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Sports

Ya Don't Mess Around with Jim: Plant High QB Emerges

James Few has taken the reins as the Panthers' starting quarterback.

It wasn't until three games into the regular season that the Plant Panthers finally settled into a starting quarterback. Head coach Robert Weiner, who is probably very good at poker, chose senior James Few to captain the offense.

Few had to earn it.

Junior Aaron Banks and Few traded off with such regularity through the summer that no one could discern which way Weiner would go.

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"We had so much going on all summer, it helped keep us out of the hype surrounding the position battle," said Few.

The controversy extended into the preseason as Weiner used Few and Banks evenly in the . However, when the in the regular season opener, it was clear who the starter was going to be, as Few completed 11 of his 14 passes in the game.

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Since then, Few has exploded onto the scene.

"We've found our trigger man," Weiner said. "We have a lot of confidence in James and his toughness."

Few's completion percentage (63), touchdown-to-interception ratio (14-6), and quarterback rating (125) lead the district.

"It finally feels like the world isn't spinning around me anymore," Few said. "Now that it seems I'm the primary guy, it allows me to narrow my focus."

Few came to the team as both a free safety and a quarterback. Indeed, it was playing safety for the Panthers that almost ended Few's career, or at least his shot at being quarterback.

Few recalls the unfortunate episode that occured in his junior year.

"It was against Alonso on kickoff; I stuck out my arm to make a tackle and hyperextended it. Two weeks later against Chamberlain, I hyperextended that same arm," he said. "That was the time when I questioned my career as a quarterback."

The injury led Few to experiment throwing with his left arm.

This odd skill came into use during . Few was forced to scramble and improvise most of the night. In the fourth quarter, he rolled left and had senior receiver Austin Aikens open. But Few is right-handed and rolling left, which prompted him to quickly switch strategy and complete the pass with his left hand instead.

The injury coupled with the carousel of quality quarterbacks at Plant made Few's future questionable at times.

Robert Marve (now at Purdue), Aaron Murray (Georgia), and Phillip Ely (Alabama) were all in line in front of Few during his career at Plant. Few claims to have learned a great deal from his predescesors and takes much of their imparted knowledge onto the football field with him.

Adversities could not stop Few from attaining what he'd always wanted for himself at Plant: to be the starting quarterback.

Now, the biggest challenge for Few is balancing all the school work that comes with having a 6.12 GPA and all the film study and playbook work that comes with being a starting quarterback.

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