Jack Cullinan-
The Appalachian State Mountaineers football team finished last season on a high note, with the 8-4 Mountaineers defeating the 11-2 Toledo Rockets 34-0 to end the season. However,
this season it will be a new look team.
With several key players departing, particularly quarterback Taylor Lamb, the team will look for new players to rise and help the team compete. In recent years, incoming freshman have had a massive impact on the Mountaineers. Players like Clifton Duck in 2016 and Thomas Hennigan and Jalen Virgil in 2017 all have become key players on the team as freshman. The team will continue to look for young players to step up and help the program to even more success.
This year a freshman could have this type of youthful impact on the Quarterback
Position. With Taylor Lamb now gone, Stephon Brown, a 6’5 220-pound Quarterback who was a
3-star recruit coming out of high school, could potentially be in that position come fall. Stephon
threw for 32 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions in his senior year, and ran for an additional
705 yards and 15 touchdowns.
When asked who he tries to model his game after, Stephon said “I would like to be a mix
between Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton, I love the way Rodgers plays the game and Newton is
how I play the game.”
That kind of play in a quarterback would certainly be exciting to watch with this young team, however Stephon insists that he isn’t rushing the process, “I will be ready when the team needs me, I’m a great team player and the coach is going to play the best player we have, and whenever my time comes I will be ready, but now I’m supporting my teammates.”
Stephon acknowledged that there will be a learning curve coming into the college game.
When asked what the biggest difference between the high school game and the college game
was, he stated “The speed of the game, it’s a lot faster in college and there’s better players,
espically here, I feel like I’ve adjusted here pretty well so far from last week to this week, and I
hope to keep improving.”
However, he isn’t the only young player that could have a potential impact. App landed
two other 3-star recruits besides Stephon in Tight End Trey Ross and outside linebacker Trey
Cobb. Cobb could potentially add to a defense that already looks like it is going to be a force this
season.
But with Brown Playing the most important position on the team, the most important
thing he wants to prove is that he deserves to be here. “I know I’m at the bottom of the food
chain, but the number one thing is for me to earn some respect and to help my teammates.”
Depending on how the rest of spring practices play out, Stephon could have a chance to be the
starting Quarterback for the Mountaineers as a true freshman. It will be interesting to watch this
young and exciting team take shape.