Brayden Thimons knows his Highlands football. He has followed recent team history with a careful curiosity, and always with an eye toward the future — when his turn would come to run the Golden Rams' offense as an experienced senior quarterback.

That time is now and Thimons is ready to follow in the footsteps of former team greats.

“You look back, ‘Bones' (Matt Bonislawski) made the semis when he was a senior, and Jeff (Sinclair) made the semis when he was a senior,” Thimons said. “To be able to do what they did, and to get to that point, that would be crazy.”

Teams' playoff fates often rest in the hands of their quarterbacks. Highlands has plenty of faith in Thimons, and two other Alle-Kiski teams also will have formidable signal callers leading the way this fall.

All three are as different in stature and size as they are in style, but are ready to be leaders.

Burrell has senior Max Garda who, like Thimons, is a dual-threat QB and can make defensive coordinators gnash their teeth up in the box as he takes snaps and free-wheels for first downs. He isn't the biggest player on the field but often is the most challenging to tackle.

Apollo-Ridge, meantime, puts the keys to its offense in the trustworthy hands of junior Kyle Fitzroy, the prototypical 6-foot-4 passer with deceiving range and good field-vision.

Size also is on Thimons' side. He is 6-4 and 230 pounds. Highlands coach Sam Albert calls him “Bull.” Those roster specs allow him to see over the defense and also plow defenders backward.

Last season, Thimons scored 10 rushing touchdowns, stiff-arming his way for 534 yards. But he also threw for 1,250 yards and eight TDs on 65 completions.

“Thimons is a beast of an athlete,” Deer Lakes coach Steve Sciullo said. “And you look at Garda, he does so much for (Burrell). Every play he has the ball in his hands.”

And that's how the 5-10, 170-pound Garda likes it. He's been playing quarterback since he was 8. Some say he was as elusive then as he is now.

“Playing all nine games last year at quarterback really helped me,” said Garda, a third-year starter. “I was able to see how many intricacies there are, how to read defenses and how to break them down. I feel like I have gotten used to playing the position, and I've gotten better each year.”

Teams have to “Max Protect” when he has the ball.

“Max Garda's got a gift,” Burrell coach Dave Bellinotti said. “He's very intelligent. He has the presence of the game. Somehow, he's always found a way to be successful.”

Garda accounted for 17 touchdowns as a junior, passing for 953 yards and rushing for 784 and 10 scores.

Fitzroy has been effective running the Duane Brown-charged offense at Apollo-Ridge, but he's done so in a more traditional way. The pure pocket passer has gone by the wayside in plenty of high school offenses, but not in Spring Church. To Fitzroy, the path of least resistance is through the air.

And with Brown, a do-it-all standout who has racked up 60 career touchdowns, out recovering from knee surgery, Fitzroy knows his leadership role and importance will increase drastically.

“I look at it as a chance to step up and show what I can do without Duane,” said Fitzroy, who threw for 890 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore and attempted the third-most amount of passes in the area. “Yes, Duane is a big part of what we do but I can help the team, too. Being more prepared this year puts me in a better position to help the team. I know things 10 times better.”

“Fitz” ran the offense and helped the Vikings move the ball at times, when Brown missed three games last year with a concussion.

“The quarterback's job is to understand the offense and know what the other players are about to do,” Fitzroy said. “You don't want to get the other players out of their comfort zone.”

Thimons had teams that scouted Highlands slightly fooled during a pair of summer seven-on-seven passing workouts when he lined up at tight end and wide receiver to “shake things up.”

Albert has not lost his mind; Thimons is the QB, and that won't change.

“He's our guy,” Albert said. “He's a three-year starter for a reason.”

Speaking of seven-on-sevens, Thimons is not exactly a fan.

“You can't hit anybody,” he said.

Thimons also is a standout linebacker — one of the best in the WPIAL. That is the position Robert Morris wants him to play next year. Thimons committed to the Colonials on July 27.

He also had scholarship offers from Maine and St. Francis (Pa.).

Thimons has put defenders on their backs, bulldozed them flat, on his way to big chunks of yardage. His aggressive nature on defense serves him well as a ball carrier.

“When we played against Apollo-Ridge, (assistant coach) Corey Smith said he was watching film and he asked me, ‘Why don't you ever run out of bounds or slide?' ” Thimons said. “I talked about that with my mom. She's my No. 1 (fan). We talked about, what if I flop a little and maybe get a 15-yarder (penalty). But she said I'd never get that call because I am someone who hits people on defense.”

All three QBs can be game-changers but Thimons, Garda and Fitzroy get the job done in different ways.

Thimons can launch it. Against Apollo-Ridge two years ago, he threw the ball about 60 yards through the air, and the pass seemed to take forever to come down, before landing softly in the arms of Chris Fick for an 81-yard touchdown.

A tackle throughout youth football, and bumped up to junior high football because he was too big for his normal age level, Thimons became a serious quarterback when he got to high school.

Former Highlands and Robert Morris quarterback Jeff Sinclair, now an assistant at Riverview under Bonislawski, has worked with Thimons to sand down any rough edges.

“Jeff has taught me the approach I have,” Thimons said. “I have to play quarterback like I am playing to get offers to play quarterback. That's what Jeff did.”

And Thimons takes the position quite seriously. He likes to wear a GoPro camera on the top of his helmet during minicamp to get an advanced look at the offense.

Garda said he would prefer to take off and run with the ball. The Bucs aren't shy to give him the green light to scatter. Garda said the playbook, however, has become much more complex in a year's time. He hopes the right series of play calls can keep the Bucs' touchdown cannon firing and the program's compass pointed toward Victory Circle.

“Being a senior, it's the last ride,” Garda said. “We feel we have started rebuilding the tradition that Burrell has had. We feel like this can be a breakout year. Coach (Dave) Bell (Bellinotti) has taught us to defend our ground and let people know Burrell football is back. Last year, we did a really good job of laying the foundation. Hopefully, this year will lead us to bigger things.”

The offense has changed quite a bit at Apollo-Ridge, Fitzroy said. Not having an impact player like Brown will do that to a playbook.

“Most plays last year, Duane was the No. 1 guy — as a receiver (and running back),” Fitzroy said. “I am trying to learn to trust everyone else. I feel like the coaches will give me that chance.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is the local sports editor for the Valley News Dispatch edition of the Tribune-Review. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com.

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