Cade Crosby (Long Beach) v. Dustin Allison (Pass Christian)
by Hunter Dawkins
With both teams appearing evenly matched, The Oyster Bowl looks to be a solid contest between Long Beach and Pass Christian for the first game of the year. Similarly, both junior quarterback have been two year starters and highly productive in helping their teams to winning records last year. Let’s break down the positives for each player.
CADE CROSBY (Long Beach) 5’11
Returning junior starter Crosby has been gone in San Diego for the past week, as he was named to the Youth MLB All-Star Classic a month ago. Nevertheless, Crosby’s energy is exciting while making many clutch throws in the last two years. Crosby’s statistics are close to 2,000 yards passing each year he has been the starter while accounting for just under 700 yards rushing.
Scoring touchdowns has been the spark for Crosby, totaling 56 touchdowns in two years, including 30 overall last year.
With all this offensive production, Crosby has kept his completiong percentage at 60% in both years and provided just under 200 yards passing per game.
“We have a tremendous quarterback in Cade and we want to showcase what he can do,” said Long Beach Head Coach Philip Pigott. “Our system of being a spread option team provides the ability for Cade to do many things.”
DUSTIN ALLISON (Pass Christian) 6′
Being slightly taller, Allison will be calling the plays from under center for the third year in a row. Traveling to multiple camps this summer, Allison displayed his pocket-passing style to many scouts during this period. Although his numbers aren’t incredibly flashy, the Pirates have been to the playoffs both years he was the starter and his mechanics don’t appear to be slowing down.
Allison threw for just under 1,000 yards last year and slightly under 500 his freshman year, as the Pirates attempted to open up the running lanes for the backs.
Pirate gun-slinger Allison has produced just under 20 touchdowns overall and turned the ball over only 15 times in the same time span.
“If a quarterback leads your team, there are certain things that have to happen in their maturity, Dustin has done those,” said Pass Christian High School Football Coach Casey Wittmann. “Dustin has been taking accountability in a lot of his decisions and complementing players when good things are happening which shows a true transition.”
The first annual Oyster Bowl will be Thursday night 7pm at Lumpkin Magee Field in Long Beach.
Next: The Oyster Bowl Series: Part 3 (Defenses)