WILTON — Not many quarterback derbies end happily.

The controversy divides locker rooms and weakens depth charts. If the rival signal-callers are professionals, the odd-man-out usually gets traded to preserve the peace. In college, the beaten man often transfers.

Mt. Blue High School coach Gary Parlin faced the all-too-common conundrum in August 2010, ultimately choosing Jordan Whitney over Cam Sennick.

Sennick, now a senior, took the news that he was runner-up in the competition as the man his 6-foot-5 frame and full beard reveal him to be.

“I’d say it was a pretty easy adjustment, just because knowing who I had taking my spot at quarterback, we were going to be great in that category,” Sennick said prior to a recent practice at Academy Hill School.

Yes, most kids dream of playing quarterback, especially when they’ve taken snaps throughout junior high and their first two years of high school. And no, an athlete of Sennick’s stature doesn’t embrace losing in any context.

But this was no darned-if-you-do-or-don’t scenario for Sennick and Whitney’s coach. Think win-win, or can’t-miss.

With Whitney entrenched in the pocket, Sennick started his new journey as an oversized halfback and inner receiver before moving to flanker.

The rest is rapidly becoming school history.

Mt. Blue boasts a lengthy lineage of 1,000-yard passers stretching back to Fitzpatrick Trophy winner Dustin Ireland in the mid-1990s.

Whitney joined that list as a sophomore and is on pace for exorbitant numbers as a junior. He has completed more than 60 percent of his passes and thrown for more than 550 yards in one-sided wins over Brewer, Madison-Carrabec and Mt. Desert Island.

Sennick, who ranked third in receptions and fifth in receiving yardage in the Pine Tree Conference Class ‘A’ division, has touchdown catches in two of Mt. Blue’s first three games as a PTC ‘B’ program.

“I’ve got Cam on the outside who’s a big receiver, so it’s easier to go to my inside receivers after throwing to Cam a lot,” Whitney said.

That’s because opposing defenses develop dizziness deciding whom to double-team. Leaving anyone open is a mistake punishable by six points.

Nick Hilton joins Sennick as a tall target. Izaiha Tracy and Eric Berry are constant threats to run and catch. Chris Malone provides the dependable hands as slot receiver.

And the pieces started falling into place when Whitney and Sennick ended their brief competition with such disarming class.

“We were a better team with Jordan as quarterback and Cam playing a position,” Parlin said. “He said to me, ‘Coach, we have to do what’s best for the team,’ and he was sincere. He wasn’t (lying to) me. He’s a great kid to coach. A guy like that, the way his family support is, it’s why you coach. You don’t get that all the time.”

Parlin called the two candidates into his office four days before the Cougars’ 2010 opener against Messalonskee.

“Anything to help the team that I could do. I knew if we got some athletic players on the outside we could fill in other holes so we have none,” Sennick said. “We both were totally fine with it and moved on and got better, and now we’re here.”

Even after the mutual breakout year, there was ever so briefly a chance that Sennick might have returned to quarterback for his senior season. Whitney tore the ACL in his right knee during a basketball game Jan. 18.

Not long ago, total knee reconstruction might have put even a young, strong athlete on the sideline for a calendar year. But the recent cases of NFL stars Carson Palmer and Wes Welker — both carted off a field in January, both back on it in August — suggested a quicker recovery time and gave Whitney all the encouragement he needed.

“I’m surprised that I’m moving as good as I am. I didn’t think I’d be this far,” Whitney said. “I worked really hard to get back here, doing physical therapy, strengthening my leg (and) running.”

Within weeks of his surgery, Whitney went from using two crutches, to one, to no assistance. He was straight-line running before all the winter’s snow melted.

Parlin saw Whitney playing ultimate frisbee at full speed in a physical education class before school was dismissed for summer.

Not even a minor setback during the preseason could keep Whitney from missing a practice. And after three weeks of playing only offense, he’s back on the depth chart at defensive back as Mt. Blue prepares for Friday night’s renewal of a dormant rivalry with fellow unbeaten Gardiner at Kemp Field in Farmington.

Whitney might have ended the 2010 season as Mt. Blue’s best defensive back, according to Parlin, but there’s little doubt that he makes his greatest impact as field general.

“He’s a good high school quarterback,” Parlin said. “I told him, ‘There’s never been a quarterback since I’ve coached that’s had as many weapons as you have.’ He is very comfortable with all of them.”

And comfort beats controversy, every day.

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