Blair Roman made it official Wednesday afternoon. Matt Nolan is now the Senators' starting quarterback, and will start the Sept. 16 4A opener against North Valleys.
Nolan started in last week's 34-0 game against Highlands High in Pocatello, Idaho because Chance Quilling was benched for disciplinary reasons.
Nolan was second on the team in rushing with 56 yards, and the junior made enough plays with his feet to convince Roman to make the change. Quilling is being moved to wingback opposite Dylan Sawyers, who led the team with 61 yards.
"Matt did some nice things up there in Idaho," Roman said after Wednesday's practice. "He made some good plays running the ball. He's faster than Trey (Jensen, last year's starter), and Trey was pretty fast.
"I met with the staff, and we decided to put our best runners on the field. Outside of Dylan, Chance and Matt are the two best runners we have. If we were in a two-quarterback system, only one could be on the field at a time. Now, we have both in the game at the same time."
Nolan said he's been taking snaps with the first team for about 10 days. He was excited to hear the news that he would be the starter for at least the North Valleys game. He also knows that there are facets of the game he needs to work on
"I'm pretty excited and a little nervous," he said. "I just want to go out and perform; help my team win.
"I think I can bring leadership and more of a running attack to the offense. Chance is a great athlete. He will do well at running back. I need to work on my passing. I'm a little better rolling out than I am dropping back. My footwork isn't what it needs to be when I drop back. It's something I need to work on."
The Senators' got some more news on Wednesday when Roman found out that tackle Joe Zinda (shoulder) and center Aaron Cowee (concussion) have been cleared to play, and are expected to start taking place in padded workouts today. Having the duo back gives the Senators some much-needed depth up front.
The bad news out of Idaho on the offensive side of the ball is that Jake McClelland suffered a broken foot. Roman said it's unknown whether he will undergo surgery or just have to wear a cast. McClelland was battling Joey Thurman for playing time at fullback.
Defensively, Roman has made several changes.
Quilling, who led the team in tackles last season has moved from safety to linebacker. Austin Pacheco has moved over to safety with Cole Dufresne moving to cornerback along with Brock Pradere.
"I felt we had enough depth (in the defensive backfield) to move Chance," Roman said. "Linebacker is his natural position."
When a team loses as badly as Carson did last weekend, the natural inclination is to want to get back on the field and redeem yourself. Carson has a bye this week, so the players will have an extra week to rebound from the wake-up call in Idaho. Roman is hoping his team will be real hungry when it starts playing for keeps against the Panthers.
Roman said he was happy that Sawyers was able to get through the game without any issues, and that the offense showed a lot of team speed.
"We made a ton of little mistakes," Roman said. "When you play a team the caliber of Highland, you can't do that. When you are out there practicing in July and August as a coach you hope not to make that many mistakes."
