By Dave Morrison
PRINCETON – Princeton record-setting quarterback Grant Cochran left quite the cleats to fill.
A four-year starter, Cochran made 39 straight starts, broke every school record with 521 completions, 920 attempts, 8,017 yards and 89 touchdowns and ended up walking on at West Virginia University.
It will take quite the effort to replace that.
To do that the Tigers are turning to either the ‘Gunslinger” or one of the area’s top young dual-threat athletes as sophomores Chance Barker and Brad Mossor are in a head-to-head battle for the starting job.
“It’s tough to replace a guy with all the records,” said first-year coach Keith Taylor and former assistant during the Cochran years. “Grant was a great athlete and a great quarterback. But we think we have two guys who can be QB1. They’ve been working their tails off, and we’ve been going 50-50 on the reps. When we go to (camp) at Virginia Tech, one gets three games and the other gets three games.
“We’re fortunate. I think we have three guys (Marquel Lowe being the other) who could be the starter at surrounding schools. And what’s great for us is we have a competition mindset every time we step on the field. Those guys know that the other is just as good and they have to work their tails off every single time they step on the field. Going. Going into camp it’s those two guys and they know it could go either way.”
Rising senior Eli Campbell spent three years blocking for Cochran, so it will be a new experience for the two-time first team all-state lineman who has already committed to the U.S. Air Force Academy.
“The quarterback situation will work itself out and I’m confident in either of those guys to get the job done,” Campbell said. “We can’t just sit back and say, ‘We miss Grant Cochran back there.’ Of course, we will in certain aspects. The man could throw the deep ball. But you can’t just sit back, you have to bring the next guy up. They definitely have a unique prowess, each of them.”
Mossor is a versatile athlete who has already flashed his ability to make plays on the varsity level with 33 receptions for 455 yards and four touchdowns and two more touchdowns rushing.
He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to make the move coming off an impressive season at receiver for the Tigers.
In fact, the first time he was broached on the subject he balked at the idea.
Then, one day, during a workout he changed the course when talking to a teammate.
“Me and Dom (Collins) came out to pass and I told him I was going to get him the ball,” Mossor said. “I feel like I can get the ball to him in places Grant couldn’t.”
Taylor said Mossor has morphed into a leader, generally regarded a strength to have at quarterback.
“I think for Mossor, he throws a great ball, he knows the game really well and kids are rallying behind him,” Taylor said. “When the lights turn on, he is ready to go. We’ve had to work on him the way he gets into practice, but he has gotten a lot better (at that) since we’ve got doing and he has become a leader on the football team. No matter who wins the quarterback job, (Mossor) is going to be a significant player no matter where he plays.”
Barker only attempted two varsity passes but led the JV team to an 8-1 record, a Hurricane goal-line stand the only thing keeping the Tiger JV from an undefeated season.
Barker came up through the Princeton system as a quarterback. In seventh grade he was on a middle school championship team.
“I played in little league,” Barker said. “When I was in little league, I don’t know who could beat us. The West was the best. In seventh grade, we put a banner up. We went 8-0, and we blew teams out that year. The first (undefeated team) in 12 years. Last year we only lost one game last season in JV. Man, it was super close. We were on the goal-line against Hurricane, but they stopped us. After that I got my first varsity (action) against Lincoln County, and I threw a 40-yard ball to A’marvion (Howard) but he dropped it, sadly. We still joke about that that on and off the field. He’s my buddy. That dude is a great guy.”
Taylor said that story it illustrates Barker’s forte, and on a team of weapons a vertical passing attack could be a lethal combination to go with a screen game that is expected to render results.
“Chance Barker can spin the ball with the best of them, he can throw the ball all over the yard,” Taylor said. “He’s athletic too. We have dual threats all the way down to our JV team quarterback.”
Barker was dubbed “Gunslinger” by his teammates last fall.
Both have worked hard over the summer to assume the mantle of QB1 in place of the record-setting Cochran.
Mossor said this is the hardest he has worked since he decided to throw his hat into the ring for the quarterback job.
“Everything has changed really,” Mossor said. “It starts off in the weight room. The weight room has changed, everything has changed.”
Barker has spent time at camps and working with former Concord quarterback Jack Mangel, recently named an offensive graduate assistant at his alma mater.
“I’ve worked very hard, it’s been my whole life,” Barker said. “I’ve went to camps, spent money, worked out after practice, staying at it,” Barker said. “We try to stay after practice and throw and work on everything.”
The two quarterbacks leaned on the assistance of Cochran when he was at Princeton.
“A lot,” Mossor said. “Me and Grant always talked. When we would come out and get in some passing stuff, he was always teaching me. He’s like another coach to me. I’m going to try do what he did and try to do better He’s feet work was great. I’m going to try to pick that up from him.”
“I played behind Grant Cochran, and I got some experience from him, and my cousin Ranson Graham (a former quarterback at Princeton), I got some experience from him,” Barker said. “Grant is a great guy, me and him hang out all the time. I go to him about everything and ask him for advice. When he was competing for quarterback, he went through the same things I have. Thoughts in the head, ‘will I start, will I not?’ I just ask him for advice because he’s been there, done that.”
The Tigers have one of the state’s top receiver threats in Dom Collins, who last year set the school records for receptions (58), yards (1,036) and touchdowns (19).
“Running a 4.2, that’s incredible, man. Whew. I don’t know a guy that runs that,” Barker said. “Getting in his hands is a big factor. You get it in his hands, I don’t know who’s catching him. That guy is quick. If we can do that, I think we will be very, very good this year.”
“He’s a dog, we have to get the ball in his hands,” Mossor said.
Both maintained they will remain friends no matter which way it works out.
“He’s a great guy, I like Brad,” Barker said. “We always talk. We compete on the field, and we are still friends off the field no matter what.”
Mossor concurred and added, “If I don’t win it, I’m going to help my team out and play another position, whatever coach wants me to play.”
“I’ve been working hard in the weight room, I am confident I can fill any role the team needs,” Barker said.
Princeton will open the Taylor Era, and the first time without Cochran at quarterback since the 2019 opener, at Lincoln County Aug. 25.
