MUSKEGON – Muskegon’s M’Khi Guy is a friend of all the former Big Red quarterbacks who led the team to greatness over the past decade or so.

He grew up knowing, watching and idolizing guys like Deshaun Thrower, Kalil Pimpleton, La’Darius Jefferson and Cameron Martinez.

He was groomed to follow in their footsteps, going all the way back to elementary school, when he started attending the Big Reds’ veer offense camp every summer.

But ironically, it was those great Muskegon quarterbacks – the guys he admired so much and knew so well – who haunted Guy for his first few starts as Muskegon’s quarterback.

“I was nervous,” said Guy, a junior who started getting some playing time at quarterback last season. “Those are big shoes to fill. I didn’t want to be the quarterback who couldn’t lead the team to state. The first game that I started, instead of just going out and playing like I can, my mind was too set on doing this and doing that.”

There were moments when Guy’s tension showed, and the results were sometimes less than great.

Muskegon lost to Cedar Springs 21-14 in the district finals last fall, the earliest the Big Reds had bowed out of the playoffs in nine years.

This season started with an uncomfortably close 20-14 victory over East Kentwood and an ugly 49-16 loss on the road to powerful Warren De La Salle.

The bickering among Big Red fans was becoming noticeable, and there were disagreements about who should be the starting quarterback – Guy or senior Julian Neely, who had also been getting some snaps under center.

“I was definitely hearing it,” Guy said about the negative comments.

Last week, following the deflating loss to De La Salle, the Big Reds had to face a wildly improved Reeths-Puffer team that’s in a big hurry to join the list of area powers.

Muskegon had an efficient drive and scored on its first possession, then the Rockets answered right back, and the game turned into a dog fight.

Star running back Jakob Price was playing his first game of the season after being injured and had limited carries. Star slot receiver Destin Piggee was getting his share of touches but the Rockets were containing him.

Luckily for Muskegon, something finally clicked for Guy that night. He found his legs and his confidence and ripped off big run after big run in key situations.

By the time it was all over he had rushed for 205 yards and two touchdowns, and the Big Reds hung on for a 28-20 victory.

“I feel like I grew up in that game,” Guy told MuskegonSports.com this week. “I knew I couldn’t keep going downhill.

“I knew we had to stop being the same team that didn’t elevate. It was time to show everyone what we are, offensively and defensively. I had to grow up. We couldn’t keep having those bad games.”

With the team’s top ball-carriers having so-so games, Guy said he realized he would have to do more than usual if Muskegon was going to win.

“Jakob Price and Destin Piggee are our main guys,” Guy said. “I know Destin was getting a little frustrated, but he understood that if they were going to key on him someone else was going to be open. I heard that he told our coach to keep giving me the ball. Jakob and Destin are leaders. If they see something that will be good for the team, they will let it be known.”

Muskegon head coach Shane Fairfield said he liked what he saw from his quarterback on Friday.

“I could see a shift in the way he ran as the game went on,” said Fairfield, whose team will visit Zeeland East for a conference game on Friday. “He realized, ‘I have to be the guy. If they’re not going to let our running back or our slot guy do it, I’ll do it.’ At Muskegon, if you’re going to be the quarterback, you have to be a threat. Now teams have to worry about No. 3, as well.”

Fairfield thinks the competition between Guy and Neely pushed Guy to mature and develop his skills.

“Julian did a great job of pushing him,” the coach said. “It was a hard decision. Julian does a lot of good things.

“It’s a position that’s earned and deserved. Julian is doing a great job playing defense and he’ll be ready if his number is called, but I’m very happy with the competition and the way M’Khi has matured.”

Guy started out as a student at Muskegon Heights and transferred to the Mona Shores district, but said he knew he would end up at Muskegon when his uncle, Keith Guy, became the athletic director and head boys basketball coach at the school.

He said he’s always been extremely close to his Uncle Keith, who’s also the stepfather of Cameron Martinez, who quarterbacked the Big Reds to the state finals.

“We’ve always been tight,” Guy said. “Anything I need help with, he’s always there.”

Guy is the point guard for his uncle’s basketball team in the winter, but he said he’s also learned quite a bit about football from Keith, who played both sports at Muskegon Heights before going to Ferris State University on a basketball scholarship.

“I heard he was pretty fast,” Guy said about his uncle’s football career. ‘I heard when he was running you could hear those pads clapping.”

Guy said he’s also picked up a lot over the years from the former Big Red quarterbacks he’s known since his youth, and continues to seek their advice and feedback.

That means he has access to a lot of knowledge. Thrower went on to be a star quarterback at Ferris State, Pimpleton starred at Central Michigan University and is currently on the New York Giants practice squad, Jefferson currently plays for Western Michigan University and Martinez plays for Ohio State.

Thrower works as Guy’s personal trainer, although he’s been less active lately while nursing an injury.

“Before my fourth-grade year Coach Fairfield invited me to go with them to veer camp and I was around Pimpleton and Jefferson,” he said. “Jefferson taught me where to have my hands placed on the ball when I’m throwing. When Pimpleton is in town I always go and work out with him. I talked to Cameron Martinez yesterday, in fact. He told me to stay focused and everything will be fine in the long run.

“If I call one of them they answer the phone. If I mess up they are going to correct me and tell me what I did wrong. I’m probably closest with Thrower – he’s my everyday big brother, trainer and role model.

“I get a lot from those guys.”