photo by: Nick Krug

Free State quarterback Dallas Crittenden drops back to throw on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 during a Baker University football camp at Lawrence High School.

When Free State High football coach Bob Lisher announced an open competition for quarterback at the beginning of the summer, Dallas Crittenden wasn’t worried.

Actually, Crittenden was excited. He thought the competition would bring out the best in him.

Nearly a month into summer workouts with a few teams camps, Crittenden has emerged as the likely starting quarterback for the upcoming season. The senior transfer from Topeka Hayden led the Wildcats to the Class 4A-I state semifinals last year, throwing for 1,385 yards and 13 touchdowns with a 61 percent completion rate.

“He’s grown quite a bit,” Lisher said of Crittenden. “He’s still learning. We have a lot of stuff that he hasn’t done before. Sometimes he looks really, really good. Sometimes he doesn’t look so good. But that’s expected when you come out from a different offense.”

Crittenden won’t be handed the starting job — Lisher said the competition will continue in the fall — but Crittenden has taken most of the snaps with the first-team offense in practices and scrimmages.

Free State junior Gage Foster, who was the school’s backup quarterback last season, works with the second-team offense and plays running back on the first team. Sophomore Jordan Preston has worked primarily with the junior-varsity offense, receiving a full slate of repetitions.

Crittenden has impressed his teammates with his arm. The 5-foot-10 right-hander is capable of throwing on the run and firing the ball with enough zip to squeeze it into tight areas.

Asked if he thinks his height is a disadvantage, Crittenden breaks into a smile and replies with a quote from one of his favorite quarterbacks, “Drew Brees said, ‘There’s no such thing as being too short for quarterback.'”

One of the reasons Crittenden still has to earn the job completely is because he is still adjusting into the offense. At Hayden, he was primarily under center in the wing-T offense and described himself as a pocket passer.

Now, he’ll be taking snaps out of the shotgun. That means new footwork, new reads and new responsibilities. He will also run more than he has ever before.

“I wasn’t really the quickest last year,” Crittenden said. “I kind of just mainly tried to stay in the pocket and throw the ball. This year, I’m going to try to expand my limits a little bit and try running the ball way more than I did last year.”

Lisher added: “He’s very capable of running. He’s fast enough, and he’s quick, so he can do it. It’s a matter of getting comfortable making the read from the gun and keeping the ball when he needs to and getting it to the right person when he needs to.”

Crittenden said he transferred to Free State during the last semester between February and March because of family reasons.

A former swimmer, Crittenden was glad his move into the Lawrence area was before the summer. It helped him meet his teammates and become more comfortable.

“Just getting to meet the guys and bond with them a little bit,” Crittenden said. “Just pick up chemistry with them. It’s been really great. Had a great time doing it.”

Crittenden is looking forward to competing at the 6A level, a jump up in competition. He played a couple of large-class schools last season, but he enjoys the increased “speed of the game.”

“He’s making improvement,” Lisher said. “It’s not like he’s not there. He’s doing a pretty good job. But we expect better and he will get better.”