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<p>Just in case there were any doubters &#8212; and, really, there shouldn&#8217;t have been any &#8212; Williamsport coach Chuck Crews wanted to make something clear about his quarterback, Isaiah Hankins, before the season started.</p><p>Hankins is a quarterback who happened to be an incredible athlete &#8212; not visa versa.</p><p>Hankins then went out and quieted the last of the naysayers with a season that earned him Times Leader Player of the Year honors.</p><p>&#8220;The completions percentage and the touchdown-to-interception ratio speaks for itself,&#8221; Crews said. &#8220;A lot of times, those athletes playing quarterback are completing about 50 percent of their passes. Most of them are deep balls. They&#8217;re throwing go&#8217;s or hitches, they don&#8217;t have any intermediate game. They think they are so athletic they can put the ball anywhere and they end up turnover machines.</p><p>&#8220;But Isaiah, he had 200-some attempts and only four interceptions. That&#8217;s quarterback play. That&#8217;s special quarterback play.&#8221;</p><p>The Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and the All-Wyoming Valley Conference team were selected by the Times Leader sports staff. The WVC coaches did not select all-stars this year.</p><p>Hankins completed 142 of 206 passes for 2,560 yards and 27 touchdowns with only four interceptions. He rushed for 919 yards and 14 TDs, averaging 6.9 yards per carry. Williamsport won the WVC Division 6A-5A title, the District 2/4 Class 6A championship, advanced to the PIAA 6A state quarterfinals and finished the year 12-2. The 12 victories tied the school record for wins in a season set by the 1930 and 1986 teams.</p><p>Hankins also finished his career with 64 touchdown passes to break the WVC record of 62 held by Berwick&#8217;s Ron Powlus, according to the Pennsylvania Football News Resource Guide. His 6,302 passing yards are third-most in WVC history, ranking him behind Powlus (7,342, 1989-1992) and Tunkhannock&#8217;s Ryan Crispell (6,493, 1997-1999).</p><p>That&#8217;s plenty of accomplishments for Hankins, who wasn&#8217;t sure where he fit in as a sophomore. Kevin Choate, Williamsport&#8217;s coach during Hankins&#8217; sophomore year, didn&#8217;t mention him as a candidate for the vacant quarterback position in the preseason. But Hankins won the battle despite having very little experience at the position. He was mainly a running back in the Pop Warner ranks.</p><p>&#8220;The quarterback position just kind of fell in my lap,&#8221; Hankins said. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t know what I wanted to do my sophomore year. I just wanted to put the team in the best position to win, and that&#8217;s was with me at quarterback. Once I got that, I wanted to work on my craft and be the best quarterback I could be.&#8221;</p><p>Williamsport was 2-8 in Hankins&#8217; first year as the quarterback. Choate retired after the season and Crews took over. Crews had coached four years at Chester High School outside of Philadelphia, and Hankins felt he needed to prove himself once again.</p><p>&#8220;I feel the whole team did,&#8221; Hankins said. &#8220;We had a new coach and wanted to make noise around the state of Pennsylvania. So we all had something to prove, coach Crews included. It was a starting point for us.&#8221;</p><p>Williamsport finished 6-5 in 2015 and then doubled its victory total this year. Hankins and five other Millionaires who were also named to the Class 6A All-State team were a big reason. Crews believes if Hankins was bigger &#8212; he&#8217;s 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds &#8212; every major college program would be recruiting him.</p><p>&#8220;The only thing keeping him from big-time schools is he isn&#8217;t 6-foot-4,&#8221; said Crews, who also praised Hankins&#8217; character as much as his football ability. &#8220;If that kid is 6-foot-4, I&#8217;m meeting all the big boys who want to get their hands on someone who can throw the ball and make all the passes he can make.&#8221;</p><p>Instead, Division II programs such as Bloomsburg, IUP and West Chester have been showing the most interest. Hankins, though, might not be a quarterback at the college level. He&#8217;s being recruited as an athlete and could end up as a receiver, running back or defensive back. Or, possibly, at quarterback.</p><p>&#8220;There is really no specific position,&#8221; Hankins said. &#8220;Wherever I go, I want to fit in where I can make an impact no matter the position.&#8221;</p><p>He certainly accomplished that at Williamsport.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Williamsport quarterback Isaiah Hankins set the WVC record for touchdown passes in a career as he finished with 64. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122516MVP1-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Williamsport quarterback Isaiah Hankins set the WVC record for touchdown passes in a career as he finished with 64. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>HANKINS CAREER PASSING STATISTICS</strong></p><p><strong>Year`Att`Cmp`Pct.`Yds`TD`Int</strong></p><p>Soph.`232`131`56.5`2,079`19`4</p><p>Junior`216`126`58.3`1,663`18`8</p><p>Senior`206`142`69.0`2,560`27`4</p><p><strong>Totals`654`399`61.0`6,302`64`16</strong></p><p><strong>Note:</strong> The 64 touchdown passes broke the previous WVC record of 62 held by Berwick&#8217;s Ron Powlus.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Williamsport’s Isaiah Hankins named Times Leader Football Player of the Year