By Joe O’Leary
The Mountain Times
With the graduation of the 2023 Sandy High School football team, including starting quarterback Billy Lucas, an intense but necessary battle has heated up over the summer to pinpoint his replacement. The student athletes battling to win the position are sophomore Micaiah Turin (who led an 8-1 Pioneer freshman team last year) and junior Ezekiel Hill. With the results of the battle largely unknown (until the Pioneers opening game against Franklin on September 6), it’s likely that both quarterbacks will see some action against a Quakers team that went 5-5 last year and are also looking to a transition for the most important position on the field.
“It’s neck and neck right now,” one member of the team stated in early August. The stress and the small margin for error in the battle for QB1 has not affected the calm, cool attitude of Hill, who didn’t seem at all worried about his ability to prove to head coach Josh Dill he was the man for the job, concurrently asserting his ability to lead the team if he secures the role.
“I’m a competitive guy, you know. I like to compete. Our team is super young and has a lot of potential this year,” Hill said, “I mean, we have so many dogs.” Hill, who has played quarterback since third grade, led a junior varsity offense that struggled at times last season but wasn’t without a fair share of exciting moments. Standing at 5’ 9,” Hill lacks traditional quarterback size, but uses his smaller frame to his advantage, utilizing his speed and agility to get himself out of trouble, traits evident when you watch him mount an offense.
“Josh Allen’s a guy I kind of look at, a little dual threat. And that’s what I like to see myself as, I can run and throw the ball,” Hill explained. Allen, the starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, stands at 6’ 5”, making Hill’s emulation of him a bit far-fetched at face value. It is clear, however, that presumptions and expectations have never fazed Hill or his game.
“I want to make playoffs. I want to not just make playoffs, but to make an impact statement. I want to show the Mount Hood Conference that we’re contenders. We’re not just that same Sandy team we’ve been,” Hill said. Sandy lost quite a few major contributors last year to graduation, but looks to build upon an excellent young core, with a great deal of their projected starters juniors and sophomores.
“We’re super young; I think our team has a lot of potential this year. I think we’re going to shake up the conference. No one is really expecting us to be good, but we’re going to come out and we’re going to show ‘em,” Hill stated. And with the Pioneers season beginning at home in just a few short days, Hill made it crystal clear how he wants his tenure as starting quarterback to begin if he secures the position: “Everyone needs to come, we need everyone behind us. I want the place going crazy.”