Blasting off: Robinson QB and WR thriving in new roles

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In baseball, the pitcher and catcher work together so closely that they’re known as the battery. In basketball, a crowd-electrifying alley-oop never happens without a well-placed pass and an acrobatic jumper who can go get the ball and jam it home.

In football, all eyes are on the quarterback when he’s taking the signals from the sideline, shouting the pre-snap cadence and then dropping back to pass. But once he starts looking for somewhere to throw the ball, his best friend, and the crowd’s hero, is a playmaking wide receiver.

On the Monday before the first football game of this season, Robinson coach Tommy Allison decided he needed both a reliable QB and a big-time target. Jordan Rogers, the Rockets quarterback as a junior in 2018, had been competing with Joseph McHenry throughout the spring and preseason practice for the starting spot this fall. The race was really too close for Allison to call. Both players are athletic and tall with the ability to make plays with their arms or legs. Both players showed they could lead the Rockets offense. There was little separation

Except that Allison knew Rogers could play wide receiver because he had performed well at that spot as a freshman and sophomore on the Robinson varsity.

The Rockets coach made the call and the players responded with smiles.

“I was thrilled about it,” Rogers said. “I was ready to get to work at receiver. The main thing really is stamina. Quarterbacks don’t really run much in practice. As a receiver, you run routes every day. At least 50 a day. You’ve got to get used to that.”

For McHenry, a junior who played safety for Robinson last season, it was the moment he had been working toward.

“I was beyond excited,” McHenry said. “I was just ready. I knew me and Jordie and the whole team could be something special.”

There are probably a lot of factors one could point out in explaining Robinson’s 3-0 start to this season. The Rockets have been so impressive in winning their first three games by an average score of 55-15 that they’ve grabbed the No. 9 spot in Texas Football’s current Class 4A Division II rankings.

The flashiest thing about Robinson, though, is the alley-oop team of McHenry and Rogers. The pair has connected 15 times for 396 yards and a Central Texas-leading eight touchdowns so far.

Just don’t worry about the fact that the first completion from McHenry to Rogers was a mistake.

Robinson was leading Taylor, 7-0, and driving inside the Ducks’ 10-yard line. McHenry scrambled out of the pocket and spotted Rockets receiver Jace Walker in the back of the end zone.

“I threw it and Jordan came out of nowhere and snagged it,” McHenry said.

It was a simple case of Rogers having a nose for the football.

“I was going to run a fade and stopped what I was doing because I saw (McHenry) rolling out and I cut in,” Rogers said. “He was looking for (Walker running) the drag and I came across it.”

Even if unintentional, it still counted for six points. Still, it doesn’t compare to both players’ favorite highlight to this point.

In an offensive showdown in Troy last week, the Rockets were trailing 21-14 when McHenry looked for Rogers to tie it up. The quarterback admitted he threw the pass a little behind the receiver, but they still connected.

“I ran a go route and beat the corner,” Rogers said. “Joe threw it up. We both went up at the same time. I tipped it. (The cornerback) fell on the ground and I caught it.”

Rogers scored on the tip-drill play and Robinson never trailed again. He finished the night with six catches for 161 yards and four touchdowns.

Robinson’s move of shifting its 2018 starting quarterback to receiver is looking like one of the more savvy choices by a Central Texas coaching staff this season. McHenry leads area QBs with 829 passing yards and 10 touchdowns. Along with finding Rogers, McHenry has had success throwing to receivers Walker and Matthew Armes and running back Brady Kay.

And Rogers has seen his production at receiver climb with each passing game. That’s what Allison was hoping for when he made the admittedly tough decision at QB. The Rockets coach said Rogers athletic ability and his competitiveness give him the ability to make contested catches, and that’s why Allison said he believes the former QB is now the best receiver in Central Texas.

Rogers is hungry to show the coach is right about that.

“Ever since he told us that Joseph was going to be quarterback and I was going to be receiver, that motivated me and gave me a lot of confidence,” Rogers said. “I know I’m a pretty good receiver, and I want to prove that to everybody.”

— WACOTRIB