By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Before COVID-19 shutdown spring practice, Brighton Cardinals Head Football Coach Mike David came to his running back Nicholes Harvell with a proposal.
David was evaluating players that could potentially replace 2020 graduate and Liberty Bowl High School All-Star Nick Johnson at quarterback.
“I found out that I was going to quarterback a little bit after my sophomore season,” Harvell recalled. “We were still practicing and I was still playing running back. Coach came to me after one practice. ‘Hey how do you feel about playing quarterback?’ I was like, ‘I’ve never tried it before.’ He was like, ‘Like anything else you can try it out and see how it works.’ We’ve been trying it out. And it’s been working out.”
Harvell will be in the mix this season as Brighton’s signal caller bringing a dual threat to the backfield.
The junior said he’s not worried about the running aspect but has been working on spreading the ball around the field.
“I can throw a little bit,” he said. “Of course running is easy. But throwing you have to work some things out. If you don’t do it everyday you have to learn it, get accustomed to it. You have to get good at it.”
Harvell said once he was presented with a chance to run the offense, he wasn’t overwhelmed because he knows the responsibility of the position.
“When you think about the quarterback, you think about the head of the team,” he said. “He’s over everything. And if you’re going to be doing something like that later in life, leading, you eventually have to take charge. So to be the head over things, you have to make some adjustments like learn how to read the field, and know what you need to change.”
Harvell said he has to share the ball with offensive weapons like Ty Stark, Wesley Ervin and Emmanuel Thurman just to name a few.
“I’m going to try to bring a lot,” Harvell said. “Whatever my team needs and I can give, I’m going to bring that to the table.”
As a new leader on the team, Harvell said he will do his best to build a winning culture on and off the field. Part of the responsibility away from the Brighton Football Stadium will be making sure the Cardinals stay healthy in the midst of a global pandemic.
“You’ve got to with the coronavirus, you’ve got to stay healthy and stay clean,” he concluded. “Keep your hands sanitized and stuff like that. It’s really thinking about your health and keeping your hands clean. If you keep your hands clean, stay clean there is really no way you can catch it. If I have to I won’t only be passing out the football but I will pass out hand sanitizer.”
