Entering the 2012 season, the Whitehouse Wildcats needed to find a new starting quarterback.
Three-year starter Hunter Taylor had graduated after helping Whitehouse become one of the most prolific passing programs in East Texas, leaving a gaping hole that two unproven juniors were hoping to fill.
Ryan Cheatham had started for the junior varsity the prior year and fit the mold of past Wildcats quarterbacks — smart, accurate and well-built to withstand pressure in the pocket. The other guy, Patrick Mahomes II, had starred at safety his sophomore year and was known as the best all-around athlete in Whitehouse, wowing the town of about 8,000 in basketball and baseball too. But, when it came to quarterbacking, the young man did not fit any mold.
