Northern's Medina ready to take the snaps

When it comes to playing quarterback, either you have it or you don't and when it comes to throwing the football, Brenden Medina has it.

Now, he just needs to figure out what it means to be a college football quarterback.

"He can sling it," Montana State University-Northern Light's assistant coach Jonathan Amosa said during the first practice after a particularly impressive sideline throw by Medina. "He just needs to learn to play quarterback now."

Certainly, there is a big difference between being a talented passer and a quality quarterback in the Frontier Conference. But this spring will offer Medina the opportunity to take steps in that direction and, according to head coach Andrew Rolin, he is already doing that.

"One thing I really appreciate about Brenden is that he is always prepared," Rolin said. "He knows what we are doing, he knows what to do with the football and he's just on it. You can tell that he puts in a lot of time and that's an important thing for a quarterback."

While Medina is far from locking down the job as starting quarterback, as of Tuesday's practice, he was the only signal caller cleared to practice without restrictions and the only other quarterback on the roster right now is Steele Ware, a 5-foot-10 junior college transfer from Dakota College of Bottineau. Ware was originally from Oregon and completed 9-of-22 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns last season.

As Ware gets up to speed, Medina is running with the No. 1 group and so far, even though there have been some ups and downs, he has shown off his arm strength, as well as his accuracy.

Tuesday, in the first practice of the spring for the Lights, Medina connected with Tim Robinson, an incoming transfer who should make an immediate impact at wide receiver, for a touchdown down the left sideline. Medina found Robinson a few times down the field, including one on a corner post where Medina fit the ball in a tight window between two defenders.

Of course, the Lights weren't going full pads and the quarterback isn't allowed to be hit, so it's different than a game situation, but still, the potential with Medina is there, and the spring is the perfect time to develop it.

"We knew when we recruited him that he had a good arm," Rolin said. "This is a big opportunity for him to really grow into this role. We think that he has a lot of upside, but I think he's off to a good start."

Medina, who is from Sebastopol, California, didn't get a chance to start until senior season when he completed 57 percent of his passes in addition to 31 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. That performance got him on Rolin's radar and after sitting behind Tommy Wilson, who started most of the games the past two seasons for Northern, Medina has a great chance to demonstrate what he's learned this spring.

"I had a really good quarterback in front of me," Medina said. "He is at Cal now, but I learned a lot from him."

Medina said he also learned plenty under Wilson as a redshirt freshman.

"That was everything for me," Medina said. "This offense is complicated and there is a lot to learn, and I wasn't ready last year. But Tommy really helped me and I feel like, now, I am ready to lead this offense. That was the best decision for me."

After a solid day of practice Tuesday, Medina put together another solid performance Thursday and while he didn't make as many flashy throws in the team periods, he didn't throw an interception either.

"There was a little rust the first day," Medina said. "I mean we haven't put on pads in months, but I thought we were better (Thursday)."

On some levels, having a veteran quarterback to compete with Medina would be a good thing, but right now, he is also getting a lot of coaching from Rolin and the quarterback said it's paying off.

"I think it's helping me more than more competition," Medina said. "It would be nice to have some more quarterbacks to compete with, but I am also getting a lot of individually with one of the best quarterback coaches in the country."

Medina, who took all the reps at quarterback again Thursday, is starting to look the part of a college quarterback and as the spring progresses, each step he takes in his development will also move him one step closer to assuming the starting job full time.

"That's what I'm hoping," Medina said. "I want to show that I can lead this team."