Cullman’s Ross Crocker had plenty to be happy about after tossing a 46-yard touchdown on a sneaky double pass in last year’s thrilling 14-6 home win over Hartselle. Now the Bearcats’ starter, Crocker will look to add a second straight taming of the Tigers to his ever-growing sophomore rèsumè.

Much like the cushy black seat he’d just sunken into, Ross Crocker released a massive sigh of relief.

For just a few minutes inside the comforts of coach Mark Britton’s office, Crocker was merely a kid again. Not Cullman’s quarterback with the weight of the world on his shoulders, but a 16-year-old who’s living life to the fullest and enjoying the splendors of being a successful student-athlete.

And to imagine, not even a month and a half earlier, positivity hadn’t exactly been the teen’s strong suit.

“After the first week, I was thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think I’m ready for this yet. I really don’t think I’m ready for starting as a sophomore,’” Crocker recalled. “But after we beat Etowah 35-8 the second week, that lifted my spirits up. It got me thinking, ‘Maybe I am ready for this.’”

Crocker has indeed appeared ready since shaking off a season-opening 21-14 loss at Arab. His progression in the games that have followed has been swift, sprinkling in a clutch fourth-quarter, fourth-down conversion versus Austin with an all-around highlight reel in the Bearcats’ latest region win over Athens.

Against the Golden Eagles, the youngster used his legs to escape pressure when the pocket closed in around him and then, oftentimes while on the run, unleashed sharp throws to his receivers — senior Seth Donaldson was the biggest beneficiary this past Friday — to keep the sticks moving in third-down situations.

Crocker wrapped up the homecoming victory an extremely efficient 20-of-26 passing for 268 yards and two touchdowns. Both scoring strikes were thrown with remarkable accuracy and touch, the first a 21-yard beauty to Dawson Drake in the back left corner of the end zone and second a 45-yard bomb to Owen Lovell in triple coverage as time expired in the first half.

While each was impressive in its own right, the latter touchdown was obviously the more exciting of the two. It gave the ’Cats an insurmountable 28-0 advantage — they went on to win 28-7 — and sent the Cullman sideline and crowd into their biggest frenzy of the night.

Crocker’s version of the leadup to the Hail Mary before halftime is pretty entertaining.

In between a 4-yard scramble and one last timeout, the signal-caller overheard Britton tell assistant coach Ty Campbell he wanted “to go for a home run ball.” Crocker’s immediate internal thought: “I can go with that.”

As play was about to resume, the sophomore said he was pulled to the side and given very strict instructions — “Don’t take a sack and throw the crap out of it.”

And he did, uncorking a perfectly placed heave that only Lovell could get his hands on before falling across the goal line.

The key to the play according to Britton wasn’t Crocker’s cannon, but his internal clock. The quarterback not only had to wait for his receiver to get downfield, but he had to factor in flight time before “turning a great ball loose.”

Crocker’s reward? A lick just after launching the long toss. Oh, and the touchdown, his sixth of the season to go along with nearly 1,000 yards through the air.

“I think you see him getting in a comfort zone,” Britton said. “So much depends on timing in our offense. Until you get in that comfort zone, it’s very difficult to be successful.”

The signal-caller’s hasty development has left a lot of folks asking the coach why he didn’t have Crocker performing at such a high level at the start of the fall. Britton’s go-to response for such questions is short, sweet and actually makes a lot of sense — experience.

Though Crocker was one of the heroes of last year’s triumph versus Hartselle — he delivered the long throw on a 46-yard double pass for a touchdown to Will Crenshaw that gave the ’Cats some breathing room in the fourth quarter — and saw some snaps late in blowouts, nothing has prepared him more than starting and learning in real-game settings.

“You’ve got to walk before you can run,” Britton said. “Going into a ballgame now, he knows what to expect — the pace of the game, the speed of the defense, reading the defense. It’s one thing for you to talk about it, but as far as experiencing it firsthand, there’s no substitute for experience.”

Rave reviews for Crocker aren’t just coming from his head coach. The teammate he’s more up close and personal with than any other, center Daniel Hunter, is growing into a bigger and bigger fan as each Friday night passes by.

“The first week, he was struggling a little bit, and that was to be expected,” the senior said. “After that, I really feel like he’s matured a lot as a quarterback. He’s just a great guy right now, and he’s getting better.”

Crenshaw only had high praise for Crocker, too.

“I have full confidence in him that he’s going to make the right reads and make the pass,” the senior tailback said after last week’s region win over Athens. “He’s going to step up and be a leader for this team.”

Offenses tend to get a great deal of credit for final scores put up across the country on any given Friday night. Crocker, however, knows better than to discount the Bearcats’ unit that’s done some mean work while he’s been on the sideline this season.

“The defense we have right now, it’s ridiculous,” he said. “Having a defense like that makes me really confident.”

Confident just so happens to describe the way Britton feels about Crocker these days. It’s a good thing, too, because the sophomore still has another two falls to spend behind center after completing the current one.

Britton won’t be surprised if Crocker winds up reaching superstar status before the signal-caller hangs up his black and gold jersey for good in 2017.

“He’s really done a great job,” the coach said. “We hope he continues to progress and be one of the better quarterbacks we’ve had in this time at Cullman High School, and I really think he has that on the horizon.”