WINCHESTER — Andrew Oates loves being the quarterback. The Millbrook junior can’t think of a better, more perfectly suited position for himself.
“In the quarterback position I like being in charge,” Oates said. “If there’s a problem on the field, all my coaches heckle me and I like that. I can take it. I just laugh at them and stuff when they yell at me — I’ll give ’em a smile.”
One of Oates’ strengths on the field is his confidence. No matter what the situation is, he always believes he and his teammates will find a way to be successful.
It’s a trait that Oates said he’s always had.
“When I was little I used to be the popular kid and whatever, and be good at sports and be the captain,” Oates said. “Everyone would look to me because I was bigger and taller and I like that.”
Oates said he thinks having confidence is important, especially in football.
“I like being cocky on the football field,” Oates said. “I think you need to be. You can’t just be cocky, though, you have to back up what you say. I just like being in charge, knowing that I’m the leader and knowing that everything goes through me.”
Oates has always played quarterback, taking the field sporadically as a freshman. The Pioneers were mostly a running team, so Oates said he didn’t have to do a lot.
Last year Oates split time with Justin Farnan, and started the final four games of the season. He completed 27 of 61 passes for 317 yards.
Being brought along slowly helped Oates prepare for this season, when there will be more put on his shoulders.
“One thing we try to do is make sure there’s competition at every position,” Millbrook coach Reed Prosser said. “That’s what we’ve done and that’s what we did last year. [Back-up quarterback] Chris Curry has done a great job, so both kids have to play well in order to play. Andrew’s improved as have a lot of people on our team through competition.”
With the loss of leading-rusher J.J. Casagranda to graduation, the Pioneers plan to open things up even more this season. Millbrook will run out of the I-formation, but will use a lot of four-wide sets.
Oates said he’s excited about the Pioneers’ offense and about his receivers.
“I like our offense right now,” Oates said. “I like spreading the ball out. I think I have the best core of receivers in the district. We don’t have the depth at running back that we’ve had in the past. Spreading the defense makes teams not be in the box all the time.”
Oates said he’s been working hard on his game in the offseason, lifting weights and going to quarterback camps. At a camp at Wingate College, Oates met another camper who made a big impression on him.
“I roomed at Wingate with a guy getting looked at by Penn State,” Oates said. “His name was Chase Boyer. He’s going to be good. He was a big guy, like 6-4, probably 185. He wasn’t very fast or very strong but he had a cannon. He made better reads, he’s got quicker feet. You know he’s been there before and I tried to watch him a lot.”
If the Pioneers’ offense is going to be successful, it all starts with Oates. Prosser said Oates is still in the learning process, but he believes he can be a really good quarterback.
“I think the important thing he needs to do is to trust what he sees,” Prosser said. “He still doesn’t quite trust what he sees. He still sees what he wants to see instead of seeing what’s there. But he’s doing a good job of getting better every day.”
One thing Prosser said he doesn’t have to worry about is Oates’ confidence level. Oates said last season gave his confidence a real boost, especially after he made a few key plays in games.
“I don’t want to sound cocky or anything, but I didn’t know that if it was third-and-10 that I can get this first down,” Oates said. “I didn’t know I was good enough to move the ball down the field. That was a stretch for me because I had never done that.”
Millbrook started out 5-2 and needed only one win to make the playoffs, but faltered in its final three regular-season contests. With many of the starters returning on both sides of the ball, the Pioneers have good reason to be optimistic about the season.
“My first expectation, as it is for everyone, is getting that state championship,” Oates said. “You gotta want that. That would be awesome for us. For the seniors, for myself, for the guys that have been here a couple years. If we could top it off with a state championship, that would be the best, but we want to get to the playoffs. We’ve never been to the playoffs.
“Offensive-wise I just want our turnovers down. If we can get our turnovers down, I think we’ll be very successful. If Butch [Kaczmarzewski] and those guys can keep the points down, I think we can get to the playoffs.
“And if we can get to the playoffs, anything can happen.”
