Milton Joyner is entering his senior year at Bethany College with a chance to become the school's all-time leading receiver, but there's a good chance that won't happen.

No, it's not that Joyner has been injured or isn't expected to perform well this season, it's just that he will probably throw a whole lot more passes than he'll catch.

At least that's the way things appear as the Bison prepare to open their season Saturday at Hiram College in Ohio.

Joyner, a graduate of Westinghouse High School, made an emergency appearance as a quarterback in last year's Presidents' Athletic Conference finale against Washington & Jefferson. He completed 19 of 28 passes for 129 yards.

"Our quarterback, Brent Owens, suffered a season-ending injury during our game against Carnegie Mellon," said Bethany coach Tim Weaver, referring to a game played Nov. 4. "Our backup, Matt Blumer, finished the game."

Blumer also started the Bison's final game against W&J, but was pulled after throwing three interceptions. Weaver called on Joyner, who had been designated as the emergency quarterback.

"It's something I'd done before, but it was new to me in college," said Joyner, who played quarterback, running back and wide receiver during his career at Westinghouse. "I had a few reps that week in practice, but didn't really expect to play. It was a lot of fun."

Owens graduated, which left Weaver with the tough choice of finding a replacement. Blumer, a junior, was the logical replacement, but he had limited varsity experience. Last season, he completed 38 of 88 passes for 436 yards, four touchdowns and six interceptions.

But Joyner won the job during preseason training camp.

"I was hoping that Matt would be able to step into the starting role and provide the leadership we need," Weaver said. "But since that didn't happen, I have no problem using Milton at quarterback for the season.

"All along we figured he would be in the starting lineup, but at the position that benefits our team the best."

That turned out to be quarterback.

"Milton was much better than we expected and we expected a lot," said Weaver, who guided BC to a 4-6 record in 2006, their most victories since 2001. "He seems like a natural because he's very poised, football-smart and doesn't turn the ball over.

"It's almost scary to think what he could have done if he started playing quarterback from the day he came here."

"Milton progressed very well through camp," said offensive coordinator Bill Garvey. "He's very bright, understands our whole system after being in it last year as a receiver and doesn't panic at all under pressure."

Joyner had a chance to break school career records for receptions and receiving yards. He's fourth with 112 receptions and ninth with 1,262 yards.

Zack Mertz, a 2004 graduate, holds the record for career receptions with 145. Denny Williams, a 1980 grad, holds the yardage record with 1,959.

"I would prefer to stay at wide receiver, but I have to do what's best for the team," Joyner said. "That's why I'll be playing quarterback."

Despite Joyner's move to quarterback, the Bison will still have a solid receiving corps.

"Wide receiver is the most talented and deepest position we have on offense, so moving Milton to quarterback would not significantly weaken our receivers." Weaver said.

Joyner, who had 20 catches for 246 yards last season, was one of four returning receivers who caught 10 or more passes last season. The top returnee is Matt Cruse, who caught 35 passes for 475 yards.

"We spread the ball around more last year than in past years," Joyner said. "We had five receivers catching passes."