Cleburne quarterback had a night to remember in season opener
Tre’Von Bradley, QB, Cleburne
His night: The senior quarterback accounted for nine total touchdowns in the Yellow Jackets’ 66-40 win over Stephenville. Bradley scored seven rushing TDs and added a pair of TD passes. His rushing touchdowns came from 5, 41, 70, 50, 51, 38 and 80 yards. Bradley amassed 431 yards on just 18 carries, an average of 24 yards per rush. He threw for 151 yards on 15-of-23 passing.
His story: Bradley played on Friday nights as a freshman, getting varsity snaps at receiver and safety. Last season he was moved to quarterback, a position he’d never played before. He put up almost 1,500 passing yards and added more than 1,000 rushing yards.
His goals: Bradley hopes to play football at the next level, preferably at the receiver position. His college plans aren’t firm. He has offers from Tulsa and Lamar and is talking to a number of other schools.
Most memorable moment: Not surprisingly, Friday night’s performance is the highlight of Bradley’s career. Friends and classmates were calling and texting him all night following the game. “I didn’t get off my phone until about 1:30 or 2 in the morning,” he said.
He said: “I just go in every day thinking I need to play well and we need to play well as a team. I never imagined almost 500 yards [rushing in a game]. I feel natural at quarterback now, but in the beginning it felt really awkward and different. I like having the ball in my hands, so I like quarterback, but my dream is still to play receiver.”
Coach Jeff Merket said: “That was a freakish performance. Everything just seemed to be the right call. In all my years of coaching I have not personally [witnessed a performance like that], especially not from the quarterback position. We didn’t go in planning on him to carry the load for us on the ground, but it worked out that way, so we’ll take it … He’s very good in space and we were able to generate some one-on-one situations for him in the running game. Through those he was able to get into the open field and once he gets into the open field, not many people are going to catch him.
“We have expectations of him. Obviously, 430 yards rushing isn’t one of them but we’ll take it if it comes again. We’re just really pleased with the way he led our offense. He’s got a lot of experience and he’s a natural leader. He takes control of not only the offense, but the team. He has a very positive outlook and wants everyone around him to succeed and that’s the true trait of a leader.”
Notable: Bradley ran a 10.72 in the 100 meters last year as a member of the Yellow Jackets track team.
This story was originally published August 29, 2016 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Cleburne quarterback had a night to remember in season opener."