FARMINGTON — There have been a lot of good quarterbacks at Mt. Blue High School over the years, and 15 years after winning the 1996 Fitzpatrick Trophy as the state’s top high school football player, Dustin Ireland is still the gold standard.

Jordan Whitney, the quarterback currently at the helm of the Cougar Gun offense, has watched all of Ireland’s game film, and he’s heard all the stories.

“I kind of look up to (Ireland),” Whitney, a junior, said. “I want to do what he did.”

Now in his second year as Mt. Blue’s starting quarterback, Whitney is well on his way. Ireland had the Mt. Blue record for career touchdown passes with 22. Whitney has thrown 24 this season alone.

“By the time (Whitney’s) done, and he’s got a full year left, I reserve judgment but he may be the best one we ever had,” Mt. Blue coach Gary Parlin said.

Whitney and the Cougars will face Leavitt on Friday night for the Pine Tree Conference Class B title.

This season, Whitney has completed 108 of 151 passes (71.5 percent) for 1,839 yards. While throwing those two dozen touchdowns, Whitney has been intercepted just four times. A threat to run, Whitney has 36 carries for 202 yards and seven touchdowns, including 10 carries for 35 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s 35-14 conference semifinal win over Gardiner.

Whitney had surgery to repair a torn ACL in the offseason, and Parlin eased running back into Whitney’s game as the season progressed. The 10 carries last week were a season-high, Parlin said.

“We thought we’d run him even more, but with the other weapons, it’s not that we haven’t had to, we just want to spread it out,” Parlin said. “Even our featured running backs aren’t getting 10 carries a game.”

Added Whitney: “Last year, I was more throwing. Now I’m starting to step up my running game. It’s working.”

Whitney made his debut as Mt. Blue’s starting quarterback last season. As a sophomore, he threw for 899 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions in the regular season. He remembers being nervous for his first start, against Messalonskee.

“I just remember one snap, a bad snap, and I picked it up and got hit wicked hard. That’s the hardest I’ve been hit,” Whitney said.

Whitney’s biggest improvement has come in reading defenses.

“Last year, I had tough times reading defenses, but now I know most of them. I’m reading them pretty well,” Whitney said.

“I think we can become more complex with our patterns next year, because of the reads he makes,” Parlin said. “Like tonight, he made a couple of reads that I didn’t see. I was standing behind, and all of a sudden he threw one to Cam (Sennick) over the middle, and I was like ‘What a great read.’ He is so much better at reading defenses and making the right decisions.”

Whitney’s favorite pass is the fade. With the 6-foot-6 Sennick on one side, and 6-4 Nick Hilton on the other, Whitney has a pair of receivers who can go up and get the ball. Sennick (17 catches for 321 yards) and Hilton (21-517) are just two of the options Whitney has when he drops back. Izaiha Tracy (30-396) and Chris Malone (24-498) lead the Cougars in receptions, and Mt. Blue has four receivers with at least 17 catches.

“I just know whoever I throw to is going to catch the ball. Cam and Nick on the outside, those big receivers catch the ball every time. Then Izaiha and Malone in the slot, I know I can go to them and they’ll get us yards,” Whitney said.

With the biggest game of the season coming up, Whitney will try to channel his inner Dustin Ireland.

“I’ve seen some tape. All around, he could do everything,” Whitney said.

By this time next season, Parlin expects to be saying the same thing about Whitney.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

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