Princeton – As his teammates posed for pictures on media day, Princeton quarterback Chance Barker leaned back on the sideline bench, arms sprawled.
His relaxation was soon interrupted by the sound of heavy rainfall quickly moving toward the field at Hunnicutt Stadium. His proximity to the locker room gave him an edge as everyone rushed toward the facility to escape the storm.
Jokingly, the expectation was he’d stay out in the storm. After all, in the two games Princeton played in the rain last year he finished 40 of 50 passing for 550 yards and seven touchdowns passes with no interceptions.
“Just growing up, I’ve always been outside,” Barker said in regards to his success in the elements. “I’ve been throwing a football since I was a little kid. And then, you know, bigger hands help with that. Getting the grip on the football, that helps as well – and training in the rain. Just because it rains doesn’t mean you can’t play football.”
Prior to the literal rain on his parade it was easy to see why Barker was so relaxed.
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A year ago Barker was an unknown, locked in a position battle to replace Grant Cochran, a four-year starter with three all-state selections and nearly every program passing record. Now he’s amongst the top returning QBs in the state.
“I went through the same thing just working and working and repping and repping, and it’s more a mindset game, going through a battle with somebody else,” Barker said. “You’ve got to stay strong and go over the plays all the time. In your head and writing them down, and then going out there and putting it all together. Knowing the offense I think that’s where I won the battle. Just knowing what to do in different types of situations. Middle school kind of helped me with that as well. Playing quarterback in middle school and running the same offense that we did in middle school helped me a lot.”
That preparation paid off as he plays the part of a signal-caller at all times, keeping the defense or those asking questions guessing.
When asked what his favorite passing concept is he smiles.
“I’m not going to say because everybody’s going to be reading this,” Barker laughs. “I have to keep my secrets in the bag.”
While Barker can keep his secrets, he’s no longer a secret himself. An unknown a year ago, the rising junior splashed onto the scene and never slowed down.
In 14 games he helped the Tigers to a 12-2 record and a state runner-up finish as the program continuously toppled its previous standard. Barker played his role, producing one of the most prolific passing seasons in state history with 3,602 passing yards at a 70 percent completion clip while tossing 48 passing touchdowns.
Twenty-seven of those touchdown passes, as well as 1,900 yards went to the eventual Kennedy winner in Dominick Collins, a player who’s documented 4.25 speed could turn any pass into a score. He was the perfect weapon for a rookie QB.
Barker’s not blind to how much easier a player like Collins made his job but he also knows his job at the QB position is to distribute to his playmakers and elevate them where possible.
“We just kind of found our rhythm,” Barker said. “It’s all about your rhythm and your play style. You know, Bridgeport’s got their offense and their style. Fairmont’s got their play style and we’ve got our play style. Everybody’s got different types of play style and we just happened to find ours and find our rhythm. That’s what (offensive coordinator) Chris Belcher always says, ‘We’ve got to find our rhythm and move the ball up the field.’ We found our rhythm, and we just ran with it.”
Coming into his second year as a starter, Barker’s eager to prove he’s more than just a conduit to manufacture production for the dynamic playmakers that surround him. But he’s not swallowed by a drive to make a name for himself. Above all, he wants to win.
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Barker faced the highest stakes of his career on Nov. 17 in his 12th career start. In a downpour, Princeton trailed 37-28 early in the fourth quarter of a Class AAA quarterfinal matchup against Parkersburg. Aiming to take the Tigers past the second round of the playoffs for the first time in program history, Barker knew his team needed points.
Starting the drive at the Parkersburg 32, Barker went 3-for-4 with completions of 13, 26 and eight yards with the final one going for a touchdown.
Two drives later Barker led the game-winning drive, connecting with Wyatt Cline on a 30-yard touchdown pass that accounted for the final points of a historic 41-37 victory.
It was a game that challenged the then sophomore QB mentally as much as it did physically. And in the elements he checked every box, leading a two-score fourth-quarter comeback. But it was his approach to the decisive drives that spoke volumes about his intangibles.
