MISHAWAKA — No shoes, no socks, no worries.
Kickoff for another Friday night high school football game is about two hours out, yet Penn junior quarterback Landon Hall is already deep into his routine, his rituals, his zone.
He heard the band play their way through the hallways to start the school day. He’s worked through a gold day or a black day schedule of classes. He’s been told good luck by teachers, by friends, by strangers.
Come the final bell at 3:17 p.m., Hall meets up with his guys — receivers Mason Biernacki and Brayson Hurley, running back Tate Clark and fellow quarterback Yoti Limberopoulos — for a required food run. They know where they’re going. It’s where they always go — to Jimmy John’s. Hall gets what he always gets — a giant Turkey Tom (No. 4) with everything.
Back at Penn around 4:45, the group will venture to the back practice field. They’ll walk barefoot onto the playing surface. They won’t exchange many words and might throw the ball a bit. Hall will meditate and maybe even pray while visualizing his job over the next couple of hours.
Then it’s usually another big night for the 6-foot-3, 203-pound Hall and a Penn football team that is 6-0 for the first time since 2016 heading into what was supposed to be a critical Northern Indiana Conference clash Friday at Elkhart. South Bend Saint Joseph had its say about the race to the NIC championship last week and beat Elkhart.
Another Friday night, another chance for Hall to do what he does. That would be to play quarterback and to play at an elite level, something that few who do it at Penn in recent seasons have done.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Hall, who displayed more nerves during a 20-minute conversation with a reporter than he’s shown in the pocket all season. “It’s fun to win and we’re winning games by a lot. We want to keep that going.”
Keep it going because when it comes to Penn football, there’s no other choice. Having spent his first two prep seasons two counties and one state over at Stevensville (Mich.) Lakeshore before his father’s new job included a move to Granger, Hall knew well of the elephant that’s not in the corner of the room but front and center. That would be Penn football and its 26 sectional titles, 18 regional crowns and 12 semi-state trophies. The five state championships. That’s a lot.
Intimidating? Absolutely, though Hall was more intrigued. The first day of practice, the first day as the new guy, Hall admitted to nerves. It was like the first day of school in some ways. He knew Hurley (their brothers-like bond goes way back), but he didn’t know how his new teammates would respond to him.
How should Hall handle it? He decided to do the work to make it work. Decided to be one of the guys, instead of being the guy.
“I was a little nervous (but) I also knew that it was something that I wanted to do — play football here,” Hall said. “I had to prove myself.”
Landon Hall makes the transition to Penn look easy
Hall proved himself by jumping in with both feet. By building relationships and a rapport with the Kingsmen skill guys. By building trust and togetherness with the Penn offensive linemen. By leading more with his actions than with his voice.
Hall immersed himself in every aspect of offensive coordinator Coley Moore’s playbook. Knowing the calls and the checks and the scheme, he also left himself open to being coached. Hard.
Oh, yes, and by making plays. Making throws. Being the quarterback in every sense of the word. It didn’t take Moore long to know he had something in Hall. He had size. He had smarts. He had IT.
“As soon as we saw what Landon was capable of, I realized what this offense could be,” Moore said. “Add that to the weapons that he’s throwing to, it’s pretty special.”
Hall also connected with Moore beyond the coordinator-quarterback dynamic. Moore attended Penn. Moore played quarterback for Penn. If there’s anyone on Freed Field who understands the daily expectations of Hall as the Kingsmen quarterback, it’s Moore, now in his second season at his alma mater.
“The tradition is awesome here, but the pressure’s also big,” Moore said. “It can be tough. All that matters are the guys in the room. Let’s just go out and show what we can do.”
Hall has certainly shown what he can do, but in small sample sizes. Penn has been so scary efficient offensively that Hall has rarely worked deep into second halves since the Week Two comeback win over Mishawaka. Of late, Hall has called it a night before halftime as the Kingsmen have won their last four games by a combined score of 207-27.
Six weeks in, Hall has completed 50 of 65 passes (.769 percent) for 950 yards and 13 touchdowns. His next interception will be his first. Moore guessed that Penn has used maybe 30 percent of the playbook on Friday nights. There’s still so much to do, so much to show.
Hall’s fine with his limited snaps. Short nights for him mean successful nights for the Kingsmen. In the end, that’s all that matters.
“I want to play as much as I can,” he said. “The No. 1 thing that we’re trying to do out there is win and win by a lot.”
Everything about Hall’s first season at Penn is flying. It feels like yesterday that he stepped out of Hurley’s car and stepped on the practice field for the first time. The midway point of the season has passed. October is here. He can see the end of the regular season. He can see the postseason. He can see the challenges ahead on the horizon. He sees them every Friday during that no shoes, no socks, no worries pre-game routine.
He sees where Penn is, sees where it wants to go. Can go.
“We want to make this season last as long as we can and go far in the playoffs,” Hall said. “I want to continue this legacy and get another state championship.”
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Being the new guy has been no big deal for one area high school football quarterback
Reporting by Tom Noie, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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