South Sevier pinning hopes on senior QB Christensen

Carson Christensen isn't interested in individual honors this year. After all, he earned plenty last year by being named a first-team all-stater in football, basketball and baseball.

The focus during Christensen's senior season is on winning games, and it all begins later this month with the start of the high school football season.

Expectations are high at South Sevier this year, and Christensen is a big reason why.

"He's one of the best athletes I've ever coached," said South Sevier coach Travis McAllister.

As a junior last year, Christensen completed 49 percent of his passes for 1,326 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also rushed for 232 yards and three touchdowns.

McAllister fully expects his quarterback's statistics to skyrocket this year.

"He's always been able to throw the ball well, but this year he's making the right decisions," said McAllister, in reference to Christensen's performance at a couple of 7-on-7 summer football camps.

Christensen likely also will see a spike in his rushing production.

Despite being the fastest player on the team last year, the coaching staff really limited his running because the team lacked a capable back-up quarterback. A year later, there's a quality back-up on board, and Christensen can now begin showing off his 4.68 40-yard dash time.

There's no doubt Christensen was blessed with an athletic body, but he's never been one to float by on talent alone.

He's one of the hardest workers on the team, and is always willing to do whatever his coaches ask of him.

That attitude helped paved the way for Christensen when he was named the team's starting quarterback two years ago as a sophomore. Despite clearly being the right man for the job, there was never any entitlement in his demeanor, which helped win over his teammates.

"He stepped right in and gained the respect of the upperclassmen," said McAllister.

Even last year as a junior, his teammates voted him one of the team's captains, even though the coaching staff opted to keep the honor for seniors only.

Entering his third year as starting quarterback, Christensen will no doubt rack up plenty of yards and touchdowns, but he's more interested in racking up wins for a South Sevier program that isn't known for its football tradition.