It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Mario Sturdivant, one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in Rowan County, was supposed to scramble on the field, not scramble off of it.

But that’s what Sturdivant was forced to do when it came to the future of his sterling football career.

Think about this for a moment.

Sturdivant is a 6-foot-4 dasher and slasher, who could get North Rowan’s potent offense more yards on the ground than the running backs. He had a slingshot arm, capable of getting the ball to his receivers, whether threading the needle or lofting that beautiful spiral.

He finished with 7,484 total yards of offense, was a Shrine Bowl quarterback and singlehandedly got North past favored East Davidson in his last regular season game, securing a playoff berth for the Cavaliers.

And yet, he had to make the toughest scramble of all when the big-time schools didn’t come calling.

There seemed to be some disappointment in Sturdivant’s voice as he talks about the aftermath of his senior season.

Oh, he signed to play college football. But Division II Kentucky State is a far cry from what he had in mind. The ACC schools, East Carolina ... they drool at the prospect of obtaining a 6-foot-4 Shrine Bowl quarterback. But they backed off.

Instead, he’s going to Frankfurt, Ky. and he may be switched to wide receiver.

n

What happened?

Sturdivant said he has heard the whispers in Spencer.

“People around town were like, ‘Well, he didn’t go to this college or that college because of grades,’” Sturdivant said, while sitting in the Greensboro Coliseum stands watching Scooter Sherrill and Duane Phillips in the East-West All-Star basketball game last week. “But it wasn’t my grades. It was my test scores. I waited too long for the SAT and ACT.”

Super Mario seems a bit confused, still.

“Nobody told me what I needed to do to get situated for college,” he said. “My mom knew a little bit. She’d get pointers from people she worked with. But nobody told me what it was going to take. That’s why I’m in the predicament I’m in.

“But it wasn’t my grades. It was the test. In my time at school, I did pretty decent.”

n

He was more than decent on the football field. North coach Roger Secreast always had a keen eye for quarterback talent and pulled Sturdivant from a potential wide receiver career and put him behind center.

And just like all the great ones before him — Bobby Myers, Carvie Kepley, Mitch Ellis and Craig Powers to name a few — it was a wise choice. Sturdivant became the premier quarterback in Rowan County, and in the preseason of his his senior year, the premier quarterback in the state.

Young Cavs rallied around him. But at no time did he excel like he did in his last regular season game, at East Davidson, with a playoff spot on the line.

It was one of the greatest performances in Rowan County history by any player at any position. He was directly responsible for every touchdown in a 42-35 victory. He was responsible for 430 yards of offense

“That was just being a senior,” he shrugs now. “I didn’t want my season to end.”

Even when it ended the next week at Brevard, he threw for 317 yards and had the moutain folks talking about “that great quarterback.”

Secreast coached the offense in the Shrine Bowl and Sturdivant’s late-season surge earned him a starting spot for North Carolina.

n

But it was obvious Sturdivant had to look beyond the bright lights of the big Division I schools.

There were junior colleges with great reputations in Kansas and Mississippi, yearning for his services — sort of.

“They were giving me the runaround,” he said.

One said its quarterback might return — and then again, might not. It wanted Sturdivant to wait. The other came in very late.

Sturdivant didn’t want to wait on either.

He says he liked Wingate but they didn’t have the scholarship money at this time.

So he turned to Kentucky State, where his roommate will be Rashaun Lester, who should be penciled in as a starting outside linebacker in the fall.

“We’re going to room together,” Sturdivant said. “I won’t get homesick because he’s there.”

Sturdivant said he will try out for basketball too.

“I’ll see which one I excel in and stick with one,” he said.

n

Expect football to win out. And if it does, he may be catching the football, not throwing it.

“Their starting quarterback flunked out,” Sturdivant said, “so the spot is open. There is a junior, a senior and two freshmen. The coach doesn’t know whether I’ll play quarterback or receiver.

If it’s receiver, Sturdivant won’t cry about it.

“That’s what I always wanted to play,” he said. “It would be a dream come true. I’ve been lifting every day and working out.”

He looks at his monstrous Shrine Bowl ring that just came in the mail. That ring was supposed to take him places other than Frankfurt, Ky.

“I want to come back to North Carolina,” he said. “But I’m prepared for whatever.”

Like stopping the whispers about test scores and hearing cheers again for the scores he produced on the field.

n

Ronnie Gallagher is the sports editor of the Post.