“In my head, I’m not really thinking I’m down,” Barker said. “I’m gonna go out there and do the same thing I’ve been doing. I’ve been running the offense and everything’s fine. We’re down nine points with what, (11) minutes or something to go? There’s a lot of football left. I mean, anything can happen in like, a minute. Big plays can happen. We’ve got big-time players. I know something can happen so we’re just gonna go out there and play football. And we went out there and played football. We took it a snap at a time. We didn’t change our play-calling – shoutout to the coaches. We did not change play-calling. We just went in with the same game plan and knew it was gonna work, and we executed.
“And we came out big and the little things mattered in that game. We did very good at the small things. We executed on special teams. We got an onside kick and then the defense got a stop at the end of the game, and that kind of sealed it. And then we ran out the clock and we won.”
It was mistake-free football and the box score backed that up as Barker finished 20 of 26 with 247 yards passing and two touchdowns without an interception, a commonality last year.
With 48 touchdown passes it would be reasonable to think Barker threw enough interceptions to balance that number out. He threw his first interception in his first game against Lincoln County and another in Week 3 against Oak Hill.
That Week 3 pick was his last until he was intercepted twice in the Class AAA state championship game. By that time he had thrown 46 touchdown passes to just two interceptions. Video-game numbers don’t begin to describe the stat line Barker finished with. The stellar surrounding cast around him helped his success rate but the drive and preparation that helped him win the QB battle served him on each drop back.
“We sit down in here and we disguise coverages,” Barker said. “Cover 2, cover 2 flat, cover 4, man. I’m just reading defensive players and reading people. Their eyes, and where their eyes are looking. And then also, knowing the offense, knowing the pre-snap reads, that’s knowing the coverages. You got to know the coverages. And stuff like that is very helpful when you go in the game. Coach Belcher is telling me, ‘You got to read this guy, then go to the next guy, then go to the hot.’ It’s knowing the plays. If you know the plays, then you’re going to be fine.”
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Princeton head coach Keith Taylor has been honest with his team.
“It’s taken 100 years to get to a state championship so there’s no reason to believe you’re automatically going to get there the next year.”
It would be easy for Barker to ride the notoriety that comes with a season like the one he had a year ago. But he shares that same philosophy Taylor does.
In the midst of his historic season, he already outlined what he wanted to do in the offseason. A basketball player in the past, Barker elected not to play because it didn’t line up with his precise goals. He also went out to seek counsel, building upon his fundamentals with players from all levels.
“I quit basketball for football and I got in the weight room,” Barker explained. “I put on 20 pounds this year and then once I had done that I wanted to go train with this coach in Charlotte, North Carolina at Quarterback Country and it really helped me. During a practice I used a move and it’s really just showing that it’s the little things we were working on. My left arm, it was dropping and it was causing me to miss here and there, low and high. And so we fixed that and I’m just fixing the little, small things on my throwing motion. But I got involved with that and I met some amazing people there.
“I met NC State’s quarterback, (NFL QBs) PJ Walker, and Sam Howell, and I haven’t met (New England Patriots QB) Drake Maye yet. Drake has not been there, but he’s going to be there one day. They do film, they do they teach you the little stuff. I go about every week. I leave out on Friday morning, and then we got a session Friday, and then Saturday I’ll have a session and then I’ll go back home and then I’ll just go back and watch film and analyze what I do. And then once I analyze it, I’ll go out on the field and practice it and rep it and rep it.”
Taylor and Barker’s shared mindset has them both working towards the ultimate team goal. Despite his incredible statistical output, Barker is modest about his accomplishments. Or in his eyes, Â lack thereof.
“I did nothing special in my head,” Barker said. I’ve yet to do anything special. We haven’t won a championship so that’s my goal. When we win that then I’ll say I’ve accomplished something. But records, they really don’t matter to me. I’m just playing football. I’m trying to get to the next level. That’s my goal. If I can get to a college that really loves me, and I want to, you know, go play college and then maybe hope to the NFL. You know, there’s just a slim chance coming from a West Virginia kid, but we got a lot of big-time looks in the locker room. Daniel Jennings is going to Penn State and that helps with the looks over here. So we got some big things coming, but records aren’t really on my mind.”
Records aren’t on Barker’s mind but history is and he hopes he’s making more for the Princeton Dec. 7 in Charleston.
