Mountain Brook's Will Brewster stays cool under pressure
Rubin E. Grant | al.com, October 08, 2012 noon
Mountain Brook quarterback Will Brewster (center) celebrates a touchdown against Gardendale earlier this season. (Linda Stelter | The Birmingham News)
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Will Brewster doesn't shy away from pressure. Ask Mountain Brook football coach Chris Yeager, and he'll tell you that the Spartans' junior quarterback embraces it.
"In tough situations, he plays better and better," Yeager said. "The guys seem to follow him. He's a leader in every sense of the word."
Brewster demonstrated his cool-headedness in his first varsity start in the Spartans' opener this season.
"We were playing Tuscaloosa County and we were down 7-3 late in the game," Yeager recalled. "We were on our own 40 and we had a 20-play, 60-yard drive. I didn't think you could have a 20-play, 60-yard drive. "We converted four fourth downs and three of them were with Will carrying the ball. That's how he is. He wants the ball in that situation."
Brewster capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Patrick Sullivan, lifting Mountain Brook to a 10-7 victory.
The unflappable Brewster said there's no secret to why he rarely gets rattled at crunch time.
"The biggest thing is always staying calm," he said. "All the work we've gone through and because we've had so much preparation it allows me to just do what I'm supposed to do. I just want to do my job to help the team the best I can."
Brewster has been a revelation for the Spartans (6-0 overall, 4-0 in Class 6A, Region 6) this season, helping rise to the No. 6 ranking in 6A by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
He hasn't felt any pressure replacing highly successful two-year starting quarterback Edward Aldag, who guided Mountain Brook to an undefeated regular season and a 12-1 record in 2011.
"The coaches didn't put any pressure on me," Brewster said. "They told me not to compare myself to him, to just go out and play your game."
Yeager figured Brewster's game would feature more running than Aldag, who was a highly efficient passer. Before the season Yeager said, "He doesn't throw as well as Edward, but he runs pretty good. We'll probably run him more than we did Edward."
Now, as Mountain Brook prepares to play host to Hewitt-Trussville (3-3, 2-2) in a region game at 7 p.m. Friday, Yeager raves about Brewster throwing the ball.
"He has surprised us with his passing ability," Yeager said. "When we finished spring, we knew he had the arm and over the summer if he kept working and cleaned up his decision-making, he would progress. He did that and now he's an excellent passer.
He's completed seven passes over 50 yards or better. Where he's best is when he's being pressured he's good at placing the ball in one-on-one situations. He's very, very accurate and he has a sense of awareness of coverages. We like to see it when linebackers and safeties creep up because he'll change the play and something good is going to happen."
Brewster is completing 68.7 percent of his passes (46 of 67) for 651 yards and six touchdowns with one interception. He also is the Spartans' second-leading rusher with 265 yards on 36 attempts and also has five rushing touchdowns.
"We had all those workouts in June and July and we played in some 7-on-7 games and I started getting more comfortable being in the pocket and trusting my arm," Brewster said. "I have done well, but there's always room for improvement. I just want to be able to manage the games and give the team the best of my ability."
Few expected Brewster or the Spartans to do as well as they have this season with the loss of 18 starters off their 2011 squad. But Brewster said he and his teammates didn't have any doubts about surpassing expectations.
"We all had faith in ourselves that if we could come together we could have a good year," he said. "We're focused on getting better and better each and every week and come playoff time we want to be the best team we can be."
