By TOM HALLIBURTON
Port Arthur News Sports Writer
Thursday, September 14, 2000
PORT NECHES – Before pre-season practices started at Port Neches-Groves, head coach Matt Burnett called his quarterback duel “dead even” between Cody Elkins and Tony Bowser.
Man, did Matt ever observe that battle accurately!
Elkins and Bowser were dead and even, alright. Neither was available at PNG’s Baytown Stearling scrimmage two weeks before the season opener.
That’s why it required a special Indian to step up and guide the team to a season opening victory with limited amounts of repetition as the starting quarterback.
How long will 16-year-old junior Kirk Hallmark remain PN-G’s man-under-center after the Elkins-Bowser dead-even battle stops being dead and even?
Only time will answer that one. Maybe Hallmark will direct the offense for another week. Maybe he will guide the attack for two full seasons as a fellow named Dustin Long did so beautifully.
But one thing about it, the Indians are 1-0. The Crosby Cougars are 0-1.
The handsome young son of Jack and Hope Hallmark hung in there, not afraid to goof up.
Here’s some better news for the purple and white: Kirk identifies with his first-game mistakes and plans to reduce that total on Saturday night at 6 p.m. That’s when PN-G host Jacksonville in an all Indian outing at where else, The Reservation.
“Hopefully, I hope we don’t make any mistakes,” Hallmark said. “That’s pretty much impossible. Everybody’s going to make mistakes but I think that we learned from our first game and we are ready now.”
Make no mistake about Indians’ fans, Kirk is not being too hard on himself here. Nor is Burnett. Nor is the news media.
We all understand Hallmark has received precious little repetition as starting quarterback with two weeks notice that the job was his before PN-G beat Crosby 7-0. How did he do? Again, you sense Hallmark sounds like a perfectionist but that’s OK.
“I could have done some things better (in last week’s game), ” Hallmark reviewed his own performance. “Like I didn’t think enough. One time I pitched the ball too soon. I threw one pass for (split end Jonathan) Lumbley too early and he wasn’t ready. But the main thing I think I need is just repetition.”
“I wouldn’t say that I was nervous. Maybe I was tense but I wasn’t afraid that I would mess up.”
Hallmark completed 8 of 16 passes for 102 yards, shaking off an early interception. As his head coach pointed out, that adversity on the first series could have rattled a new quarterback. But Kirk didn’t let it.
“Kirk is going to do nothing but get better,” Burnett said. “I was pleased with his performance. He showed a lot of poise.
“We got the ball on our first possession at Crosby’s 40 after Crosby punted into the wind. The interception came on our third play. That could have been a pretty traumatic experience that might have crushed a lot of young men. But other than that first one, all the rest of his throws were good.
“Not a lot of people could do as well at taking over the reins like that. It’s not a real simple offense. But he’s a real level-headed young man. He’s tall, has a quick release and can put some zip on the ball.”
Hallmark first made a favorable impression on PN-G’s varsity as a sophomore backup receiver last year. His significant catches (2 for 71 yards) were instrumental in the Indians’ narrow 17-10 bidistrict playoff victory over Silsbee. He suffered a painful hip flexor injury during warmups on the following week before the Waller game, Abruptly ending his season.
That injury also halted any of Hallmark’s ideas of playing baseball in 2000. But another quarterback candidate, Elkins, was busy with baseball. Burnett made the prudent decision to work on Hallmark’s passing skills in the spring as and insurance policy, never knowing what the future would hold.
“As a staff, we needed one more guy as an insurance policy,” Burnett reflected. “Hallmark and Bowser threw the ball all spring. So we’re cashing in on an insurance policy.”
Hallmark will be the first to say he was the primary beneficiary of such work.
“I would have been completely lost without that,” He admitted. “I was hoping for a chance to play quarterback. I didn’t think I’d be able to start but it’s a lot of fun. You’re involved in everything. But if Bowser can come back and do well, I will do whatever’s best for the team.”
That’s an Indian spirit that can’t be beat.
