By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Since 1999 the trend of dual-threat quarterbacks has swept college football.
Once trailblazer Michael Vick hit the NFL, scouts have been seeking signal callers who can throw the ball 70 yards on a rope while displaying 4.4 speed. Now high schools are developing the prototype 21st Century quarterback like Brighton’s Nick Harvell.
The 17-year-old form Mason used his natural gifts, lesson from his father Nicholas Sr., studied the greats and put the time in at the gym to give his Cardinals a chance to win 2021. Harvell said with winning comes a better chance for him to reach his goal of playing at the next level to pay for his education.
“I’ve been working on my feet making sure I get my shoulders turned,” he noted. “I really didn’t know all about that at first.
“On the outside looking in at quarterbacks, at first you think they’re just throwing the ball,” Harvell added. “It’s so much more stuff into it once you start breaking it down. It’s a lot that goes into putting a pass where it supposed to be.”
In 2021 the senior signal caller will be putting the ball into the hands of multiple weapons in Head Coach Mike David’s offense.
“Braxton Sharpe about to be a junior this year and we’ve got Ty Stark,” he noted. “Both young guys are there who are going to be juniors. They’ll be the running game. We’ve got a few good receivers this year. Most of them are seniors like CJ Bonner, Darrien Lewis and Laquvious Smith. They’ll be looking to get open.”
The Cardinals have to replace five graduated offensive linemen. Harvell said the young unit featuring players like Matthew Parker and Jayvon Lee.
“Our only senior on the O-Line right now is Harrison Moore,” Harvell said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys who are trying to play and fill the positions. Last year almost our whole O-Line was seniors. It’s a big jump going from all five seniors to just one senior. Most of our guys are juniors and sophomores. But we’re working with them.”
Harvell was the young guy in 2020. He took over the offense in the middle of a global pandemic. His growing pains coincided with a team adjusting to limited practices, an ever-changing schedule and absences because of COVID.
“I try to let them know there are a lot of nervous and tension out there,” he said. “It’s just football. The next person is just as nervous as you are but you can’t show them your nervousness. You can’t let them think they’ve got you.”
The son of Tori Harvell kept his focus throughout 2020-21 with track, hitting the weight room and learning exercises to control the muscles in his arm.
With his body getting into shape, now Harvell is modeling his game after some of the best dual-threat quarterbacks of all time.
“It’s a lot of old quarterbacks like Michael Vick,” he noted. “Lamar Jackson, Michael Vick and of course Randall Cunningham are role models. A few idols of the game who could throw it our take off when they needed. Just watch how they read plays and know when to run it.”
Another former player helping to influence Nick’s development as a running quarterback is his father. Nick Sr. played at Fayette-Ware at various positions. In a honest moment, the elder Harvell told his son he didn’t take the game serious until his senior year.
“My Pops is my biggest role model,” Harvell said. “I am Nick Jr. He had helped me out a lot as footballwise. He always lets me know ‘It’s all up to you. If you get into your own head that’s going to mess you up. The only person who can stand in your way is yourself.’”
Nick said his dad will be there to motivate him to stay focus on his personal goal of reaching the college level.
“I have to make sure my head is in the right place and that is what I want to do,” he concluded. “ I can’t have any reservations. That has been my hope since freshman year to sign a scholarship. That’s my plan and that’s my goal.”
