Football: Scharf has to step up for Monahans

MONAHANS Byron Scharf never expected to take over as the No. 1 option for the Monahans offense.

At least not this season.

But the sophomore running back has become one of the most important cogs in the Loboes’ offense heading into their Class 3A Division II area playoff matchup against Graham at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Sweetwater.

“We knew he could play,” Monahans head coach Mickey Owens said. “He’s a strong kid, he works hard.”

Scharf expected to get carries, to be sure. But with Quincy Titus at quarterback, Colby Denton at fullback and Arturo Aranda locking down the tailback spot, Scharf’s path to handling the ball was blocked.

Then the Loboes started suffering injuries.

First Titus suffered a season-ending neck injury against Andrews. Two plays later, the Loboes lost Aranda to a torn ACL that has ended his season.

Last week, Monahans took another big blow when Denton went down untouched at the end of the first quarter of the Loboes’ 41-7 Class 3A Division II bi-district victory over Pecos.

“When you lose your whole starting backfield, you have to plug in guys,” Owens said. “We’ve got to go by committee at fullback.”

Expect Scharf to get the bulk of the work against Graham.

Few young players can step up quite like Scharf, who made his first varsity start in the Loboes’ 31-28 overtime loss to Bridgeport in a Class 3A Division II regional playoff last season.

Trying to figure out a way to replace injured senior Sean Britton at cornerback, Owens put his faith in Scharf, a career linebacker who had only played the position once.

In eighth grade.

“I just tried to stay calm,” Scharf said. “I tried not to think too much, just tried to play how they showed me.”

By all accounts, Scharf has been a perfect fit at cornerback for the Loboes.

But now Monahans needs the sophomore to continue his meteoric rise in the running game. Denton, a bruising fullback, has 1,284 yards this season.

Scharf ranks second with 554 yards and 11 touchdowns, capped by a 168-yard performance in last week’s playoff victory over Pecos.

Scharf rarely plays like a sophomore anymore.

“Getting up to speed took a little while after playing JV last year,” Scharf said. “But I just kept working at it.”

Luckily, Scharf won’t have to carry all of the gorilla-sized burden left by the injury to Denton.

For the first time since Titus went down with an injury, Owens is ready to turn quarterback Wade Roark loose in the running game.

Roark used to play wide receiver. Before he had to take over at quarterback, Roark had eight catches, 294 yards, two touchdowns and a remarkable 36.8 yards-per-catch mark.

He has been waiting for the chance to test his legs in the running game.

“We’ve thrown in a lot more new plays, both running and passing,” Roark said. “Most of our games, we were up big, and since I was the only quarterback left, we didn’t want to get me hurt.”

From here on out, the Loboes will probably be locked in tough playoff battles.

Time to use every weapon Monahans can find.