Dragons’ competition at QB could be interesting

Carroll begins preparations for fall camp in a little more than three weeks (Aug. 10). By that time, senior quarterback Montana Murphy should be at full strength.

Since going down to a back injury during the spring, Murphy has been rehabbing his way back into playing condition, head coach Hal Wasson said. Wasson said each week Murphy continues to do more and is ahead of schedule.

“He’ll be fine,” Wasson said. “He feels good. We just want to make sure we keep making positive steps. We feel like he should ready to go when we get going.”

The first four days of workouts are in helmets, shirts and shorts. The first day of contact will be Aug. 14. But there should be extra precautions taken on Murphy to protect him.

Meanwhile, the competition for the starting quarterback position should be the most interesting storyline to watch. Mason Holmes played every snap during the 7-on-7 season and continued to get into sync with all of his receivers.

“I think Mason’s had a really good summer,” Wasson said. “You ask our players about his work ethic, and they’ll talk about what a competitor he is. He throws one of the best deep balls I’ve ever seen.

“I look forward to the competition and who comes out as the guy. We’d like for one to emerge. But we can win with either one of them.”

Barnes recruiting heats up

Last week, Carroll junior safety Robert Barnes made memories with his recruitment. He went to Alabama’s camp and picked up an offer from the Crimson Tide. Within days, he also added offers from Baylor and Texas.

Barnes is now up to 11 offers and is rated among the top 300 recruits in the nation by most recruiting services. Barnes may be taking an unofficial visit to Baylor this week.

“Right after he got the Alabama offer, I looked at my wife and said I’m going to get calls from people about that,” Wasson said. “I had just finished saying that when the phone rang. One of the coaches said Robert had one.”

Barnes (6-3, 189) will be one of the most versatile and athletic players on a Carroll team that should be pretty interesting with its skills players. Wasson anticipates using Barnes on both sides of the ball.

Barnes went through some offensive drills during the spring season. A formal plan isn’t in place but Wasson’s early thinking is that Barnes would spend 90 percent of the game on defense and 10 percent on offense when the seasons starts. As the season continues, Wasson said he could see the percentages change to 75 percent defense and 25 percent offense.

“He’s too valuable for us on defense because is really good against the run,” Wasson said. “He’s demonstrated great leadership skills and has a great family and a great support group around him.”

Notable

Wasson has been at the Texas High School Coaches Association’s “Coaching School” this week in Houston. He serves as one of the directors. The convention began on Saturday and ran through Wednesday.

This story was originally published July 20, 2015 at 2:53 PM with the headline "Dragons’ competition at QB could be interesting."