County signal caller set school record for passing yards
Newton County football coach Bobby Bass will tell anyone he’s a defensive coach and prefers to run the football.
When running back Carlois Walker graduated, Bass and offensive coordinator Rob Roberts decided they were going to make more of an effort to throw the football last year.
The results were the best passing season in Newton County’s football history as junior quarterback Grey Hale threw for 2,126 yards on 151-of-251 passing with 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
“He had a really good year and really progressed,” Bass said. “He was a first-year quarterback and did a really good job of running the offense. He’s a really coachable kid and a really hard-working kid. He’s very competitive and had been a three-year starter on the defensive side and still ended up playing because of injuries in the secondary. He will spot play in the secondary this year as well. He has been playing safety in 7-on-7 this summer. I’m pretty sure he was the first 2,000-yard passer in Newton County history last year. I don’t know any other quarterback who has thrown for 2,000 yards.”
As a first-time starter at quarterback, Hale said the season had its ups and downs.
“I thought it went well last year,” Hale said. “I made some mistakes. It was lack of experience, but I think I can fix that this year. I made some bad reads and bad decisions. We started out kind of shaky, but we had one of the hardest schedules around. But it prepared us for the end of the season, and I thought it paid off.”
But gone from last year’s team are the team’s top two receivers in Tyron Henderson (66 catches for 1,058 yards) and Collin Crowder (34 catches for 488 yards). Because a majority of that receiving is now playing college football, Bass and Roberts changed the offense this spring, going with the triple option.
“We are kind of changing the offense up this year,” Bass said. “We are going to more of an option-read offense because it fits our personnel better. We are still going to throw the football, but we have more running back type bodies than we do wide receiver bodies.”
The Cougars worked on the option this spring and ran it in the spring game against George County.
“It was about like I expected, there was some good and some bad,” Bass said. “It takes a little while to establish those reads and get comfortable and smooth with it. We have been working it a lot in the summer. You can’t put the triple option in three weeks and expect it to be perfect. The word we look for is consistency. We have to have constantly good snaps and reads. But we are excited about it.”
Generally, quarterbacks don’t play a lot on defense, but Hale was forced into action last year because of injuries in the secondary. He ended the season with 32 tackles and three interceptions.
“He is a kid that is going to make plays,” Bass said. “He had three interceptions the other day in 7-on-7 and probably played about 10 plays. He can play any position back there in the secondary. He can play any of the safety positions and was playing corner back when he got those picks. It’s just one of those things, if it’s a big down or a money down, I’m like go. I have no problem putting him in the game on defense.”
As Hale enters his senior season, he knows he needs to be more of a leader this season.
“He tried to be a little more vocal this spring,” Bass said. “Our whole senior class has got to be more vocal and take on that role better. They have been following for three years and I think they understand that. They are seniors as soon as that season was over last year. We have had some really good workouts this summer. Our workouts aren’t easy for sure, and I expect us to be a lot mentally tougher than we were this springs.”
Hale said he wants to play college football and has been going to some college camps this summer. While he doesn’t have an offer, Bass said he thinks those will come.
“He has been to several camps this summer and he threw the ball really well at the East Central camp and I thought he looked good,” Bass said. “Coach (Ken) Karcher said he is going to follow him this season. He is a really good athlete and an overall good athlete. He can run and jump. If I was a juco guy, I would probably play him at free safety. He’s a 4.6 guy and I think he has gotten faster.”
Last year, Hale played football and ran the 110-meter-high hurdles for the track team. This year, Hale said he was going to play soccer. Hale also plays golf where he is a “bogey golfer.”
“He kind of put off other sports last year,” Bass said. “He could have played soccer and basketball and probably would start in both of them. He could have lettered and started in all three sports. But after football is deer season and he really likes to hunt. In the spring it’s turkey season. He did run track. He ran the 110 high hurdles to tell you how good of an athlete he is.”
