Early in the season, you could almost see the opposition fast-forwarding to the parts with running back Scooter Dalton, checking out just how good basketball-player-turned-wide-receiver Scooter Sherrill was, eying that big offensive line that was opening holes seemingly at will.

Other teams were examining everything but the quarterback position, where Jared Barnette quietly and calmly put together a solid string of performances that have gone virtually unnoticed.

“A lot of people don’t realize Jared was the 3A Player of the Week for the second week,” said West head coach Scott Young of Barnette’s 200-yard, four-touchdown effort against South Rowan. “I’m real pleased with him so far, Barnette has really done a good job for us.”

That’s been a surprise for the player not even expected to start this season. Barnette, a junior, spent the summer playing baseball for the South Rowan American Legion team, giving sophomore Ben Hampton extra time to work out with Young. Then the tables turned, with Hampton heading off for AAU baseball and Barnette essentially winning the position with a good showing in the Falcons’ minicamp.

Barnette took his first starting assignment in the season opener and threw for a modest 30 yards and one touchdown against Salisbury. He then exploded against South the next week, completing 9-of-13 throws to earn state Player of the Week honors. He currently stands 29-for-51 with seven touchdowns and three interceptions, ranked second in the county passing ranks to North’s Mario Sturdivant with 419 yards.

“It’s pretty surprising to me,”Barnette admitted. “It’s kind of weird being in a situation where I’m throwing the football this well and having the receivers to catch it.”

Those receivers — and yes, that one in particular. Most observers questioned why Sherrill wanted to play football, and he answered with six catches for 146 yards and three TDs against Salisbury. He wants to play because he’s good.

“Last year when I wanted to play football I heard a lot of good things about Barnette, about how he’s a good quarterback,”Sherrill said. “I knew when Icame out to play receiver, when I saw him throw for the first time that we’d have a real good passing game.”

Justin Davis also showcases explosive breakaway speed and has two touchdowns receiving when he’s not returning kicks for touchdowns.

“We’ve got great receivers, they can catch a short pass and take it a long way in a hurry,”Young said. “So we don’t try long stuff. When you’ve got phenomenal receivers you don’t try to overcomplicate things.”

Playing quarterback is complicated, though, and both Barnette and Hampton know they have a lot to learn. Reading opposing defenses remains at the top of the list, as well as hitting the open receiver with a big pass rush bearing down.

“We watch video and go over routes and reads and we’ll say that we missed that pass pattern,”Hampton said. “It looks a lot different than from the sideline and the line of scrimmage.”

The quarterbacks don’t mind working together. After pushing each other for the starting job over the summer and in early practices, they preach teamwork, doing what it takes to win and not causing trouble just because someone else is getting more snaps under center.

“Some things he does better than me, some things I do better than him. It’s been fun out here in practice going up against each other,”Hampton said. “I’m just waiting for my time to come and I’ll prove myself then.”

“It’s really a team thing, everybody working together,”Barnette said. “I’m having so much fun, I guess because we’re winning, too. I love football.”

Now the trick is to keep the fun going as long as possible. West Rowan hasn’t been to the playoffs since a 2A run in 1994, and starting with this week’s test against fierce county and 3A South Piedmont Conference foe East Rowan, everybody knows to expect a two-pronged attack.

“Having Scooter (Dalton) come over here, teams knew we had a good running back and people were sleeping on the passing game,”Sherrill said. “The first couple of games we passed the ball and people realized how we could run and pass the ball.”

All because of a couple of players the opposition wanted to overlook. But that’s not Young’s problem.

“I should have a better relationship with both quarterbacks,”Young said. “I think sometimes I’m too rough on them, but the only reason is that I want them to be the best they can be.”