As the 2019 football season approaches, there’s still a bit of a question as to who will be El Dorado’s starting quarterback. Whoever gets the nod, there’s not a mystery in who’s direction he will be throwing the football.
Steven Tollette emerged over the summer as a primary receiving option in the Wildcats’ passing attack.
“Steve has had a great summer,” said El Dorado coach Steven Jones. “He had a lot of good camps and 7-on-7, things like that, and has really shown it’s going to be a challenge to cover him one-on-one on the outside.”
As a junior, Tollette had 11 receptions for 123 yards. But, five of those catches went for touchdowns. His season was cut short after he suffered a broken collarbone against Russellville.
“My senior year, I hope to have a whole bunch of fun with my friends. It’s going to be our last year. We hope to go out with a bang,” said Tollette. “I’m thankful for all my family, my friends. Coach Qualls, he pushed me a lot.
“I feel like I should have a leadership role. I’ve been out here for a minute. I know how it is under the lights. It’s going to be a fun experience, a fun year. It’ll be a good season.”
Tollette, along with fellow senior Devunte Kidd, are expected to lead a young but talented group of receivers. Especially with a new quarterback, the experienced receivers will have to take on bigger roles at the line of scrimmage and on the sideline.
“I need to enhance the leader’s role because a lot of people are looking for me because of what I did in the summer. I just need to show that I can be that guy,” said Tollette, who will be on the outside as the team’s X receiver. Kidd, one of the fastest players in the state, will be on the opposite side of the field. The duo could present problems for opposing secondaries.
“Steven is probably our best route runner as far as technically running the routes,” said receivers’ coach Hal Qualls. “Steven has good height with his long arms, and he has excellent feet, good route runner. In goal line-type situations, he puts them in a bind. They’ll have to bring another half-man over to cover him, which opens up the other side of the field.”
El Dorado’s spread offense is designed to put the playmakers in space. In Tollette’s case, he hopes it brings a lot of one-on-one situations. He likes his chances.
“If I’m playing on the outside, it means I have a chance of playing one-on-one, just me and a corner,” said Tollette. “I can’t name too many people that can hold me one-on-one in the conference.”