Arizona high school football coaches put their trust in elite quarterbacks

Video: Weston Murphy's highlights vs. Higley High School

Trust between a coach and his quarterback is an absolute must.

It's not often it runs so deep at the high school level that the quarterback is given the authority to call an audible at the line of scrimmage. In fact, if the play that is sent in isn't run, there usually is a very one-sided conversation on the sideline.

That's not the case at Mesa, where senior quarterback Roberto Baeza has called a few audibles this season when he didn't like what he saw once the defense showed a front or blitz look that forced a change.

"It's been really fun seeing his development," Mesa coach Scott Hare said. "Right now he is the quintessential quarterback. He's led the team in rushing the last three games and thrown for 200 (yards) as well. I don't know how many other coaches are letting their quarterback call audibles, but when he understands the playbook and game plan like ‘Berto does, it's something you feel confident he can do."

Williams Field (Gilbert) coach Steve Campbell has a similar relationship with Weston Murphy, and it looked great last week.

The Black Hawks trailed Higley all game, getting down 14-0 before ever running an offensive play after a special teams miscue allowed Higley to score on its first two possessions. Williams Field worked its way back into the game, and got a chance for a game-winning drive with 2 minutes and 28 seconds left from its own 45.

The Black Hawks eventually got to the 1-yard line but a personal foul on Campbell - he was a bit overzealous in trying to call a timeout - pushed it back to the 16 with nine seconds left. It allowed for one more offensive play and Campbell put the game on Murphy rather than kick the game-tying field goal.

"We like to run the ball but we have a quarterback who has been a starter for us and two good receivers," Campbell said. "We were in the situation where we had to pass and with Weston back there we know he is going to make the right reads and decisions."

Murphy connected with Max Fine on a 20-yard pass for the game winner with 3.6 seconds left.

"We probably won 10 games in 7-on-7 on that play," Murphy said. "It's something we work on all the time. The offensive line did their job. It was up to Max and me."

The quarterback play has been pretty good this year, especially considering the talent that has come out of Arizona in recent years like Brett Hundley (Chandler, UCLA, Green Bay Packers), Kyle Allen (Desert Mountain, Texas A&M) and Ryan Finley (Paradise Valley, Boise State) and others.

Chandler senior and Oregon State commit Mason Moran was offered before ever taking a snap, Travis Lockhart of Hamilton (Chandler) continues the one-year-wonder tradition for the Huskies and Jack Smith of Mountain Pointe (Phoenix), a UNLV commit, rivals Moran for possibly being the state's top dual-threat quarterback.

Washington (Phoenix) senior quarterback Mario Armendarez passed for 756 yards and 10 touchdowns to set Arizona 11-man football records in a 94-76 loss, while Mason Crossland of Higley (Gilbert), and so many others, get the ball in their hands play after play.

Each player has a certain level of trust, especially this late into the season, from their coach that allows them to open up the playbook just a tad more as the postseason nears.

"The quarterback is the one out there seeing what's happening," Hare said. "He might pick up on something we're not seeing from the sidelines. You listen to him and trust what he sees. It's not an easy thing to do, but the good ones know what should be called."

Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic sports writer and current Prep Sports Director for 1013 Communications, is a 20-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com.