Behind the scenes of an anticipated Spartan football season, a friendly rivalry has taken place between sophomore quarterbacks Anthony Bello and Brian Walrath Jr.

The competitiveness between the two developed when quarterback Emanuel Baskerville graduated last year, leaving the crucial spot open. It was soon filled by two sophomores whose jersey numbers would coincidentally be 15 and 16, Walrath wearing 16 and Bello wearing 15.

The quarterback makes the calls for each play and is the head leader of the offense. Usually, the position is filled by upperclassmen who bring more experience than underclassmen players, making it unusual for sophomores to fill the role.
“I wanted to be a quarterback because it was something that I felt would fit me well. I grew up not playing football at all, it was just something that came about in highschool,” said Bello.
“I see it as a blessing and I am thankful that the coaches trust me since the starting quarterback position is very stressful.”
Adding to the stress, the two players are constantly being rotated and switched with one another, leading to mixups by the announcers when announcing plays.
“Our coaches like to rotate us in a lot between plays so we both get playing time. [This] can be annoying to us and to the announcers because of our close numbers,” said Bello.
Despite the frustration of being swapped, the affability between both players has made it so it does not affect their performance when the mishap occurs.
“It’s very annoying when I come out of the game and Anthony makes a good play but they give me credit, in practice we are constantly competing against each other. I would say there is definitely a competitive friendship between us,” said Walrath.
The pressure between the two is evident at times when on the field and at practice. If one player messes up a play then the other must be ready to step in at any given moment.
“It gets hard sometimes, but it’s what I signed up for, and I wouldn’t want to have it any other way,” said Walrath.
Over the past two seasons, the players have spent countless hours together bonding through tough practices. They have been able to overcome the obstacles and challenges of their roles through their friendship and sportsmanship.
Brian Walrath Jr. keeps busy throughout all seasons as he is a member of the West Springfield Varsity baseball team. Being a multi varsity sport athlete is what leads Walrath to being to successful on the football field.
“My favorite memories with Brian so far have been celebrating with each other after one of us had a good play along with team dinners because I feel off-field bonding is important too,” said Bello.
Spending time with one another has been crucial to the success of the team.
“I would say we have a friendship, but we are also each other’s biggest competitor. At the end of the day, we both have Spartans across our chest,” said Walrath.