CRESTVIEW — Quarterbacks at every level of football have become our heroes.
We know the great ones' names: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Cam Newton. And it’s no surprise that, more often than not, the best teams at every level of football have good quarterbacks.
A team doesn’t need a great quarterback to be successful, but it doesn’t hurt.
People likely will never mistake Baker School quarterback Jon Beck or Crestview High’s Corey Armstrong as some struggling college program's next great hope. A quick search of rivals.com and neither player pops up when his name it typed into the search engine of prospective quarterbacks for the Class of 2016.
But that’s not to say the junior signal callers are incapable of leading their teams to big wins.
'VERY BRIGHT FUTURE AHEAD'
Beck got his first start for the Gators as a freshman in 2012, when senior Adam Crowson went down with an injury. Beck started all 11 games for the Gators last year and threw for better than 1,000 and 16 touchdowns. Beck quarterbacked the Gators to a perfect regular season and a district championship.
Beck, an accomplished all-around athlete, also placed in the high jump at the state track and field meet.
“He’s played a lot of football and he’s a Baker kid that has come up through the system,” Gator Coach Matt Brunson said. “He’s a worker in the weight room and a competitor on the field. We are expecting some big things from him.
“He’s got some size and he’s got a very live arm. I think he understands what we are trying to achieve and works very hard at perfecting it. I think he has a very bright future ahead."
'GOOD UNDER PRESSURE'
Armstrong took over as Crestview's starting quarterback midway through the 2013 season and helped lead the Bulldogs to a 4-1 finish. He sealed his legacy in Crestview football lore by leading the Bulldogs to their first win over rival Niceville in 30 years.
Armstrong enters this season locked in a battle with sophomore Rusty Moorer. He and Moorer will see plenty of playing time, with Armstrong holding a slight edge due to experience.
Armstrong, like Beck, is an all-around athlete. As a freshman, he started at second base for Crestview's baseball team while seeing some action on the mound. This past season, he started at shortstop and was the Bulldog infield's quarterback.
“Corey has experience,” Coach Tim Hatten said. “He’s got five or six games under his belt, and he played baseball. He’s a pretty good player under pressure.
“Last year, Corey came in and played better and better as the year progressed. He wasn’t perfect by any means, but he played well enough for us to compete. We asked him to manage the game a little bit and not make bad decisions and that’s what he did.
"He’s not a cheerleader kind of guy, but he leads by showing up at practice every day and working hard."
Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview, Baker coaches place faith in teams' quarterbacks