Geagan seizes opportunity
CHERRY TWP — When it comes to winning football games at Moniteau, Dustin Geagan is only one piece of the puzzle.
But he's turning into quite a big piece.
Through five games this season, the sophomore running back has 803 yards rushing on just 86 carries — 9.34 yards per carry — and nine touchdowns. He's also caught five passes for 118 yards.
Not bad for a kid who was originally envisioned as a backup quarterback.
“That's all I thought I'd be last year and leading into this year,” said Geagan, who was the starting quarterback in junior high. “I figured I'd be groomed to replace Kyle (senior QB Armagost) when he leaves.”
That still might be the case, though Geagan is staging a pretty good argument to stay at running back.
“Our junior varsity quarterbacks are doing a good job, so you never know,” Moniteau coach Jeff Campbell said. “But if you see our offense, the quarterback is like another running back, anyway.
“Kyle is a running quarterback who learned how to throw. Dustin can throw the ball pretty good, too.”
Jesse Uber was scheduled to be Moniteau's starting running back last year, replacing James Shope, but decided he didn't want to play football anymore.
All of a sudden, that position was up for grabs — and Geagan snatched it.
“I saw it as an opportunity to get on the field right away,” he said.
Geagan produced solid numbers last season — 672 yards and seven TDs rushing, 277 yards and three TDs receiving — but nothing like this year.The 5-foot-9, 170-pound back has put together four 100-yard games already, including 184 yards against Redbank Valley two weeks ago and a school-record 306 yards and four touchdowns against previously unbeaten St. Marys last week.Dick Madison rushed for 295 yards in a game for the Warriors in 1961. Denny Davis ran for 275 in a game during the 1980s.“Matt Schandelmeier, Bill Staab, Steve Saul, Shope ... We've had some good backs here over the past 15 years,” Campbell said. “Dustin is putting his name right up there. We hadn't found one that's hit 300 yards in a game.”Geagan scored on touchdown runs of 88, 47, 17 and 13 yards last week. He's running behind an offensive line that returned two starters — right tackle Chester Gladd and left tackle Kyle Davidson — from last year.“I'm good friends with all of those guys,” Geagan said of the line. “And our receivers do a great job of picking up blocks downfield and creating big plays.”First-year starters up front for the Warriors include right guard Andrew Armagost, center Joe Holfelder and left guard Nick Conti.“Dustin runs skinny,” Campbell said. “He doesn't need much of a crease to get through. He's fast, but he's quick, too. Those are two different things.”Offensive coordinator Randy Armagost said Geagan is one of “four or five great athletes on our offense who divert attention for each other.”Quarterback Armagost rushes and passes for 1,000 yards, Ethan Pry is a deep threat at receiver and David Campbell is in his third season as the starting fullback.“I don't know if any of those guys put up the numbers they do if the others aren't on the field with them,” coach Armagost said.Those numbers don't lie. Moniteau is averaging 471 yards of offense per game entering Thursday night's game at Union.“Dustin is a humble kid, a true team player,” Campbell said. “I've never heard him ask for more touches. He could start at cornerback for any team in our league, yet we spell him on defense all the time and he never complains.“We showed him films from last year, some tackles made on him, and he runs through those tackles this year. Now we'll work on his jump-cuts for next year. You never want to give a kid too much at one time or he'll never get good at any of it. It's a progression.”Only a sophomore, Geagan has plenty of time to progress.And he knows his role.“This is the seniors' team,” he said. “I'm willing to do anything I can to help those guys win.”
Here is a look at Moniteau sophomore Dustin Geagan’s game-by-game production running the football:<B>Opp. Att. Yds. TD</B>Karns City 16 122 1Clarion 8 88 1Brookville 19 103 2Redbank Valley 20 184 1St. Marys 23 306 4
