News - Sports

Thursday, Dec. 04, 2008

Two QBs with different styles share common goal: a state title

Two outstanding quarterbacks with contrasting styles.

Two teams from the same town playing for one state championship -- the Class AAAA Division II title.

Two teams of players wanting it more than they have wanted anything in their lives.

And two sets of fans, some conflicted because they have ties to South Pointe and Northwestern high schools.

It all unfolds at 8 p.m. today at Clemson's Memorial Stadium. And anyone who has never seen these two teams and their quarterbacks, South Pointe's Stephon Gilmore and Northwestern's Justin Worley, should take advantage of the opportunity.

It should be quite a show. It will be the last time both are on the same field. Gilmore is a senior and is headed to play football at South Carolina after the Christmas break. Worley is a sophomore who will be around a couple more seasons to entertain the true football fans in this part of the state.

"Stephon is the kind of player you enjoy coaching,'' Stallions quarterback coach Robert Hellams said. "He comes to practice every day ready to work. And most Sundays, he'll call me to see if I'm out here at the school so he can come throw some passes or lift weights.

"He doesn't worry about stats or individual things. His concerns are that he plays the best he can and helps our team win.''

Gilmore was one of the nation's top recruits until his tossed his hat into the ring to become a Gamecock. He had narrowed his choices to South Carolina and Alabama -- coach Nick Saban, No. 1 team in the country, big city lights -- but chose to stay closer to home so his family and friends could easily come see him play.

Barring injury, Worley should end up being one of the top senior quarterbacks in the nation in a couple years.

At 6-5, he's tall and can see over the line. He plays in a passing offense that allows him to showcase his golden arm. And he has quietly rewritten Northwestern passing records that folks thought would be in the book until at least Worley's senior season.

Instead, he went from being a rookie starter to playing like a seasoned pro. Teams have designed defenses to stop him all season. It has worked once, when South Pointe dropped eight, nine and even one player a couple times in coverage in the Stallions' 28-7 win in the regular season.

"I started feeling like I was coming into my own around our sixth game,'' Worley said. "At about that time, it seemed like it was getting easier and that everything was starting to click.

"We've faced about every trick defense imaginable this year. Lancaster started it the first time we ran a play. They dropped all 11 players into coverage and we didn't know what to do. Then we played South Pointe and they were dropping a lot of people on nearly every play, it threw us off. We're confident playing them again and it should be a great game.''

Worley broke all the records Will King set last year before heading off to Furman. He bested King's single-season marks in passing yards, 3,434-3,395, touchdown passes 48-41, passing attempts, 499-469 and completions, 288-280.

The 288 completions broke the state record set in 2005 by former Byrnes quarterback Willy Korn, who had 281. And the 48 TD passes moved him to second behind Korn, who threw 53 that season.

All of that coming from a young, talented quarterback who was assumed to be King's heir to the throne, but had to compete for the job.

"Stephon and I are different as night and day when it comes to our styles,'' Worley said. "Coach Richardson doesn't want me to run, tells me no matter what, try to get the pass away. People don't look at me much as a runner, but I'm fine just throwing it around.

"In the first South Pointe game, I thought a little bit about taking off running. Our team is confident I can run if they need me to, but coach Richardson told me to get it done with my arm. This time against South Pointe, we are unloading the gun. We're going to do whatever it takes on offense to win the championship.''

Problem is, South Pointe feels the same way, and although there will be more than two players involved in the outcome, most eyes will be on the quarterbacks.

Gilmore is a double threat. He can run -- 1,142 yards, 20 touchdowns. He can pass -- 1,702 yards, 13 TDs with a 60.1 completion percentage.

And coaches from all over the country have taken notice since he led the Stallions' ninth-grade team to a 10-0 record in 2005, the year South Pointe opened.

Gilmore is special. He was picked to play in this year's Shrine Bowl game, was selected Class AAAA Division II's Back of the Year, was named South Carolina's High School Player of the Year this week by the Greenville Touchdown Club, is a finalist for the S.C. Mr. Football Award and accepted an offer to play in the Under Armour All-American Game in Orlando, Fla.

South Carolina recruited Gilmore as a defensive back, but that could change, considering the Gamecocks' instability at the quarterback position.

"It will be tough next year not playing quarterback in college,'' he said. "But I think I'm a better defensive back. But if coach (Steve) Spurrier wants to give it a try, I'll be ready. He's mentioned it before.''

But for now, Gilmore's mind is on winning the state championship. It has been his goal since the day he ran a long touchdown on the first play in South Pointe history when he was a freshman on the school's 10-0 team.

"It will be my final game for South Pointe,'' Gilmore said. "It's my final game for South Pointe and I'm going to try to play the best-ever game I've ever played, but that's how all of us feel.

"Our seniors started out 10-0 on our ninth-grade team, so we want to go out 15-0. All season I've had my mind made up I was going to do everything I could to get us to the state championship. Now that we're here, I don't expect any letdowns.''

Barry Byers • 329-4099