Quarterback controversies are nothing new in football. But for the Howard football team, it’s more like an open audition.
The Bison began preseason with five different contenders. Out of those, senior William Blanden (5-foot-8, 185 pounds), sophomore Martin Decembert (6-1, 190) and freshman Floyd Haigler (6-2, 195) emerged as front-runners.
“I knew it was going to be a competition out of all of us because at least three of us could play for any team in the conference as a starter,” said Haigler.
In last weekend’s 46-7 loss to Hampton, each took their first-ever snaps at the varsity level. All three saw significant playing time and expect to get a good number of repetitions when the Bison (0-1, 0-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) play their home opener against Florida A&M.
“They all practice extensively during practice. All of them can make the throws,” said Bison offensive coordinator Linwood Ferguson. “It’s kind of like coaching baseball in our offense, ‘Who’s the hot pitcher today?’”
Decembert is the speedster. He came in last against Hampton, but after completing 5 of 9 attempts for 57 yards and a touchdown – as well as 38 yards rushing – he’s gotten the starting nod this weekend.
“It’s the coaches’ decision, but it makes you better,” said Blanden, an elusive runner who’s battled just to get a look. “It means you’ve always got your foot in the fire because if you mess up you know somebody’s behind you.”
A former basketball player, Blanden walked-on the football team and has played multiple positions over the past two seasons. This season he’s shown an affinity for Ferguson’s newly-instituted spread offense. Blanden was 4 of 9 for 43 yards against the Pirates with 56 yards rushing.
“Will Blanden is just smart. He knows all the defenses, he knows all the plays back and forth, front to back,” said Haigler, who is the youngest but has the strongest arm of the three. He struggled somewhat in his debut, completing 6 of 11 passes for just 25 yards while rushing for 13.
“We don’t miss a beat when any one of them come in,” said Ferguson, who still expects someone to stake a claim as outright starter at some point.
“[With multiple quarterbacks] one person would be on, one person would be off so I think we should go with one,” said Decembert. “One or two.”
Florida A&M (0-1) at Howard (0-1)
» When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
» Where: William H. Greene Stadium, Howard University
