Without the benefit of a traditional offseason going into his junior year, Aidan Neathery might not have been fully comfortable being handed the keys to the Indian Creek offense.
And who could blame him? He had just a few weeks to absorb a new playbook and adjust to a new head coach.
Now a seasoned senior, Neathery is ready to steer the Braves through what he hopes is a championship season.
“I’m a lot more comfortable coming into this year,” he said. “We’ve had an entire summer to work, I know the playbook very well, and I’m comfortable with the guys I’m playing with.”
That group includes the likes of jack-of-all-trades senior Brandon Murray, the team’s top returning receiver (12 catches in 2020) and deep threat Sam Creek, who averaged nearly 40 yards per reception. Sophomore running back Jalen Sauer also has big-play potential.
Last fall, Neathery had the comfort of knowing that he could always just hand the ball to Connor Fruits and get out of the way; the since-graduated running back accounted for more than 50 percent of Indian Creek’s offensive yardage.
But with a year under his belt as the starting quarterback, Neathery is going to be counted on to do much more this season, both through the air — he was 56 for 113 passing last year for 1,013 yards and 11 touchdowns — and with his legs.
Neathery rushed for 216 yards and five TDs last fall; Braves coach Steve Spinks expects both of those numbers to go up considerably.
“At this point now, he’s 6-1, 210 pounds, running a 4.6-and-change 40,” Spinks said of Neathery. “That’s a Cam Newton type of guy at our level. He’s got a big arm and he can move out of the pocket. I can’t hit on how much the kid’s improved — and when he runs, you know it. You’re going to feel every bit of that 210 pounds. He runs hard.
“We’re going to ride him — I’m not going to lie to you. Offensively, we start and end with Aidan.”
That responsibility is something that Neathery might not have been quite ready to shoulder as a junior, but a season of starting experience combined with a full offseason of tutelage under Spinks and quarterbacks coach Ryan Bramlett has boosted his confidence considerably.
“When coach Bramlett came in, actually getting a lot of individual time and getting coached up, learning to step into the pocket and make my reads, that’s helped a lot,” Neathery said. “Last year we didn’t have too much individual time in the summer to work quarterback drills, but this time we did. I’m confident about this season.”
Neathery is also motivated. After the Braves ended the 2020 season with consecutive road losses to Northview for the WIC championship and Tri-West in the first round of the sectional, the senior is hoping to script a different ending to his final go-around.
“Now I’m put into the seniors’ shoes from last year, and I don’t want that to be my season,” Neathery said. “It’s going to stick with me. I don’t want to lose like that again.
“I want to win it all.”
