Former Cherokee County High School all-star athlete Coty Blanchard will move to the full-time starting quarterback position at nationally-ranked Jacksonville State after Marques Ivory sustained a fractured right fibula in the second quarter of the Gamecocks' season opener against UT-Martin Thursday night.

Blanchard and Ivory had split game time as the JSU signal caller, following the game plan of head coach Jack Crowe.

Blanchard, the 2010 OVC Freshman of the Year in football, began the JSU rally after the Skyhawks had taken a 23-10 lead with 14:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. On the ensuing kickoff Gabriel Chambers returned the ball to midfield. Two plays later Blanchard hooked up with Washaun Ealey on a 43-yard scoring strike. James Esco kicked the PAT and the Gamecocks had trimmed the deficit to 23-17 with 13:06 on the scoreboard clock.

Blanchard finished the game by completing 9 of 17 passes and threw for one touchdown. His nine completions and 133 yards passing were career highs. He also carried the ball nine times for 32 yards. Blanchard punted seven times with an average boot of 37.7 yards and a long of 53.

While Blanchard may not gain the same attention with the win over UT-Martin of a year ago as the hero of last year's win at Ole Miss, his profile was certainly elevated now that the starter's role is clearly in his hands.

“Our coaches always teach us to be in the game and be prepared because we are always one play away from being inserted into those primary roles,” Blanchard told The Post. “This week I will be a little more attentive in the film room on what I have to do to in my task and in preparing the offensive line and receivers as we get ready for UT-Chattanooga.”

Last year JSU fell behind the Mocs 17-0 before rallying to win 21-17. In that game Blanchard, as a true freshman, had a 3-yard TD run and a 9-yard TD pass.

“Even though UT-Chattanooga isn't in our conference this is turning into a great rivalry,” Blanchard said. “We had a tough battle with them last year. To win the game we really need to win four quarters of football. We didn't do that against UT-Martin last night.”

Blanchard noted that the key to the comeback Thursday was his high school teammate, Gabriel Chambers. Chambers and Blanchard played on the undefeated Cherokee County team that won the 4A state title in 2009.

“Without Gabriel we wouldn't have won that game,” Blanchard said. “Field position means so much and he set us up with his kick returns. It was great.”

Chambers, a redshirt freshman, finished with three kickoff returns for 104 yards, including a long run of 42 yards.

Other local athletes contributing to the win included sophomore Robert Gray of Collinsville and freshman Jamaal Johnson from Piedmont.

This week's game against the Moccasins, with Blanchard under center full-time, will kickoff at 5 p.m. (CDT) Saturday from Chattanooga.