The Piscataway football program doesn’t always have a quarterback.
Yes, they do on game days, but there have been so many great backs, great talented athletes over the years, that it’s up to Dan Higgins to find the kid who has the best arm, but didn’t necessarily grow up playing the position.
Landon Pernell is not one of them.
He has always played the position, and for the last few years – and, he hopes, this year, too – has has been an integral part of Piscataway’s slow and steady resurgence from the ravages of the program not playing during the 2020 COVID-shortened season, with all of their fall teams sidelined.
On Saturday, in the Chiefs’ season-opener at East Orange, he didn’t throw a single touchdown pass, but was 13-of-19 for 163 yards, passing Chet Trechok (1983) to become the all-time leading passer in school history. And he still has nearly a full senior year ahead of him.
“He’s been playing since his freshman year,” says veteran head coach Dan Higgins, who has had many signal-callers since being elevated to the head coaching position after Joe Kuronyi retired following the program’s 2002 Central Jersey Group 4 championship. “The stage has never been to big for him, but to me, the greatest growth for him … is his leadership.
“This team listens to him,” Higgins points out. “He’s not afraid to demand them and challenge them when needed. He did that [Saturday]. We had some weak moments and Landon just called out everyone and huddled them up,” Higgins added. “There’s no price tag.”
High praise from a guy who has coached the likes of Kyle Wilson, Anthony Davis and Malcolm Jenkins.
“Most talented, hardest working, and unselfish leader? You don’t see a lot of that these days,” Higgins says. “And I’m really proud of him.”
Click below to hear Piscataway senior Landon Pernell talk about becoming the school’s all-time leading passer with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:
