Mary Montgomery quarterback Shondell Harris is not backing down in quest for perfection
Mary Montgomery quarterback Shondell Harris is at his most dangerous when scrambling with the option to run or throw. Harris is expected to help the Vikings’ offense continue to be explosive. (John O’Dell/Call News)
As head coach Zach Golson looks on, Mary Montgomery quarterback Shondell Harris rips a throw during a spring practice session. Harris has been focusing on becoming a more accurate passer and the results showed in the spring game against Picayune, Miss., when he was 12 of 13 for 253 yards and four touchdowns. (Jimmy Wigfield/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
SEMMES — There are two small yet massive numbers that truly matter to Shondell Harris.
Zero, as in no mistakes and no defeats. And 1, which represents his place in the hierarchy of Mary G. Montgomery’s quarterbacks, the place he wants the Vikings to finish when the season is over and the measurement of the small margin which still gnaws at him and likely kept MGM from beating eventual state champion Central-Phenix City in last year’s Class 7A semifinals.
Harris has moved from safety, where as a three-star prospect he has drawn offers from Arkansas and Marshall, to quarterback, where he can most profoundly affect the outcome of games.
“His measurables fit more to safety or running back but he is an elite player,” Vikings coach Zach Golson said. “Jacksonville State was just in here looking at him as a quarterback.”
And not just any quarterback.
“They said he reminds them of Pat White,” said Golson, referring to the former multi-dimensional star at Daphne and West Virginia.
Harris doesn’t spend a lot of time mulling the comparisons or where he will play at the next level as long as he plays.
“Safety or quarterback, it doesn’t matter,” he said.
It does matter right now because quarterbacks, more than ever before, win championships in the era of the spread offense. While the game-manager types used to win them back in the day — when all that was asked of them was not to putz up the running back or receiver on his way to a first down or a touchdown — bold, double-edged, 24-karat gold quarterbacks are most often now required.
At safety, Harris wanted to make every tackle, every interception and every deflection. At quarterback, he wants to complete every attempt and score on every touch.
Harris has laid down markers in his quest for perfection. As an eighth grader, Harris was 8-0 as the starting quarterback on MGM’s freshman team. In his first game as the starting varsity quarterback, he was 12-of-13 passing for 253 yards and four touchdowns in a 27-13 spring game victory over Picayune, Miss., in May. Harris’ only incompletion was an overthrown deep post route.
“He’s a bona fide winner,” said Vikings quarterback coach Kurt Page, the former All-SEC Vanderbilt quarterback who led a rare win over Alabama in 1984 and was the first SEC quarterback to throw for more than 3,000 yards. “The kids believe in him. He’s a hard worker. He’s a perfectionist. We’ve got to make sure he understands that at the quarterback position, you can’t be perfect.”
Naturally, Golson’s first memory of Harris involved the freshman wanting to be first at something once he moved up to the varsity.
“We were getting him reps at quarterback at practice and we called for the kickoff team and he was one of the first ones down there,” Golson said. “I told him quarterbacks don’t run down on the kickoff team. Day two, we call for the kickoff team again and he said, ‘Coach, let me run down there.’ We found a place for him. We couldn’t keep him off the field. He’s a dynamic player and one of the best football players I’ve been around.
“He told me from day one he wanted to play football. If he could play offensive line, he’d play offensive line. He’s always said, ‘Whatever you need me to do.’”
Harris, now a 5-foot-10, 182-pound junior, felt he could play any position, as he did in middle school, but had other motives too.
“When I ran down on kickoff, I wanted to show coach I was hungry,” Harris said. “I’m very hungry. Every challenge in front of me, there’s not going to be any back down, no second guessing. I just want it.”
Talent surrounded by talent
The challenge for Harris now is to play quarterback at a championship level in Class 7A, as did Jared Hollins, who signed with South Alabama. Hollins passed for 4,901 yards and 50 TDs the last two years and made those who used to laugh at the Vikings fear them instead.
Harris — who has 4.57 40 speed and run a verified 23 mph on Catapult — was considered more of a running threat, averaging 10 yards per carry and scoring nine touchdowns last year from the Wildcat position. But in the spring game, he adroitly showed his passing skills.
“My biggest improvement is knowledge, how to read defenses,” Harris said. “I’m smarter.”
Golson savored the progression of Harris’ development in the offseason.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Golson said. “We’re teaching him the mindset, down and distance, field position, matchups, how those things determine the decisions you make. He’s super smart and it’s coming to him naturally.
“His mechanics have always been good. He’s very fluid. The progressions you have to learn always take time. The depth of the passing game takes any quarterback time until it becomes second nature. But he throws it well and we know he is dynamic running it.”
Golson said it was a tough decision to move Harris from safety to quarterback but not a gamble.
“We’ve been developing him at quarterback,” Golson said. “He led the freshman team to an undefeated season at quarterback. He’s been Jared’s backup the last two years, so he has been ready to play. Obviously, he’s the best guy we’ve got to lead the team. He’s got the experience to do it and it’s easy to put the ball in his hands every play.”
Which is exactly what Harris wants.
“I feel good about it,” he said. “I’ve played a lot of quarterback before.”
Golson knows an effective passing game is mandatory to compete in Class 7A and said he’s not worried that Harris will play like a running back playing quarterback.
“He is a great running back and he is playing quarterback,” Golson drolly said. “He’s going to be a lot more well-rounded than people expect. He’s definitely got the skill set. He’s more than a running back. He’s more than a safety.”
Golson said Harris won’t have to carry the offense with all the help surrounding him.
“It’s a good thing he’s not just a runner,” Golson said. “He’s got good playmakers around him. It’s not much different than what we asked Jared to do — get it to the playmakers. I’d rather see us distribute the ball to space and the open players and when the defense spreads out to play our playmakers, let him run the ball. There is no way you can key in on just him.”
Motivated by a yard
Nevertheless, Harris often delivered last year even when he was the obvious ball carrier. He ran in a lot of short-yardage and goal-line situations, gaining 523 yards on 53 carries with nine touchdowns, and conjured the decisive plays to help the Vikings win the first two playoff games in school history.
Harris’ 16-yard TD run late in the game beat Dothan 21-13. The next week, his 50-yard punt return set up the winning field goal with five seconds left in a 13-10 win over Enterprise.
But the one touchdown he was denied has lingered.
Playing at No. 1-ranked Central-Phenix City in the semifinals, MGM drove nearly the length of the field to a first-and-goal at the 5 and was on the verge of tying the game 7-7 early in the second quarter. But Harris was stopped three times; the last time he stuck his battle-scarred helmet into the stack, he was dropped for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-goal at the 1.
The Vikings went on to lose 21-7 in what was by far the closest game the Red Devils had been in all season and Central went on to win the Blue Map two weeks later.
“What happened last year is a big motivation,” Harris said. “We could’ve won it but we got stopped on the 1-yard line. We lost by inches.”
The greatest season in school history ended with a 12-1 record and with MGM established as a state championship contender with Hollins at quarterback. Now it’s Harris’ turn to lead what Golson said is a team that has been groomed for three years to be champions.
“People have been talking about that it was a historic, great season,” Golson said. “All it did was make these guys more hungry. It’s been a lot of fun to watch. We had one of the better offseasons I’ve ever seen and we had a great one last year. We have stacked three years of good days and we’re starting to see the fruits of that. If we keep stacking good days, the sky’s the limit.”
The defensive depth is one reason Golson felt comfortable moving Harris from safety to quarterback for what he hopes are two memorable years.
“The depth of good players is really scary,” Golson said. “It has really developed. Having a quarterback for two years is fun.”
Setting the bar
