ROGERS — A shoulder injury changed career paths for Johnny Brewer.
Brewer was a record-setting quarterback at Rogers High, but an injury his senior year in 2004 derailed his final season and also crippled the Mounties' postseason hopes that season.
Brewer turned that negative into a positive, and now the Rogers graduate is helping first-year Mounties coach Shawn Flannigan in the state's toughest football conference -- just a year removed from being a college student.
"I took a different role on the team my senior year in high school; I was more of a coach trying to help the quarterbacks," Brewer said. "I just helped them on what was going on. That's when I knew I wanted to go into coaching."
Brewer then helped former Mounties coach Ronnie Peacock as a volunteer coach for five seasons, and Flannigan hired the former quarterback full-time this past spring. Brewer is the freshmen head coach at Rogers and also assists the varsity squad.
The freshman Mounties had won four straight games going into Thursday's game at winless Siloam Springs.
"Johnny has done a good job with that freshmen group," Flannigan said. "The freshmen are buying into what we are doing. That group will be the first group to have this staff and this program for four full years. That is when we will see if what we are doing works."
Brewer has been pleased with how the freshmen have responded and sees a bright future ahead for Rogers (0-7, 0-4 7A-West Conference).
"Coach Flannigan gave me the job and trusted me to do the job," Brewer said. "But the whole varsity staff is committed to our freshman team. I think the sophomores and juniors can see that once we get the freshmen going, things will be okay.
"We just have to weather the storm right now because things will be OK."
Brewer will be in the press box tonight assisting offensive coordinator Cam Prock as Rogers hosts Fayetteville and highly touted Bulldogs quarterback Brandon Allen. Allen leads a Fayetteville (5-2, 2-2) offense that is averaging almost 400 yards, and the senior has thrown for 1,652 yards and 20 touchdowns.
"Allen is a very talented quarterback, and what impresses me so much about him is that he is so poised in the pocket," Flannigan said. "When he gets flushed, he runs out there and waits for someone to get open and he hits them.
"He has a very quick release, and he is getting the ball out before pressure gets to him. You have to have a plan with two different things and see what works well for you."