Hixson’s Barnard earns player of the week
For a player who was expected to be a headhunting linebacker and only a complimentary offensive player at fullback and tight end, Chase Barnard has become quite the quarterback.
The Hixson junior took over at quarterback only after this season’s starter, sophomore Luke Finch, suffered a broken leg in the jamboree. Since then, however, Barnard has taken command of the offense to become not only an additional weapon but also another strong leader who has helped the Wildcats to an impressive 5-2 season so far.
“Chase has taken his new role and ran with it,” said Hixson coach Nick Rivers, whose team has won five straight and is a perfect 4-0 atop Region 3-4A. “Chase is a thumper at linebacker and he was going to be a physical guy at H-back who helped the offense mostly by blocking.
“But when Luke got hurt, Chase took that role and ran with it to become a real weapon for us on offense.”
Last Friday, Barnard completed 10 of 13 passes for 193 yards and three touchdowns and also had four tackles and an assist on defense to help Hixson to a 49-6 region win over Sequoyah. For that effort, he is this week’s Times Free Press player of the week.
“I had made the switch to being a linebacker and playing other positions on offense besides quarterback. But then our team needed me so I’m just trying to be the best leader I can now,” Barnard said. “Working all offseason with the linebackers helped me understand defenses more, which has helped me now at quarterback.
“I have the same mentality on both sides of the ball, regardless of which position I’m playing. Once we started accepting that we’re going to be the underdog, we’ve sort of embraced that. We still have to keep getting better to be where we can be this season, but once we started to see a few wins on the field we understood all the work we put in is paying off.”
Hixson built a 28-6 halftime lead over Sequoyah, then put the game away with a 21-point third quarter scoring barrage. Of Barnard’s passing total, 161 of the yards went to Tariq Reese, who also caught two TDs, while Koko Kendricks, who has been a 1,000-yard rusher each of the past three seasons, added 79 rushing yards and a score.
“The way Chase has stepped up has taken a lot of weight off of Koko’s shoulders,” Rivers said. “He’s a linebacker playing quarterback. He’s just in your face and welcomes the contact. He thrives on that and is a throwback player, like back when I played, who likes the physical style.
“He’s always been a leader. Even as a freshman he was just different in the way he never missed workouts and how hard he gets after it in the weight room and at practice. He motivates the rest of the team with his intensity. It’s something everyone else is finally seeing because he’s in a position that is seen more, but he’s doing just what we believed he could for this team.”