Petoskey's McCarthy, Boyne City's Neer show off experience in 7-on-7

PETOSKEY — At every level of football, no matter how you slice it up, quarterback is the most important positon.

It’s great to have a good group up front that can move some people, it helps having capable guys at the skill positions, but when it boils down to it, there’s got to be someone capable leading from the signal caller position.

Luckily for the Petoskey and Boyne City football teams, there’s experience back at that important position in junior Joseph McCarthy with the Northmen and senior Jack Neer with the Ramblers.

The Ramblers and Northmen were included in a collection of area football teams that took to Northmen Stadium for a 7-on-7 event Tuesday night, with East Jordan, Harbor Springs and Cheboygan also in attendance.

After being called up to start the final two games of his sophomore season a year ago, Petoskey's McCarthy is feeling more comfortable with the guys he’s got around him, many of which he built chemistry with at the junior varsity level.

“Very comfortable,” he said. “We’re all a great group of guys and we all get along very well. Basically a big family.”

Petoskey will go through a number of changes at the varsity level, most notably in its leadership under now head coach Jim Webb.

They’ll also have to replace a number of skill guys for McCarthy to work with, though he showed off a solid rapport with the likes of Brian Pike, Trevor Swiss, Seth Marek, CJ Hibbler and others Tuesday.

McCarthy also knows he has to re-earn the job and can’t slack off, with Lucas O’Donnell in competition for the quarterback position.

“Summer is just about getting better,” said McCarthy. “I’ll be going to L.A. next week for a QB competition, so it’s just working hard and getting better every day. Coming out to the field early and putting in late nights. It’s just getting that one percent better.”

In his two starts a year ago, McCarthy threw for just over 200 yards and two scores against Kingsford, then closed the year with 180 yards and another two touchdowns against Marquette.

While it’s not known how much the Northmen will take to the air under Webb, he’s finding the new system user friendly.

“What’s working is it’s easier for us to dissect the concepts,” added McCarthy. “It’s more high school friendly, rather than last year’s offense and it’s just easier for everyone to learn.”

Boyne City will head into the 2022 season with the comfort of a now three-year varsity starter at the position, with Jack Neer back to lead the group once again.

In a run-first offense, Neer has thrown for 1,825 yards and 25 touchdowns over the past two years and he’ll bring back his favorite target in Alex Calcaterra, along with skill guys Gavin Hewitt and Mason Wilcox.

As far as the offense goes, Neer knows it like the back of his hand.

“I’m very comfortable,” he said with a laugh. “This system, I’ve been around it since I was in third grade.”

As far as what he feels his guys are working on more than anything this summer, it’s mainly just getting bigger and stronger to deal with teams that’ll bring a lot more size to the field.

With limited numbers again in the program, the challenge comes in staying on the field and not breaking down.

“We’ve just been trying to get bigger,” he said. “Our linemen are smaller guys, so we’re just trying to get our backs bigger because we’ll have to play both ways, which means we’ll have to be conditioned as well.”

While he’s at no risk of losing his job, Neer does have a quarterback learning in the wake behind him, someone who also follows him home.

Neer’s brother, Drew, will take over as the junior varsity quarterback and is soaking up all he can from big brother in the summer months.

“I’m just giving him pointers,” said Jack. “It’s been good so far. We haven’t been in any fights yet.”

Petoskey will host 7-on-7 events at Northmen Stadium in Petoskey over the next two Tuesday’s, July 19 and 26 at 6 p.m., with new teams in attendance each week.

Both the Ramblers and the Northmen themselves will each be back next week, looking to take another step forward.

“Definitely just looking to get one percent better each day,” added McCarthy. “We’ve had great numbers throughout the summer, but it’s not just about the varsity level, it’s the whole program.”

Contact Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey's McCarthy, Boyne City's Neer show off experience in 7-on-7