WILLIAMSTON — When Gary Houghton looks at this year’s Mason football team, he sees some similarities to the squad from 2021.
The Bulldogs had a trio of quarterback options on that team that made program history by capturing a regional title and reaching the state semifinals.
And five years after Nick Wells, Alex Bushey and Cason Carswell were trading snaps under center, Mason is once again rotating players at quarterback. For much of the season, that has meant Gerrit Koot and Troy Peters handling quarterback duties. But with Koot out with an injury the last two weeks, senior Luke Goss has moved from receiver to step into that role.
Goss shined in the Bulldogs' 45-14 victory over Williamston on Oct. 9 that helped them secure the outright CAAC Red title. Goss completed six passes for 126 yards and three touchdowns in the victory. All three of the touchdown passes came in the first half, including with 1.6 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
The success took Goss back to his roots when he played quarterback when younger.
"It kind of feels familiar," Goss said. "Since high school I've been working as a quarterback, I just never really got to play games. It was just being prepared over the last couple of years."
Goss threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Troy Peters on Mason's second drive, had a 92-yard pass to Jeffrey Reisner and connected with Logan Davis on the short score to end the opening half.
"Not too many guys can just step in and play quarterback," Mason coach Gary Houghton said. "He's done a great job. He did a great job last week and he was even better this week. A couple of those (passing plays) got called back. Otherwise, I think he would have had some exceptional passing yardage. For a guy that doesn't play quarterback, that's exceptional"
With the numerous options under center, Houghton sees that is a good problem for the Bulldogs and something they can use to their advantage as they look to keep building on their success.
"That gives us just another dimension where we could move guys in and out and it gives you a different look," Houghton said. "It makes it very hard to defend."
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Luke Goss adds to quarterback options for Mason football with big night