NORTON SHORES – A lot of Mona Shores fans were probably thinking that the quarterback position might be a bit less important this season, following the graduation of standout Mark Konecny and no obvious successor in sight.

They probably thought that would be fine, because whoever took the snaps under center would be surrounded by talented upperclassmen like Dahmir Farnum and Jaylen Vinton, who would take care of the big plays and keep things simple for the new QB.

Now the fans have discovered that they can have the best of both worlds.

Farnum, Vinton and the other upperclassmen are doing great, but so is sophomore quarterback Johnathon Pittman, who has started to show everyone why he won the job in the preseason, despite never even playing at the junior varsity level.

A few months ago Pittman had no assurance that he would be starting QB. He competed with junior Hayden Terpstra in preseason workouts, and the outcome could have gone either way.

Some might have given Terpstra the edge, because he was the JV quarterback last season while Pittman started for the freshman squad.

Both did well over the summer, and the coaches finally decided that it would be better to play the speedy Terpstra at various positions and have Pittman concentrate on quarterback.

“We thought the best thing for the whole team was to give Johnathon the chance, and he’s done really good,” said Mona Shores coach Matt Koziak. “We’re happy for him and the success he’s had as a sophomore. It’s not easy. He’s 15-years-old and we have guys who are 18 on our team. We’re super proud of him.”

Pittman showed a lot of confidence right away, completing 9 of 11 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns in the Sailors’ opening game victory against Manitowoc (Wisconsin) Lincoln.

He didn’t show up very much on the stat sheet in Mona Shores’ second game, a disappointing 31-27 loss to powerful Rockford, but since then he’s become a major factor.

Against Wyoming, for instance, he had touchdown throws of 25, 21 and 10 yards. Against Zeeland East he had TD strikes of 40 and 11 yards. In a very important win over Zeeland West he had touchdown passes of 35 and 32 yards.

Those performances confirmed what the coaches suspected before the season – that Pittman has a very big arm.

Heading into Friday’s annual showdown with Muskegon, Pittman has completed 59 of 84 passes for 950 yards and 13 touchdowns, with only three interceptions.

“We knew that passing would be his strength, along with his intelligence,” Koziak said.

What the coaches didn’t know right away was how strong he could be in the running game, but he proved that with a big performance in a tough 15-0 win over Reeths-Puffer last Friday.

The R-P defense was effective in containing Farnum and the other explosive Shores players, so the coaches turned to Pittman, who lowered his head and ground out big run after big run.

He’s nobody’s speedster and he didn’t score a point, but he had a team-long run of 30 yards and fought his way for several key first downs when Mona Shores really needed them.

Pittman finished with 17 carries for 103 yards, bringing him to 300 yards rushing on the season.

“Sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Pittman said about the R-P game. “They played us tough, and the coaches were running me a lot. I was excited every time.”

Koziak was excited, too, because he saw another side of his multi-dimensional offense come to life.

“He’s not a burner, he’s not going to run away from you, but he is going to get those tough yards,” Koziak said. “He’s 6-2 and 208 pounds. Reeths-Puffer did a great job of taking away our big plays. I think Johnathon got the biggest chuck (with his 30-yard run).

“We knew we had good perimeter kids, and Dahmir with his speed in the backfield, but now we can put defenses in a real bind because they have to worry about Johnathon, too.”

Pittman admits that varsity football is much more challenging than the freshman version he played last season, but he has not been intimidated at all.

“It’s quicker, but we did a lot of offseason stuff and by game one I was ready,” he said. “I was a little bit nervous at first, but that goes away once I get in the games.

“Every game my confidence is getting there more and more. I’ve just got to keep going.”

Koziak said the sky is the limit for Pittman over the rest of his varsity career, partly because of his size and the fact that he’s only 15 and still growing.

“His hands are gigantic,” the coach said. “He wears size 16 shoes. He could end up being 6-5, 220 by the time he’s done.”

The bigger clue about Pittman’s potential lies in his worth ethic.

This is a kid who gets up every morning at 4:45, goes to church, goes to school early to practice his passing or shoot baskets, goes to class all day, then goes to football practice.

When you mix physical size, athletic gifts and that type of focus, good things are going to follow.

Pittman may not be quite ready to have his name engraved next to the likes of Brady Rose, Caden Broersma or Konecny, but he isn’t far away.

“We always say, to be our quarterback you have to outwork everybody, and he does that,” Koziak said. “I always kind of thought he could be this guy, but I didn’t think he could do it so quickly. But then watching him study film, and seeing his work ethic, it all makes sense.

“It’s like we’re watching him grow up right before our eyes.”