Whiteland quarterback Ollie Taylor pushes away a Perry Meridian defender during last week’s home victory.
Daily Journal file photo
Quarterbacks averaging six pass attempts a game the way Whiteland’s Ollie Taylor is tend to fall into one of two categories:
Either he’s breaking huddles for a program that has historically hung its hat on a punishing and clock-consuming ground attack, or he’s simply a substandard thrower of the football.
Taylor, a 6-foot-2, 170-pound senior, throws just fine.
The Warriors’ signature fly offense, the same philosophy head coach Darrin Fisher implemented when he took the job two decades ago, strategizes a perfect storm of a QB’s sleight of hand, speed, sweeps, proper blocking angles and more.
Taylor, who admits to fashioning a grin anytime pass plays are called, has played quarterback in the Warriors’ system since the sixth grade. He knows what is and isn’t expected of him.
“I think you have to have patience, and you have to have knowledge,” said Taylor, now in his second year as a starter. “We have a lot of plays in our playbook, and I’ve still messed up one or two times this season.
“They’re very detailed plays, and every play you have to do correctly or it doesn’t work.”
The same applies to the Whiteland offensive line the quarterback is quick to heap praise upon — left tackle Luke Grismer, left guards Evan Scudder and Jason Branscum, center Kaden Fleming, right guard Jonah McIntosh, right tackle Kaden Willoughby and tight ends Peyton Williams and Zander Hite.
Through four games (the Week 2 contest at Kokomo was cut short due to storms and ultimately declared a no-contest), the Warriors’ offense is running the football 88% of the time, having already incorporated 13 different ball carriers.
Taylor has called his own number on 21 occasions for 155 yards and six touchdowns. In terms of passing, he’s 20 of 31 for 309 yards, five scores and six interceptions. His younger brother by one year and 11 days, junior receiver Eli Taylor, has four catches so far (tied with Hite for the team lead) for 50 yards.
Fisher mentions toughness, an ability to lead, ball-handling and an ability to know what the defense is giving him as his quarterback’s primary attributes.
“Ollie has started 17 games now. He understands where all the levers and buttons are in our offense,” Fisher said. “We’re calling 10 to 13 throws a game. It’s just a matter of him taking off and running.
“You have to run at the right time. Our quarterbacks get better at running the offense by the time they’re seniors.”
Much of the offense’s success is dictated by Taylor’s ability to carry out his fakes after the football is snapped. The senior’s fakes are determined by whether he’s handing off right, handing off left, pitching the ball right, pitching the ball left, etc.
“I don’t find any boredom in it at all,” Taylor said. “Handing that ball off and carrying out my fake … I think that’s one of the most important things I do. I practice it all the time.”
Adds Fisher: “He takes a lot of pride in it. Every time he fakes someone, and a defender stops his feet, it’s a block.”
With so many high school football teams locked into moving downfield by way of the pass, Whiteland quarterbacks past and present couldn’t be blamed for playing the what-if game in their minds. Thing is, they don’t.
Fisher’s record with the Warriors is 140-79, a run — no pun intended — that includes six of the school’s eight sectional championships, four outright (and two shared) Mid-State Conference titles and the memorable Class 5A state runner-up finish in 2022.
If it ain’t broke …
“I had that sometimes, and then I think to myself my stats don’t matter,” Taylor said. “It’s whether or not we win that game, and I know that we did it as a team.”
TONIGHT’S GAMES
Lawrence Central at Center Grove, 7 p.m.
Franklin at Mooresville, 7 p.m.
Whiteland at Martinsville, 7 p.m.
Greenwood at Perry Meridian, 7 p.m.
Indian Creek at Edgewood, 7 p.m.
Edinburgh at Switzerland County, 7 p.m.
Roncalli at Brebeuf Jesuit, 7 p.m.
Greenwood Christian at North Central (Farmersburg), 7:30 p.m.
