CHULA — “A playmaker — that’s what he is.”

Those were the words of Tiftarea Academy Panther head football coach Chuck Moore when asked about Matthew Souter.

“I’m glad we have him and don’t have to defend him,” the coach continued.

Souter is the Panthers’ starting quarterback, free safety and kicker — a senior four-sport athlete who has started for three years on the football field. Last season, Souter was one of the best wide receivers in GISA after catching 59 passes for 1,213 yards and scoring 17 touchdowns.

Souter was the favorite target of all-state quarterback Bryan Ellis, but Ellis transferred to Peach County over the summer. Instead of finding someone new to throw to Souter, Tiftarea moved the senior to quarterback.

“It is a big transition anytime that you go from being a wide receiver to a quarterback,” said Moore. “He’s a very gifted athlete, so we’re doing things to use his gifts.”

Souter, a native of Poulan where he lives with his parents Hubert and Pam, said that playing quarterback is more difficult than playing receiver.

“It’s a big adjustment,” he said. “I’d rather have been going from quarterback to receiver, but everything’s turned out fine. It’s turned out a lot better than I thought it would be.”

For Souter, the biggest transition has been learning all the aspects of all the offensive plays.

“It’s a lot harder to know everything from a quarterback standpoint than from a wide receiver standpoint,” Souter said.

Through two games, Souter has shown the knack for making big plays he showed at his old position. He scored two touchdowns in Tiftarea’s win over Dawson Street to start the season and passed for 162 yards and two scores against Deerfield-Windsor in a loss last week. He said that so far, his favorite targets are sophomore receiver Daniel Griner and junior tailback Thomas Ganas.

“Hopefully, as the season goes on I can spread the ball around to a lot of my teammates,” Souter said.

He’s also making plays on defense. He had three interceptions against Dawson Street and had 14 tackles against Deerfield, many of which saved touchdowns. He also forced a fumble. He said that his receiver experience helps him on defense because he knows what an opposing receiver is thinking in different situations.

When asked whether he preferred offense or defense, at first he said offense, but then he changed his mind.

“Well, I could go either way,” he said. “Offense because you can throw the touchdowns or score the touchdowns. But on defense you can make the big stops when it counts.”

Meanwhile, he also performs all the team’s place-kicking and punting. Despite how much he means to his team, Souter does not feel like the team is on his shoulders.

“It’s all a team effort,” he said.

Moore said that is one of the most commendable aspects of his thoughtful, soft-spoken quarterback — his humility.

“We think the world of Matthew — we as coaches, the athletes, everybody,” Moore said. “As confident as he is about himself is as humble as he is about himself sometimes.

“He’s a hard worker who cares deeply about his teammates and cares deeply about this school.”

It’s no wonder that Souter has a healthy amount of school spirit. The senior has been a Panther since kindergarten.

Souter enjoys hunting and fishing along with his sports. He said his favorite sport is football though he also greatly enjoys baseball. He wants to continue playing baseball in college and wants to follow former teammate Brandon Reeder to Georgia Southwestern College.

Reeder and Souter were part of the Panther baseball team that won the GISA Class AA state title last year.

“It was unbelievable,” Souter said about winning the title. “I mean all the excitement, the fans. It’s just a rush.”

He said that he has made winning a football championship one of his goals for this year.

He said that many people think private school football is somehow inferior to the sport at public schools. He disagrees. He said that the game may be a touch slower in the GISA, but the game is still the same and just as exciting.

“I would encourage anyone to come watch a game,” said Souter. “If they want to see a good private school game, come watch the Panthers play.”