PENDLETON, Ind. —
A handshake says a lot about a man.
And Pendleton Heights quarterback Mitch Patishall’s firm, confident grip is the first sign an outsider might receive of the junior’s expanding leadership role.
Being the triggerman in head coach John Broughton’s run-and-shoot attack is one of the most difficult challenges in the county. Broughton has had 35 seasons to tinker with his schemes. His quarterbacks get four years to perfect them.
This is Patishall’s third year in the offense — his second as a varsity starter — and he’s showing why the Arabians hold such vast faith in his ability.
“We’ve got a lot of good plays,” Patishall said after Tuesday’s practice. “We know if we run the plays right they’re going to work. If we do our jobs, all the plays will work.”
Last season was a 3-7 campaign that marked the sixth time the Arabians failed to post a winning record in the past seven years. Broughton said many of the problems had to do with his players performing more as individuals than as a team.
He set about changing that this offseason.
“That’s how you win,” he said. “People have to care about each other. These guys put the team first, their teammates second and themselves third.”
Patishall is at the center of that movement.
For any football team to be successful, a quarterback must be an extension of his head coach on the field. That’s not a problem with Patishall. In fact, it’s one of the qualities Broughton enjoys most about him.
It doesn’t hurt with his teammates, either.
Patishall has completed 55 percent of his passes for 265 yards with three touchdowns and one interception this season.
He’s guiding an offense that’s averaging 34 points per game. Pendleton Heights averaged 25.8 points per game last year and 23.7 in 2008.
In each of those seasons, the Arabians crossed the 30-point plateau twice. They’ve already matched that number this year.
But Patishall deflects almost all of the credit.
He points to senior running back Dezmon Nunn — who has rushed for 294 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry — and the play of his offensive line.
Center Kyle Babb, tackles Kyle Smitherman and Michael Dawson and guards Jake Stilwell and Steffan Slick have created a solid pocket for Patishall.
His breakout game came Friday against Greenfield-Central when he completed 10 of 17 passes for 189 yards and one touchdown in a 31-14 victory. Given ample time to find open receivers downfield, Patishall averaged 11.1 yards per pass attempt.
“It helps a ton,” Patishall said of the work done by Nunn and the linemen. “Defenses key on Dez, and it gets guys open for me. The more the linemen block for him, the more the linebackers focus on him, it gives me a lot of time to throw.”
Broughton doesn’t hesitate to identify the biggest difference in his quarterback this year.
“Protection,” he said. “The line has done a lot better job of protecting him.”
Broughton values Patishall’s toughness and decision-making. He trusts the quarterback to read the defense and make adjustments at the line of scrimmage.
And as Patishall gains confidence in the system, that trust continues to grow.
Pendleton Heights’ offense is complex, and it takes time to digest. But the quarterbacks who master it almost always are worth the wait.
“People just can’t learn it all in one year,” Broughton said. “We’ve had a great string of good quarterbacks, and almost all of them have been two- or three-year starters. We expect big things from him.”
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Pendleton Heights quarterback Mitch Patishall looks for an open reciever from inside a fading pocket Friday. Aaron Piper / The Herald Bulletin
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