only a junior. Meanwhile Albert was just starting his high school career, competing alongside and against other freshmen. Barring any serious injuries, he'd be spending his sophomore season behind Armstrong, where he could sharpen his talents and compete for the starting QB spot his junior year. 

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But by the end of the 2016-17 school year, news had already come down that Armstrong would be out for the first three games. That meant Albert would start for Shelby against Madison, Lexington and Willard. 

"When I first found out I was scared because I didn’t know what to think," Albert said after practice on Tuesday. "I was playing freshmen last year. It’s kind of a big step up."

"Toward the end of last school year, the coaches came and told me, ‘Hey, you’re the guy. Have a good summer,’" Albert said. 

Albert then spent the summer offseason, training camp, two-a-days, 7-on-7, multiple scrimmages and weeks of practices preparing for Thursday night's Richland County Kickoff game at Madison. With a strong offensive line — comprised of senior Grant Reiser, junior Hayden Vent, senior Austin Parrigan, junior Hunter Bishop and sophomore Nick Amstutz — along with few of Armstrong's favorite receiving targets in Carter Brooks, Brady Hill and Uriah Giesler, Albert said he's gotten the hang of Shelby's spread offense. 

"It’s been flowing a lot easier since camp, just with the reps and everything," Albert said. "The game has kind of started slowing down since the first scrimmage."

Coach Erik Will said Albert has progressed far enough to where fans can expect a few wrinkles thrown into the playbook. 

"There’s a fine line between opening it up and being a jack of all trades, master of none," Will said. "We want to do what we do and do it well, but also have a few wrinkles in there. So I think we’ve been able to accomplish that. The great thing is we’ve had all summer to work with him. So it’s not like this is popping up Week One or Week Two where we had to make the change."

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Alongside Albert will be freshmen running back Owen Fisher, who will split time with senior Ty Hoffman running the ball. Giesler was originally slated to fill in for runningback Devon "Shorty" Brooks, who will also miss the first three games, but Will decided to switch things up two weeks ago following a scrimmage with Perkins.

"After the Perkins scrimmage we felt like two things needed to happen," Will said. "We’ve got a sophomore playing both ways for us on offense and defense (Grant Gossom). So we were able to move him over to just defense, and by moving Uriah back out to wide receiver we were able to now get him playing just one side. Owen can just step in. And his abilities just fit what we’re looking for out of that position really well."

The Whippets and Rams kick off the 2017 high school football season at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.

"I’m ready," Albert said. "With (the Galion scrimmage) or a couple of weeks ago, I would’ve told you I was nervous. But I’m feeling I’m ready to go."

ccasey@gannett.com

Twitter: @ConnorCasey_MNJ