Nicholas County football head coach Gene Morris fully believes in a balanced equation when it comes to offense.
However, the veteran coach is completely comfortable slinging the ball around the field a little bit as well.
This year, when the Grizzlies dial up the pass, opposing defenses will be thrown on high alert with second-year starter Coleton Hellems chucking the pigskin for Nicholas County.
One year bigger, stronger and smarter, Morris is looking for a solid year from his junior signal caller.
“Coleton is intelligent enough and through his maturity from last year, he can understand the coverages. He can understand what the coverage is supposed to do and that gives him a pre-snap read,” Morris said. “Then after that, it falls on the receiver to get himself open and move to the right spot.”
After playing quarterback on the JV team as a freshman, Hellems won the battle last year with Jaxson Morriston for the starting job under center.
Now with a year under his belt, Hellems opens camp in a much more confident state of mind as the returning starter.
“Last year I was battling for the starting job with Jaxson, who is now playing at Fairmont State. He was a really good mentor for me. He knew what was needed to get the job done. He moved over to the running back position which helped us a lot,” Hellems said. “I am still going to be nervous, but not near as nervous as last year. I know better what is going to happen this year.”
As could be expected, being a young quarterback moving up to the varsity level, the road started out a little rough.
“The first game I came out and tried to force some stuff and threw two interceptions. After that I only threw one,” Hellems explained. “Don’t force stuff is all it is and just go with the flow. If it is short or if it is long, it doesn’t matter, just hit it.”
“I got a lot more comfortable as the year went on, Hellems went on to say. “By Week 10 against James Monroe, I felt really comfortable back there. I knew what was going to happen, but it was definitely a big jump. I had to get the hang of things.”
The lone interception surrendered by Hellems over the final nine games came against the Mavericks, but he also threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns that night.
“Early on, he didn’t want to make a mistake,” Morris said. “He knew the offense very, very well and was just a little bit hesitant. He was just a young guy starting for the first time. He got more confident as the season progressed and really matured as a quarterback towards the end of last season.”
“He is one of those guys that has confidence in his own ability and confidence in the guys around him,” Morris continued. “If you want him to throw you the ball, you have to get open. He will find the right guy.”
As the comfort level rose last year, so did the production. With the Grizzlies sitting at 1-3 after some hard-luck losses, Hellems threw six touchdowns and ran for two more to spark a three-game win streak.
While he was happy that his team bounced back from the tough stretch, it also left a sore spot for the QB1 since it basically left them outside looking in on the postseason.
“We should have been 8-2 last year. We lost three games by a total of six points,” Hellems lamented. “I think we will be pretty solid and better than last year. If we come out and take care of the ball, we will win some games.”
Across the 10 games that he played, the rising junior threw for 1,220 yards and 11 touchdowns. Hellems was also a threat with his feet when it was needed, averaging over 10 yards per carry.
“I am not the fastest, but I will lower my shoulder and give them a hit,” Hellems said, smiling.
The big right-hander has also been pulling a little double duty over the summer playing some travel baseball which he admits has been a huge help moving back into football season.
After getting the first taste of pitching as a freshman, Hellems started to blossom this past spring for the Grizzlies where he pitched 29.2 innings recording 41 strikeouts.
“I have played about 25 or 30 games this summer which has helped to build my arm strength a lot,” Hellems said. “It has been a lot of fun playing both sports.”
Needless to say, Hellems is also enjoying every moment as the starting quarterback in Summersville.
“It is really fun. It has always been a dream of mine since I was a little kid coming up here to watch the game,” Hellems said. “Finally getting to start as a sophomore was really special.”
