By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– Three weeks ago, Mason Splonski was called upon to fill the void at Quarterback in the second half of Sprague’s game to Willamette on September 19 when Carter Lovell went out with an injury.
He was prepared. Having played quarterback before and having switched over to receiver early in the season, he felt at ease taking over the position as he led two scoring drives against the Wolverines and won his two starts at Quarterback against North and South Salem since that Willamette game.
“Going in there with the line that I have, the back that I have, the receiver I have, I have my team by me. It was just getting my feet right under me,” said Splonski. “It really gave me confidence and knowing that I can produce against a team like Willamette and going into those other teams. It was huge.”
At practice on Wednesday, he was getting reps at both receiver and quarterback, showing off that versatility and being that leader of his team as Lovell is slowly making his way back to full health going into Friday’s game against South Medford down in Medford at the legendary Spiegelberg Stadium.
“It’s cool getting that experience as a senior leader, but you do have to step up in moments like that Willamette game. Times like this, in practices, player-led meetings, and stuff like that, you have to step it up and lead your team,” said Splonski.
At 3-3 on the season with three games left in the regular season, the Olympians will look to continue to build off of their recent new found momentum after a slow start to the season as they look to lock up a playoff spot in one of the two 6A Brackets by month’s end.
“Just play the game, really. It’s not really much hero ball. It’s not, ‘I need to do this, I need to have touchdowns’ it’s ‘we need to win games. We need to put points on the board, and defense is going to go out and work’. So we just need to go play as one and win some more games,” said Splonski.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
