It goes without saying at this point that St. Anne’s-Belfield’s Jalen Harrison is good at a lot of roles in a lot of sports. He’s committed to play baseball at UVa, he’s a double digit point scorer for the STAB basketball team, and he’s been an all-state wideout and defensive back in football.
Add dual threat quarterback to the list after STAB’s 41-24 victory over Nansemond Suffolk Thursday night.
Harrison exploded for 230 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and then threw for another 185 yards and four touchdowns. Harrison has played some Wildcat-style quarterback before in his career, but Thursday’s game, played a day early due to the weekend forecast, was a different concept entirely as he showed a complete approach to the position.
“I felt really good, the o-line was just tremendous, they played their butts off,” Harrison said. “I had enough time to read my levels, read the cornerbacks and safeties. I had enough time to do everything.”
Harrison found Kareem Johnson on three of those touchdowns and Johnson finished with seven total catches for 99 yards to go with a host of penalty yards gained on obvious defensive pass interference penalties.
“We go through school going through our hand signs and different routes we can run,” Harrison said. “We’re the best of friends and I know where he’s going to be and I know where to throw it to him because he’s a phenomenal athlete and he’s awesome.”
NSA tried to rally in the fourth quarter and pulled within striking distance at 29-16 early in the fourth quarter on a Cole Christensen touchdown. From there though, Harrison shut the door on Nansemond Suffolk. Harrison raced in from 60 yards out two plays after Christensen scored and when Christensen answered with a 54-yard keeper, Harrison unleashed a 62-yard touchdown where he simply found a different gear as he got near the STAB sideline, blowing past a pack of pursuing NSA defenders.
“We’re going to run option to death with Jalen and we’re going to throw with him,” said STAB coach John Blake. “He’s obviously spent more time, he got more time there in the summer and he definitely feels more comfortable with what we’re doing. It’s also that he’s a year older, and he’s an incredible athlete. A ridiculous athlete. We run isolation after they score and the gear he hit right in front of me? Come on.”
That proved to be enough as the STAB defense stiffened after Harrison’s second score, with Campbell Miller picking off a pair of passes in the fourth to help seal the win. Miller also caught a touchdown pass from Harrison on a fade for STAB’s second touchdown.
STAB finished with nearly 500 yards of total offense on the day all while overcoming four turnovers on the night. It helped of course that NSA turned the ball over five times, including an interception by Harrison on Nansemond Suffolk’s first drive.
Michael DiGiacomo finished with 51 yards on seven touches for STAB at tailback.
The victory ends a two-game skid by STAB and the Saints host North Cross at home at 7 p.m. October 9.
