Bronson airing it out
Thursday, October 21, 2010
At 5-foot-8 and maybe 125 pounds, D.J. Bronson isn’t big. But he sure plays that way. As the starting quarterback for the Northern Heights football team, Bronson is having a senior season that likely will be remembered for a long, long time.
His season statistics are eye-popping. He’s a sure Flint Hills League first-team and possibly All-State selection. With a cannon for an arm, and a talented group of teammates around him, Bronson has led the Wildcats to a 5-2 record this season. Bronson also leads the state in passing yards with 2,835, which is almost 1,000 yards more than his runner up.
But there’s more to Bronson than numbers alone. And while he’s at a disadvantage being one of the smallest starting quarterbacks in the state, what he lacks in physical stature, he makes up for in other ways.
Bronson is hard for defenses to find behind the Wildcats’ offensive line. But he’s also hard to find even for his own linemen.
Before Tuesday’s practice began, senior right guard Nathan Campbell turned and said, “I can’t see D.J.”
Bronson was just a few feet behind him, tossing a football in the air. With a pad on his left forearm, Bronson’s tiny shoulder pads looked snug in his white practice jersey.
“I just found the smallest set we had,” Bronson said. “It gives me more room to throw for my shoulder.”
Bronson’s right shoulder is the linchpin to the Wildcats’ offense that has carved up opponents all season long. Bronson can easily throw the football 40 yards on a standstill. He is averaging 405 passing yards a game and has thrown 38 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. His quarterback rating is 126.
But coach Greg French said Bronson’s statistics are not a result of his right arm alone.
“I think the thing that makes him special is his mind,” he said. “He’s a really smart kid and he understands the game. And he understands what we need as far as what we’re trying to do. He’s really great at reading coverages. Most of what we do, we’re going to try to read a coverage or a certain player on the defense. That’s going to tell us where to throw the football and he’s really good at that. The other thing that makes him special is his accuracy. He’s just very accurate throwing the football and makes great decisions.”
The trust French has in his quarterback is evident on every play.
“A lot of it is just simple reads, pre-snap reads,” Bronson said. “We’re trying to pick out people. You pick one or two people out and you try and just take what they give you. If they give us the bubble, take the bubble. If they give us they hitch, take the hitch. We’ll take five yards every play every night. Yeah, we have big play capability but take what they give you. That’s pretty much the whole scheme of the offense.”
The Wildcats also lead the state in passing yards, and Bronson’s favorite target, Nick Mendez, leads the state in catches (67), receiving yards (1,036) and touchdowns (17).
“It’s a lot of fun. I love playing offense,” Mendez said. “I don’t like running the ball that much. I’m so used to passing in this offense. It has been so much fun we’ve just kind of gotten used to it and adapted to it and you make the best of it.”
Bronson also can rely on the experience of two other senior receivers in Gail Lee and Casey Atchison. Lee has 31 catches for 619 yards and nine touchdowns. Atchison has 37 catches for 712 yards and seven touchdowns this year.
“Nick, Gail and Casey, all three of them are super athletic,” Bronson said. “I just can’t even explain how athletic they are. Between Nick, Gail and Casey, that’s about as good as it gets.”
Bronson’s offensive line also takes pride in keeping their signal caller’s jersey clean.
“It’s not easy, but we just try to protect him,” Campbell said. “He’s small so we don’t want him getting sacked a lot. He might get injured. Without him there’s no way we could put up those numbers.”
Bronson’s season started out so well, he figured he probably couldn’t better it. In the first game against Mission Valley, Bronson threw for 475 yards and seven touchdowns and one interception in the Wildcats’ 56-36 win.
But in Week 2, Bronson completed 18 of 21 passes for 435 yards and seven touchdowns — in the first half. Bronson could have easily set the state record for passing yards in a game but with the outcome of the game already determined, the starters were pulled and reserves played the second half.
Bronson settled for a state record for passing yards in a half. The state record for passing yards in a game is 491. Bronson needed just 57 more to break the record.
“That night it just came so easily,” Bronson said. “That first half everything was clicking, everything felt right and I agree with the coaching decision to take us out of the ballgame. There’s no need to run up the score. It would have been nice to have the record, but it doesn’t really affect me that much. It doesn’t bother me now.”
What does have Bronson and his teammates upset is last week’s 55-42 loss in their district opener against Burlington. Bronson threw for 424 yards and five touchdowns and two interceptions. But the Wildcats are looking to bounce back when they play Council Grove Friday at home and then host Osage City.
“Our goal right now is just to win out,” Bronson said. “Win these next two games and everything else will work itself out. If we can play as a team and come together and win these next two games against Council Grove and Osage City, then it’s not in our hands. If we do all that we can then hopefully we can get some help.”
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gg (anonymous) says...
I watched the Burlington game in person, the officating was beyond belief in favoring Burlington. Heights had the game won but the refs decided otherwise.
October 21, 2010 at 11:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
whatajoke (anonymous) says...
gg-Just curious here, but what exactly did the refs do to "decide" Burlington should win??
October 22, 2010 at 1:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )