High School Sports

By SHANE STARK
Staff Writer

The chance to impress big-time college football awaits Whitehouse quarterback Brady Attaway.

So far, his eye-popping stats since turning varsity two seasons ago have gone seemingly unnoticed.

Therefore, the senior's current list of colleges includes Lumberjacks, Bobcats and Bulldogs.

It's the attention of teams on par with the Georgia Bulldogs that he hopes to gain.

"As of right now, SFA is one of my top ones -- and Louisiana Tech and Texas State," Attaway said. "Hopefully in these coming up games I will get better and running and throwing good, and hopefully they will look at me better."

Wildcats coach Randy McFarlin believes Attaway has been wrongly overlooked. No matter whether that continues, McFarlin feels confident Attaway will be successful at the next level.

"I know the situation as a quarterback, he's a true quarterback," McFarlin said. "And when you read the papers, and some of these other guys are committing that are quarterbacks, they are committing as athletes, not quarterbacks. Brady is a true quarterback.

"He's gonna go somewhere to play. And, I won't know this to be truth until about four or five years from now, but Brady Attaway is going to excel as a quarterback somewhere before a lot of the other guys do."

According to recruiting Web sites, the list of schools interested in Attaway (6-2, 185) includes Kansas, Texas A&M, Missouri and Texas Tech. But even if he ends up in Division I-AA or lower-level D-I, Attaway will have left a lasting mark on Whitehouse football.

With him piloting the offense, the Wildcats have become an area force during the past two seasons. They have recorded consecutive district championships and 10-win seasons, and traveled deeper into the playoffs than any previous Whitehouse team.

"When you look back at this program and the turnaround, there's about three or four names that come to mind," McFarlin said. "Of course, you've got Brady Attaway, the one who came into the quarterback spot and that's where it started."

In 2007, Attaway had one of the top seasons by a quarterback in the state.

He completed 248 of 403 passes for 3,127 yards and 39 touchdowns to help the Wildcats to a 10-3 record.

Of course, his goal is to improve upon that production.

"It doesn't seem real at all," he said of last season's stats. "Hopefully I will have another season like that this year, maybe even better. I give all the credit to (my teammates), especially the linemen."

But McFarlin said Attaway's contributions transcend numbers.

"He's a great leader for the offense," McFarlin said. "He's throwing the ball extremely well; accuracy is his strongpoint. And kids look to him for leadership...Brady's a guy everybody puts their trust in. No matter where we are in a game, they know we could come back and win the thing."

Whitehouse quarterback Brady Attaway threw for 3,127 yards and 39 touchdowns last season.
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