Dual treat: Why having two QBs is working so well for the unbeaten Dunlap football team

PEKIN — A quarterback controversy at Dunlap? Nah.

More like a great situation, according to Brett Cazalet. The Eagles coach alternates offensive drives between a pair of talented sophomore signal-callers John Bargen and Mack Sutter.

This has yielded a 3-0 start for Dunlap, which shutout host Pekin 40-0 in the Mid-Illini Conference opener on Friday.

“Awesome,” Cazalet said when how the QB situation is going. “Those are two talented young men. Each of them brings different things to the table, but the good thing is they bring similar things, too. They’re both well-rounded guys."

Week 3 coverage: Full recap | All the scores | Top performers

Take the Week 3 win as the prime example.

Bargen, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 175 pounds, went 8-for-14 with 134 yards and one touchdown over the course of five drives. On the other hand, Sutter, a 6-foot-6, 215-pounder, threw for 110 yards on 11-for-13 attempts with a TD and an interception on a Hail Mary before halftime.

“It’s really showed in the past few games,” Bargen said, “like if he goes out and does well, it really pushes me to go out and do well. That’s a really good thing for our team to just continue to get better, pushing ourselves to be the best we can be.

“We both push each other to be the best quarterbacks we can possibly be, and we don’t really listen to all the extra stuff.”

How about you, Mack?

“I like it a lot,” he said. “… If there was only one quarterback, we wouldn’t really be competing with anybody, so with each other we make each other better.”

After spending last season as the backup, Bargen, who is the son of Bradley men's basketball associate head coach Mike Bargen, came out with 184 passing yards and a score to open the season against Galesburg. Sutter tossed for 122 yards and a score of his own in the winning effort.

Both get the same game called for them and deal with similar offensive concepts for Cazalet, who says the dual QB1 dynamic is a wonderful thing.

“I realized that sometimes they say, ‘When you have two, you don’t have one’,” he said, “and I think you watch those two play, ‘When you have two, you have two.’ It’s our job as a staff to take advantage of both of their abilities.”

One of the biggest differences between the pair is versatility.

Sutter, who is the oldest son of former NFL player Eddie Sutter, plays all over the field on offense and defense. He lined up as wide receiver — catching a 5-yard strike from Bargen — along with playing linebacker on defense where he recovered a Pekin fumble.

Quarterback is Bargen’s lone position.

“It’s a lot,” the younger Sutter said of playing both ways, “but it gives me a different perspective because when I’m at quarterback I kind of know what the linebackers will do because I’ve been out there.”

Added Bargen, “I love having a big 6-6 target to throw to. It just makes my job so much easier.”

Background: The Sutter and Mangieri family trees rooted with Dunlap and Richwoods football

Life was pretty simple for Dunlap on Friday, when it allowed just 70 total yards (45 passing, 25 rushing) to start 3-0 for the first time since 2018. Dawson Marmion picked off Pekin QB Luke Goss (46 yards on 6-for-16 passing) on the opening drive followed by Sutter collecting a takeaway on the next drive.

Dunlap led 20-0 at halftime, giving up 51 yards. Pekin (1-2, 0-1) saw Connor Martin finish with 26 yards on 11 carries.

“Our D-line’s been playing great,” Cazalet said. “Our linebackers have put together back-to-back great weeks and our secondary really covered well (against Pekin).”

Offensively, the Eagles utilized their run game, getting 204 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Jackson Oldham (78 yards, 2 TDs), Anthony Unes (53 yards, TD) and Kendall Netters (48 yards) were the ground game catalysts.

Seven Dunlap receivers got a catch led by seven snags, a score and 89 yards by Dawson Marmion. Ryan Dietz added a TD to go with 36 yards, while Gabe Munoz hauled in four catches for 59 yards.

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Dunlap football team uses QB rotation-of-mack-sutter-john-bargen