Fort Walton Beach's Barnes commits to Troy

By ADAM PRUIETT

Northwest Florida Daily News
315-4421 | adamp@nwfdailynews.com

Luke Barnes showed a masterful command of Fort Walton Beach's spread offense in his junior season, and there's no reason to expect the rifle-armed quarterback who has reminded Vikings' fans of Danny Wuerffel won't dazzle again this year.

Actually, when it comes to the pass-happy offense, big things will be expected of Barnes for years to come. Troy University is certainly banking on it.

Barnes has verbally committed to play for the Trojans, a team that the Vikings mirror on offense.

"It's the best place (for me)," Barnes said. "I felt a good connection with the coaches, and they run the same offense as we run."

Barnes is the second high-profile football player from the area to commit this week, after Niceville running back Roy Finch (Oklahoma). The attention the first-team All-Area quarterback and punter received from Troy only enhanced after the Viking recently attended a Trojans' passing camp.

"I was talking to them before, but that basically closed the deal on it," Barnes said.

Barnes has received interest from Southern Mississippi and South Florida among others, and no doubt he'll continue hearing from other programs until National Signing Day in February. But Barnes doesn't believe he'll be swayed in another direction.

"I don't think so," the 6-foot-3, 190-pound standout said when asked if he could end up somewhere other than Troy.

On a team that had built its reputation on defense, Barnes made sure that the offense was hardly ever overshadowed last season. He threw for 2,786 yards and 26 touchdowns and also added about 500 yards rushing as the Vikings won their second straight District 2-4A title.

Barnes is within 1,000 yards passing of breaking Wuerffel's career record, and he's looking forward to chasing the mark along with another district championship. He didn't want his decision to commit hanging over him, so he got it out of the way early.

"I felt like (Troy's) a good fit, and I wanted to get the pressure off and go into my senior year concentrating on winning football games," Barnes said.

Fort Walton Beach coach Mike Owens watched as Barnes followed a promising sophomore campaign by flourishing his junior year. Owens will expect Barnes to continue his development this season and is excited to see what Barnes will do at Troy once he departs Fort Walton Beach.

"They're getting a guy with a lot of ability and who is familiar with that offense," Owens said. " ... It's a very good fit for them and him."

With his college commitment now behind him, Barnes is embracing the challenge of keeping a young Vikings' squad among the area's elite.

"I just want to show everybody," he said, "that we are one of the best teams around."