Moloney doing the same things as his predecessors, differently

A tall, dark-haired and stoic quarterback is seated at a press conference table the Monday before the South Carolina high school football state championships.

It could have been Justin Worley in 2010, or Mason Rudolph in 2013. It was Gage Moloney in 2015.

The 6-foot-2 junior left-handed quarterback is a different player from his renowned predecessors, but he’s a very similar person. The qualities he shares with Worley and Rudolph – disinterest in publicity, focus, intelligence, innate leadership – are the same ones that helped Worley get to the NFL and Rudolph to almost instantly become a college football star.

Like the two before him, Moloney has the Trojans playing for a state championship Saturday in Columbia. His path to the seat at the press conference table beside Northwestern coach Kyle Richardson is a little different.

Out of nowhere

Moloney materialized at Northwestern seemingly out of the thick and humid summer air. His mother, Krista, showed up in Richardson’s office in late July, saying she’d seen his presentation about the program’s academic plan at a teachers’ conference online. Like her son, who had studied Worley and Rudolph and their accomplishments, Krista was impressed with the focus on academics and wanted her son to be part of the Northwestern program.

“We just knew about the tradition at Northwestern academically and with sports,” Moloney said Monday. “So, we just felt like it was a good fit to come up here and it just worked out with everything that was going down in Charleston with my mom and everything.”

Krista declined to talk for the story, and Moloney didn’t go into detail about his family life. That’s in keeping with a standout quarterback that would rather remain in the shadows, much like Rudolph and Worley. But within three days of meeting Richardson for the first time, Moloney had moved into the Meadow Lakes neighborhood. He was officially a Northwestern student, his transfer approved by the Rock Hill school district and the South Carolina High School League.

A job and a friend, won

Moloney didn’t walk right into the starting quarterback job at Northwestern. Richardson had no idea who he was, or what kind of player he would be.

Before he ever made a friend at the new school, Moloney could have made an enemy, Will Hagood. He was the Trojans’ starting quarterback for most of the offseason, and he made it through most of August as the No. 1 guy.

Moloney beat out Hagood for the starting job several weeks into the season; he completed 21-of-22 passes for 449 yards and six touchdowns in a Week Three blowout of Greenwood. But Hagood and Moloney remained close friends. Richardson credited Hagood for his positive attitude toward the situation.

“It is really fun to be with (Moloney) and Will Hagood in quarterback meetings, and just hanging out with them,” he said. “Will’s a great team player. It’s fun to be with them and have a good meeting room.”

Moloney had no issues melding with the group. His evident talent and unassuming personality helped.

“He’s done a great job of coming in and making himself a Trojan,” said Richardson. “He’s not come in and talked about it; he’s just gone to work and become part of the group.”

A new toy to play with

Worley, Rudolph and Moloney share similar personalities, but their playing styles represent a gradual shift in Northwestern’s Air Raid offense, to the point that it’s barely an Air Raid any more, at least not the kind Oklahoma State or Baylor run. Fifty-one percent of Northwestern’s plays this season have been passes, down from 58 percent in 2013 – Rudolph’s 15-0 senior season – and further down from 68 percent in 2010 – Worley’s undefeated senior season.

Moloney – and junior running back Jerry Howard – have brought a different dimension to Northwestern’s offense: a power run game. Richardson said the 51-percent stat shows how he has tweaked the Trojans’ offense to fit Howard and Moloney, creating a system more reminiscent of Clemson or the Carolina Panthers, than the 2010 Northwestern Air Raid. Opposing defenses can no longer key on one facet of Northwestern’s offense.

“I can call plays differently with (Moloney) back there,” Richardson said.

Recruiting patience

Moloney’s college recruitment will also be different than Worley and Rudolph’s, because he’s about a year behind. The latter two started at Northwestern as sophomores, so Richardson was already personally vouching for them by their junior years.

That doesn’t mean the southpaw won’t catch up quickly. He’s already had serious flirtations with North Carolina – visits to Chapel Hill and visits from coaches – and South Carolina (the previous coaching staff), LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee and a number of other schools have inquired. Moloney will be one of the primary recipients of residual recruiting interest from junior defensive end Logan Rudolph, who already has offers from a roll-call of 20 or 25 of the great college football programs.

“Other people are gonna feed off that recruiting too,” said Richardson. “That’s the same way it worked for Mason and Worley; they had other guys they piggy-backed off of, and then they became the guys that people piggy-backed off them.”

It took a while for Worley and Rudolph to pull their first offers, both from LSU.

“The first one is always scared to be the first,” said Richardson, adding that QB scholarships are more precious than other positions due to the limited number. “Once (LSU) offered, it was like the faucet turned on. Same thing’s gonna happen with Gage.”

A totally different atmosphere

There is one more thing that could differentiate Moloney from the two Trojans QB legends that loom over the program: winning a state championship as a junior. Worley and the Trojans fell 33-24 to Berkeley in 2009, while Rudolph lost an overtime heart-breaker to Greenwood in 2012. Playing in big games like Saturday’s was one of the big reasons Moloney left the Lowcountry.

“I always knew they played in Upper State championships and state championships, so I knew there was obviously a tradition there,” he said. “It was something we took into account.”

Moloney called Northwestern football “a totally different atmosphere,” than the one he was in at James Island. But he’s shown a knack to adjust and thrive in new situations that should impress college coaches.

“He’s not letting the pressure of playing quarterback at Northwestern get to him,” said Richardson.

Just like the last two quarterbacks to represent Northwestern at state championship press conferences, Moloney was quiet but confident on Monday. He admitted he was a tad nervous sitting in front of between 10 and 15 members of the media; like Worley and Rudolph, Moloney doesn’t appear to love being interviewed.

After the press conference and just before leaving, Moloney spoke with a reporter for 2 minutes and 28 seconds.

“I’m super stoked to play, it’s gonna be a great experience. I’m ready to go back home and get to practice with my team and get my team ready for this weekend,” he said.

And with that, Moloney – it could have been Worley or Rudolph – dashed off to join Richardson and hit the road back to Rock Hill.

This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Moloney doing the same things as his predecessors, differently."