QB1 is the modern term for a football team’s starting quarterback.
Hillsboro head coach Bill Sucharski has another popular moniker for his signal-caller, senior Preston Brown: GOAT (Greatest of All Time) in Hawkland.
“Since I’ve been a part of Hillsboro, I think he’s the best quarterback that’s come through here,” said Sucharski, who played the position himself before he graduated from Hillsboro in 1996 and enters his fifth season as head coach. “With his ability to run, throw, his arm strength – he’ll make throws in a game that he didn’t need to make all week in practice because the coverage wasn’t as tight. Take Festus, for example. They’ve got two outstanding corners and those guys can cover, and he’s made throws against them the last two years where he’s had to put (the ball) in small windows.
“Preston has a fiery drive to win. He gets fired up in seven-on-sevens where no score is being kept. In his mind there is, and he always wants to come out on top.”
Last year, Brown and his older brother, running back Payton, both were named first-team All State after leading the Hawks to a 12-2 record and second place in Class 4. The Hawk express got stopped cold by Kearney 68-28 in the state championship game. Payton, who averaged 10 yards every time he touched the ball and found pay dirt 31 times, is now on a football scholarship at Southeast Missouri State.
“We came out slow (at state),” Preston said. “They hit us hard in the beginning and once we got down and got stopped a couple times, they knew to keep it on the gas and played (even) better.
“I’ve gotten more accurate and better with my teammates building. We’re all getting faster and stronger.”
Preston amassed more than 3,400 yards on offense (2,334 passing, 1,144 rushing) with 48 touchdowns, 32 via the air, in his second season as a starter. In June, he verbally committed to North Dakota State University in Fargo.
“Payton’s doing it great and he loves his teammates and coaches,” Preston said. “I love their (NDSU) coaching staff and I think it’ll be a great place for me.”
The Hawk QB will be working with a mostly new group of skill-position players this fall. Seniors Chris Duncan and Aiden Roland combined for more than 300 yards rushing in 2023 and are ready to step in at running back. Duncan battled groin and toe injuries last year while Roland popped a 60-yard run against North County and is one of the team’s top returners on defense. Juniors Joseph Jordan and Brady Armstrong also will get carries.
“We’ve been loaded at running back the last three or four years and these guys have patiently waited their turn, and we expect good things out of them,” Sucharski said.
Last year’s top two receivers, Chase Sucharski (the coach’s son) and Dalton Ross, accounted for more than 1,000 yards on 51 catches and scored 14 touchdowns. They have graduated, leaving senior Keiten Pipkins as the most experienced returning target; he hauled in 21 passes for 477 yards (22.7 yards per catch) and found the end zone seven times.
Sophomores Ian Phillips and Auston Ross, Dalton’s brother, and junior tight end Carson Campbell are new receiving options for Brown.
“We did a good job this summer of building new connections for Preston,” Sucharski said. “We have Keitin coming back, who had a heck of a year for us. We lost three or four seniors who caught a lot of balls.
“Ian is a smaller target (with) good ball skills. Auston has good hands. Carson, we can put him out wide and create a mismatch. We haven’t had that element for a while at tight end.”
The offensive line welcomes back seniors Micah Bacher and Cole Lossman, returning starters, and four newcomers, juniors Caden Romaine (guard) and Isaac Weible (center) and sophomores Logan Jarvis and Grant Sucharski, Bill’s son.
“The line is heavier than last year,” the coach said. “Two years ago we had to replace four guys and this year, the same thing. Two years ago they got a little better every week, and by the end of the year they were much improved. We expect the same thing (this season).”
Hillsboro’s defense, meanwhile, lost eight starters from a year ago. The linebacking corps is set with Roland, senior Coleton Romaine (Caden’s cousin) and junior Jackson Marks. The other eight positions are to be determined. Sucharski said he plans on not flipping the offensive linemen over to defense.
“Some (of last year’s linemen) were one-year starters,” he said. “Part of being in the program is waiting for your turn and doing what you’re being coached to do. We don’t want to play a ton of kids both ways. Barring injuries, we won’t have to do that for either side of the line. That hurt us in depth last year. Interior depth cost us against Kearney.”
Graduation dinged the special teams as well with the departure of kicker Nick Marchetti, now playing soccer for Rockhurst University in Kansas City. He booted 147 extra points in three seasons. Freshman Caleb Arnold is the new kicker.
Hillsboro’s season starts at home against Mary Institute Country Day School of St. Louis County Aug. 30, followed by a Week 2 trip to another suburban power, St. Louis University High.
It’s the start of a new two-year scheduling cycle, so the Hawks will visit MICDS in 2025.
“One condition was, we won’t play them on a Saturday at 1 (p.m.) in August,” Sucharski said. “From a health standpoint, you don’t know what that Saturday’s going to be. It could be 98, 100 degrees. There’s no way you can acclimate to that.”