Quilling making big plays for Carson defense

When Carson takes the field tonight against Spanish Springs, the Senators will have a new face at free safety.

Junior Chance Quilling, normally a linebacker/strong safety in the Senators' 4-4-3 scheme, becomes the third starter at free safety this season. Gabe Pongasi, last week's starter at free safety, is sidelined after suffering a concussion in last week's 52-20 thumping of Damonte Ranch.

"I'm looking forward to it," Quilling said. "I played there all last year on the JV team. I like it because you sit back there and get to see the whole field."

"He feels comfortable," Carson coach Blair Roman said. "As an outside linebacker/strong safety, you play run first and pass second. At free safety, he has to play pass first and run second. That's what we've been working on this week in practice. He'll bring a physical presence to the position."

Playing free safety enables Quilling a bigger chance to lower the boom on a running back and receiver. When you talk big hits with Quilling, his eyes light up like a Las Vegas marquee.

Quilling has the team's arguably biggest hit of the season. That came against North Valleys when he separated Tyler Groves from a Tim Herman pass which led to an interception by Pongasi and a Carson score which put the Senators up by 14 points.

Interception or big hit? The answer was a bit surprising.

"Definitely a big hit," Quilling said. "That hit (at North Valleys) was sick. In Pop Warner, I was scared to hit. As I got older I found out that it didn't hurt at all. Actually it's pretty fun."

And, according to Roman, Quilling has a little bit of a mean streak when he's on the field, and Roman said he's fine with that as long as he stays under control.

"He is always around the ball," Roman said. "He's not afraid of contact."

The hit at North Valleys was a big play, but a recovered punt against Del Campo also was huge. Carson was nursing just a 10-7 lead at the time, and the ensuing score after the recovery gave the Senators a 17-7 advantage.

"He's had some plays that have turned the momentum of the game over to us," Roman said. "The play versus Del Campo when he recovered the fumble (on a punt); against North Valleys he had the big hit that turned into an interception. That turned the momentum of the game toward us."

Simply put, he has been a difference maker in many ways.

Besides his work on the defensive side of the ball, Quilling has made his mark on special teams covering kicks. He's made two nice tackles inside the 20 and is the long snapper on the punt coverage team.

"He's the unsung hero of the special teams," Roman said. "I give non-starters a chance to play on the special teams, but it's a spot people have to earn. Most people say a team has 22 starters. I say 77 if you include all of the special teams. It's important, and kids have bought into that."

Especially Quilling, who has spent a lot of time being a long snapper. It's not an easy task, but it's one he does very well. He gets the ball back there in around 2 seconds. It's not surprising that he's good, considering he's a quarterback and he throws a baseball pretty well.

Covering kicks gives him added times to make that ESPN highlight reel hit.

One thing that has stood out about Quilling this year is his maturity. When he lost out at quarterback to Trey Jensen, he was upset, but that didn't stop him from being a good teammate and finding other areas he could help the team.

"When it looked like Trey had risen to where he needed to be, I told him I wanted him to focus on defense," Roman said. "I think he likes playing quarterback. He sees himself as a quarterback. I wouldn't be happy if he wasn't mad. That shows what kind of competitor he is. I did suspect he was down. I had a couple of good talks with him."

And, Roman was correct.

"I was kind of mad at first," Quilling said. "Trey has been doing great, and I'm happy he's doing well."

For now, Quilling will still prepare as the back-up QB, and create havoc for the opposition on defense and special teams.