Exactly one year ago, then-sophomore John Rhys Plumlee knew he’d get a chance to showcase his skills at quarterback for Oak Grove, but the didn’t know how much time he’d actually play.
He didn’t have the best summer in 2016, and head coach Drew Causey said Plumlee’s inconsistency during workouts forced him to drop in the depth chart. However, by the fourth game of the season, Plumlee was thrown into the fire.
“Last year, I expected to play,” Plumlee said. “I didn’t do as well as I wanted to in the summer. I had some guys pass me up on the depth chart. I definitely did expect to play, but I ended up playing a lot more than I thought I was going to play.”
Against D’Iberville in the 50-44 loss, Plumlee passed for 365 yards, two touchdowns and an interception with a 58 percent completion rate. Then next week against Hattiesburg, he rushed the ball 11 times for 121 yards and two touchdowns, which was highlighted by a 36-yard touchdown run when he leaped over a Hattiesburg defender while diving for the pylon.
“We had a quarterback meeting, and they said, ‘All right, we’ve given the quarterbacks a chance before (Plumlee) to have the opportunity,’” Plumlee recounted the week of the Hattiesburg game last season. “They said, ‘It’s going to be your week. You’re going to get the opportunity to go play.’ That week I dug in and I got the plays down. I did a lot of studying and stuff. I really dug in and got ready for it, for sure.”
Currently, July is coming to an end and high school teams across the state are less than a week away from official practice beginning. This is Causey’s first offseason in his three as the Oak Grove head coach that he has a starting quarterback heading into the season.
Plumlee said he likes knowing he’s the starting quarterback, but he enjoyed being thrown into the fire last season. The expectations weren’t quite as high for him then, and he exceeded whatever it was, and now the expectations are high for him and the Warriors and he said he’s ready to exceed those, too.
“It’s definitely flattering to know you’re going to be the guy,” Plumlee said. “I think it really helps knowing the whole team can revolve around the guy. ‘We know where this guy is going to put the ball every time, knowing his arm slot and knowing where to expect the ball and stuff.’ It’s a lot easier on receivers and linemen knowing and it coming from the same voice. It makes it easier.”
Knowing he’s QB1, Plumlee has been doing whatever he can to help his team get better. The Warriors are full of returning weapons, so some people around the program are expecting big things.
Plumlee wasn’t with the team in the spring because he was playing on the baseball team, but he still put in work to be ready for the summer and fall.
“He’s had a really good summer,” Causey said. “Being a baseball player, we don’t see those guys in the springtime. He’s done a lot of work on his own, just throwing. Even during baseball season when he had off days, he’d work on his throwing. He’s just been really dedicated this year and trying to be the best he can be, and he’s doing great.”
Plumlee was recently offered a scholarship from Mississippi State, and it was his first scholarship offered, too. He went to a Mississippi State camp recently, and they asked him to come back as a defensive back – a position he last played as a freshman and would play more of if he weren’t the starting quarterback. He went back to the camp as a DB and he said he learned more from what the MSU coaches were telling him rather than showing off his abilities at the position.
Mississippi State asked him to come back to the July 21 Big Dawg Camp, so he worked on what the State coaches taught him leading up to last Friday. After the camp, Plumlee said coach Dan Mullen offered him the scholarship.
Plumlee and the Warriors will open the 2017 season at Purvis on Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. The Friday prior, Oak Grove will take part in the Sumrall jamboree, playing St. Martin at 6 p.m.
