ferriday — When Trey Poole suits up and steps onto the field before a football game, many eyes may pass up the freshman.

But once the whistle blows, the 5’4”, 130-pound quarterback suddenly has everyone’s attention.

Poole, who will be the starting quarterback for the Delta Charter School Storm this season, wasn’t always the centerpiece of the offense. But a discovery by head coach Dwayne Taylor during a junior high game last season, led him to his new signal caller.

“Both of our quarterbacks got hurt during a middle school game and Trey was playing running back,” Taylor said. “Coach (Josh) Loy said he is going to let Trey play quarterback, and he went out there and threw seven touchdowns. From then on, he’s been the starter.”

Despite his size, Taylor said Poole has one of the strongest arms around.

“Even though he is short, he has a big arm,” Taylor said. “He can throw it with the best of them.”

Taylor said another thing that sets Poole apart is his dedication to the game.

“He’ll do anything you need him to,” Taylor said. “He has heart.”

Poole said his height has been the focal point of many conversations over the years, but is something that he embraces.

“I like it when they talk about that because it motivates me,” Poole said. “I just go out there and do what I know I can do. It doesn’t matter what other people say.”

And what Poole may lack physically, Taylor said he makes up with his mind and leadership.

“He is going to manage the game for us,” Taylor said. “He knows the offense back and forth. He’s an extension of me on the football field. He’s in the playbook, and I expect for Trey to take care of the team, protect the ball and manage the offense in order for us to compete.”

Following the Storm’s spring football scrimmage, Poole took the next step in becoming the team’s leader, standing up in the postgame team huddle and telling his teammates he was going to lead the team and to follow him.

“You get guys that stand up and say they want to be a leader all the time, but when he stood up and said that, I knew he was going to do it,” Taylor said. “A lot of guys that say that sort of stuff are just bluffing, but this guy doesn’t bluff. He said he was going to be the leader, and he is.”

Poole said it wasn’t something he would normally do.

“I had seen some negative moods going around the team, so I went out of my comfort zone and just did it,” he said.

Delta Charter is entering its first competitive season in the LHSAA, and for Poole, it is an opportunity to do what he loves at the highest level of competition.

“I’m very excited about it,” he said. “We are all going to have butterflies, I can tell you that, but it is going to be exciting having people there watching and supporting us. It is going to be fun.”