Is any NC high school QB having a better season than Crest’s Ny’Tavious Huskey?
Teammates playfully make fun of Crest quarterback Ny’Tavious Huskey’s short stature by calling him “Kyler Murray.”
Murray’s 5-foot-10, 207-pound frame has drawn criticism from some NFL experts who don’t think quarterbacks of his stature can be successful. That’s even after the University of Oklahoma quarterback won the 2018 Heisman Trophy, was the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft by the Arizona Cardinals, won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and has been selected to two Pro Bowls. Murray was also a high school star in Texas, leading his team to a 42-0 record over the three seasons he started.
Huskey is putting up impressive numbers as well..
In four games this season, he’s thrown for 1,231 yards and 17 touchdowns. He ranks fifth in North Carolina for passing yardage and two guys in front of him have played one more game. Huskey ranks No. 2 in touchdown passes, and he’s rapidly emerging as a candidate for the N.C. Mr. Football award, given out by The Observer and the News & Observer of Raleigh to the best player in North Carolina at season’s end.
“We kind of give him a hard time and joke with him being short as friends and call him Kyler Murray,” top Crest receiver Javarius Green said. “But his height doesn’t determine how he plays the game. He’s a great quarterback and he puts the ball on the money every time. And he’s great moving around in the pocket and running the ball. Height has nothing to do with his ability to play.”
With 5,549 career passing yards and driving Crest to a 4-0 start this season with one of the most powerful offenses in the state, Huskey continues to prove the naysayers wrong.
That included some of his high school coach’s coaching friends.
“When I was talking to some people about taking this job, some of them said, ‘That quarterback’s awful short. He might be too short to run your offense,’” Chargers’ second-year head coach Jim Sosebee said. “So I’m loving it that he’s doing this. I’m so proud of him because he’s doing what people didn’t think he could. He’s just a great kid and he’s super smart, he’s a hard worker and a he’s a great leader — off and on the field.”
And while his teammates compare him to Murray, the 5-11, 185-pound Huskey says he models his game off of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and retired NFL legend Tom Brady.
“I like Jaylen Hurts and watch his game a lot,” said Huskey, who has three 1,000-yard passing seasons with 72 career TD passes in addition to 1,459 career rushing yards (with 14 more TD runs) in three seasons for the Crest varsity. “I actually grew up watching Tom Brady. And I’m a New England Patriots fan.”
At Crest, three of Huskey’s first four seasons of football were tied to run-first offenses, starting at Crest Middle School and his first two seasons at Crest High School. Once Sosebee was hired in the spring of 2022, Huskey knew a pass-happy offense was on the way.
“I felt like I had to prove that I could throw the ball,” said Huskey, who was coming off a 1,112-yard passing season as a sophomore starter in 2021. “I never really showcased that I could throw it. So I watched a lot of old Hendersonville clips and picked up on the plays and just had to learn how to do it.”
According to Sosebee, Huskey was a quick learner.
“We make quick decisions to get the ball out and he’s really good at those quick decisions,” Sosebee said.
Huskey also quickly gained chemistry and earned the trust of Crest’s talented receiving corps that’s led by University of North Carolina commitment Green and fellow seniors A.J. Adams and Malachi Addison, much of it developed during 8 a.m. summer workouts and 7-on-7 passing drills.
Green generally draws the most coverage but has caught 17 passes for 368 yards and eight touchdowns in four games while Adams has the most catches (25 receptions for 349 yards and six touchdowns) and Addison the most yards (23 catches for 491 yards and four touchdowns.)
“We know we can go one-on-one with anybody in the state and we think we’re one of the top receiving groups in the state,” Green said. “So if we come out and see one-on-one coverage, we know we’ve got a chance for big plays and he (Huskey) finds us.”
Already this season, Huskey has become the 11th Cleveland County passer to surpass 5,000 career yards — current Burns High senior (and Gardner-Webb commitment) Ben Mauney became the 10th earlier this season — and Huskey will enter Friday’s 7:30 homecoming contest against Stuart Cramer just 31 yards shy of the Chargers’ school passing record.
The record-holder has played a role in Huskey’s development as it is former Charlotte 49ers players Willie Green II (the older brother of Javarius Green) who passed for 5,590 yards for Crest in the 2014 and 2015 seasons while directing the Chargers to back-to-back state titles.
“I’ve done a lot of drills with coach (Sosebee) and our quarterback coach (Willie Green II),” Huskey said. “And (coach Green) showed me a lot of footwork drills that I had never done before that have really helped me a lot.”
For all of his on-the-field production, Huskey has received offers from NCAA Division II schools. Wherever he lands, Sosebee is confident he’ll make their program successful.“If somebody doesn’t snatch him up, they are missing out,” Sosebee said.
Photos: Crest High QB Ny’Tavious Huskey
