Park coach Darin Glazier’s decision-making might seem a little reckless at times. You can blame senior quarterback Brandon Alt for that.
When Park faces a fourth-and-5, or even longer, Glazier’s inclination often is to go for it.
“I know he’s going to complete the pass. I know he’s going to put it right where it needs to be,” Glazier said. “So, it gives me a sense (of confidence). I’d say our offensive coordinator is probably not quite as confident as I am, but for me it’s like, ‘What the heck? Our odds are pretty good.’ ”
Park (5-1) sports one of the metro’s most potent offenses, averaging 40 points and 450 yards a game heading into its home game Friday night against Mahtomedi (6-0).
The catalyst has been Alt, previously a strict pocket passer who has developed into a legitimate dual threat. Through six games, he has thrown for 1,440 yards, 15 touchdowns and three interceptions while completing 65 percent of his throws. He has run for 398 yards and nine more scores, averaging a team-best 6.9 yards a carry.
Glazier’s favorite Alt moment this year was a 62-yard touchdown run during which Alt started down the left sideline, cut across the field and scored down the right side. “He must have ran 100 (yards) and then some,” the coach said.
“He’s versatile,” senior receiver Brendan Beaulieu said. “He can do a lot of things because he’s so athletic. He is a pocket passer, because he trusts us that we’re going to get open, but when the play breaks down, he knows that he can run, because he’s gotten bigger in the weight room and he’s grown up.”
Alt, who started at quarterback as a freshman, didn’t run much in his first two seasons, despite Park’s read-option attack. He credited his growing understanding of the offense for the growth of his running game.
“As the game slows down, I see the field more and I see more space, and then I can run,” he said. “It’s just another threat I can give the defense.”
There is another reason.
Glazier said the Wolfpack “couldn’t afford” to lose Alt in his first two years under the helm. They still don’t want to now — Glazier said Alt is “definitely” one of the metro’s top quarterbacks — but as Alt’s body has filled out, the odds of him getting injured have decreased. And if Alt were to get dinged up, a tested backup plan is in place.
Alt was suspended for the regular season last fall because of what Glazier called “violations of rules.” That pushed Beaulieu into the quarterback position, and all he did was lead Park to a 6-2 season. Beaulieu started Park’s playoff loss to Apple Valley, but moved to receiver when Alt entered the game.
Alt said it was “heartbreaking” missing the 2015 regular season, but admitted it was motivation to work toward his chance to return to the field. And he enjoyed watching his team succeed during his absence.
“I had trust in them. I knew they were going to go out and get the win,” he said. “I knew Beaulieu had all the right (tools) to do it, and I knew he had the skills to do it.”
Glazier said it was an open competition at quarterback this fall, adding the coaches “nudged them” in the direction they felt was best for the team.
The current setup seems like a good one. Alt, who has game-day visits lined up at North Dakota State and Northern Iowa, has played as well as any quarterback in the state this season, and Beaulieu is tied for the team lead in receptions with 16.
Beaulieu played one series at quarterback in Park’s 52-13 victory over Hill-Murray last week. He went 2 for 2 and ran in a 27-yard touchdown, proving he’s likely one of the metro’s best backup quarterbacks.
In Alt’s third year as Park’s starting signal caller, Glazier said the senior owns just about every Park passing record in the books. That’s partially a product of Park’s long tradition of being a running team, but also a testament to how good Alt has been.
Alt remembers lining up at quarterback as a freshman, saying it was “frightening” seeing the size of opposing players. Yet even then, Glazier said, Alt was a good leader filled with the same energy and natural confidence he possesses today. He could be really good, Glazier thought, in a few years.
Now, Alt is the most accurate passer he’s even seen.
“You can pick a lot of his passes and just say, ‘Wow, he put that right where it needed to be,’ ” Glazier said. “You can sit here in practice and you see him miss maybe one pass a practice, and it’s like, ‘Jeez, what the heck happened there?’ We get spoiled. We’re not going to appreciate it until it’s gone.”