How Jonathan Palmer, William Wiebush emerged as Page football’s ‘thunder and lightning’
Jonathan Palmer and William Wiebush spent the preseason competing against each other for Page’s starting quarterback position.
Palmer, who is a nephew of former NFL quarterbacks Carson and Jordan Palmer, looked the part at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds. He earned the role and helped lead the Patriots to a 35-7 win over Hillsboro on Thursday
But Page coach Charles Rathbone knew big things were coming from Wiebush, who Rathbone insists runs a 4.43 in the 40-yard dash. “I know everyone says that. People don’t believe it,” Rathbone said. “But he (does).”
Palmer is big and burly, Wiebush is trimmer with lethal speed, and it turned out their quarterback competition didn’t relegate one of them to the bench.
Wiebush returned a fumble and interception for touchdowns and added a rushing TD against Hillsboro. Palmer was 16-of-25 passing for 212 yards and two TDs.
“We call ourselves ‘thunder and lightning,’” said Palmer, a senior who came up with the nickname. “Obviously he’s the lightning, he’s a little bit quicker than me. He’s a great athlete on both sides of the ball and it’s great to have a guy like that who can switch around.”
Wiebush flew from his safety position, scooped up a fumble forced by Hudson Amason on Hillsboro’s third play and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown, giving Page (7-1, 3-0 Region 6-5A) a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter. He substituted for Palmer at quarterback a few series later and ran a 3-yard touchdown to make it 14-7.
Wiebush’s 12-yard interception return for a touchdown capped off the victory in the fourth quarter.
He rarely played last season, he said, seeing the field only in blowouts. Wiebush of course wanted the QB position.
“I’ve played quarterback growing up my whole life. This is my first year I’ve played anything but that. I was disappointed (not being the starter). But I still had to help my team,” Wiebush said. “This is just fun. I just want to play football. This is the best feeling in the world.”
Hillsboro (5-3, 1-2) has been enjoying its best start since 2018, which was the last time it entered the month of October with a winning record.
The Burros made things interesting early until Palmer threw a 45-yard TD to Calvin Kotarba to extend the lead to 21-7 just before halftime. Palmer’s 38-yard TD pass to Lincoln Campbell broke the game open in the third quarter.
Palmer is 89-of-152 passing for 1,062 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions so far this season.
“He’s done great. He’s taking the easy throws, he’s very smart, he’s throwing it well,” Rathbone said. “He’s getting better every week and running it a little better every week.”
Wiebush, a junior, is positioned to be the quarterback of the future, Rathbone said, as a true dual-threat player. And the Patriots will try to get him into more offensive packages this year.
For now, especially on a slick Thursday night when rain fell heavily at times, he’s fine being a bolt of lightning to Palmer’s thunder.
“It’s great to have our defense making plays, and he’s a big part of that right now,” Palmer said.
Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA football: Jonathan Palmer, William Wiebush lead Page over Hillsboro
