Ben Murphy
Sports Scene
It was the seventh game of Whittemore-Prescott’s season last year when sophomore quarterback Jens Gillings, playing at Alcona in a crucial Huron Shores Conference contest, dropped back for a first quarter pass. The dual-threat passer saw an opening up the middle and, as he often did, tried to make a big play with his legs. However, when this play was over, he lay on the ground after suffering a season- ending spiral fracture in his left leg.
“Any time a team loses their starting quarterback that late in the season, it is devastating,” W-P head coach Kevin Frederick said. “He was really starting to mature as a quarterback and ready to lead us into the playoffs.”
However, Gillings wasn’t kept down for long. He recovered from his ensuing surgery quickly enough to play a handful of late-season basketball games and play catcher for the Cardinal’s baseball team that advanced to the regional championship. His comeback didn’t stop there, though.
“This off-season, Jens worked extremely hard, and we can all tell how much he’s improved from last season already,” Frederick said. “He’s a junior now and has seven varsity games under his belt, so we think if healthy, he can do great things on the field this year.”
Gillings is clearly ready to put the injury behind him, even using the fear of another injury to propel him to do great things on the field.
“It just makes me want to go harder every time, because I know it could happen again and it could be more serious,” he said. “I just want to make sure I work hard every day and give it all I’ve got. The injury hasn’t affected me too much; I don’t even think about it really.”
Frederick is excited to have his signal caller back in place this season. Not only does it put Gillings behind center, it allows senior Tyler Janish, who took over at quarterback last year, to play running back along with sophomore speedster Travis MacDonald. Throwing the ball to skilled receivers Clay Loomis and Zach Baker surrounds Gillings with plenty of weapons.
“He possesses natural leadership ability and can do multiple things for our team,” Frederick said. “[He’s] a perfect quarterback for our offense. We think with a year under his belt, we can be as effective throwing the ball as we’ve been running.”
So when Gillings drops back for a pass and sees that his receivers covered, but he sees room to make a play with his legs, what’s he going to do?
“I’m just going to take off and do whatever it takes to win the game,” he said.