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PINETOWN — Every offense needs a leader. Typically, that title falls on the shoulders of the field general, the signal caller — the quarterback. The Northside Panthers are confident in all three quarterbacks on their depth chart heading into the 2019 season.

In just six weeks, the football will be teed up and kicked off under the lights. The Panthers will host Perquimans High School on Aug. 23 at 7 p.m.

Quarterbacks Carter Boyd, Samuel Vansant and Keifer Boyd will be up to the task, according to head coach Keith Boyd.

“It’s nice to have (three good arms),” Keith Boyd said. “We got them in three different classes. We got a senior, a junior and a sophomore. We’re focusing a lot this summer on just the fundamentals of throwing the ball, running different routes. We’re going to try and get a little out of the box this year. We’ve usually been a tight formation, pound it and read it, happy with three yards type of team. We want to start spreading our formations a little bit and try to throw it 12-15 times a game. We have the talent to do that this year.”

Keith Boyd has been encouraged with his quarterback play so far this summer, saying there’s not much fall off between them.

“What’s great about it, is you don’t have to shrink the playbook,” Keith Boyd explained. “You can continue to move on with your offense. If one of them were to go down or come out, my play-calling won’t change because I’m confident they all can do it, and they’re getting the same amount of reps.”

Senior quarterback Carter Boyd had high praise for his receiving corps and is confident they can have a good season.

“We have some hands out there. We’ll be able to throw the ball around some this year. We don’t have any stone hands out there like we used to,” Carter Boyd said. “I just want to be able to lead the team, throw the ball when we need to and do whatever I need to do to help us win.”

Junior quarterback, Vansant said he is excited about the changes coming to the Panthers’ offense and helping the team improve.

“I’m looking forward to (the season), looking forward to the new offense. It’s a lot of pressure on myself and a lot of positions that we don’t usually put pressure on. It’s going to be exciting,” Vansant said. “We just have to keep pushing, give it everything we got and do what we got to do to win.”

Keifer Boyd is going into his sophomore season and he’s excited to get to learn the offense going forward.

“It’s cool that I get to learn from the senior and junior quarterbacks, and one happens to be my older brother which is pretty cool,” Keifer said. “I want to pick up some knowledge from the coaches and players (this year). I need to get my leadership skills up for the next two years after this.”

While Keith Boyd is satisfied with his quarterback situation, he’s still holding them to high standards.
“(I want) efficiency. We’re still going to read (the defense with run-pass options), I just want them to make the right reads. I’m not asking them to do anything with their legs besides footwork,” Keith Boyd said. “I want good leadership and efficiency in the pass and run game. I’m asking them to use their brains and their arms. That’s all I’m asking.”

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