HARRISONBURG — The path to Zaire Bethea’s first career start was initiated way before the fifth-year senior ahead of him on the depth chart got hurt.

“My goal from last year was to get off of [the] scout team,” said the James Madison redshirt freshman left guard Friday after starting for the first time in the Dukes’ 31-28 win over Weber State.

“I was not doing that again,” he said. “And I worked my butt off all summer and even in spring ball, which is kind of where I made a name for myself.”

Bethea was a standout at DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, N.J., before arriving in Harrisonburg. He was a two-time All-Passaic County first-team selection and helped the Spartans win three state sectional championships.

So it’s easy to understand why the transition from high school stud to punching bag for an improving JMU defense wasn’t any fun.

“Going against [JMU defensive tackles] Simeyon Robinson and Cornell Urquhart every day,” Bethea said, was the worst part of his first fall on campus.

The strong spring led to an opportunity in August training camp. He won a job on the two-deep at guard, which meant he’d play in a rotation at his position.

He saw action in JMU’s season opener at East Carolina, and in total, played in eight games leading into the postseason.

Then senior left guard A.J. Bolden, who had started every game at the spot in each of the past two years, hurt his knee in the second-round playoff contest against Stony Brook.

The Dukes called on Bethea to fill Bolden’s role and when Bolden was ruled out for the rest of the season, there was no doubt who would start against Weber State.

“I just told [Bethea] I have faith in him,” senior left tackle Aaron Stinnie said. “I told him he’s as good as the rest of us to play in this game and that he’s the best guy to step up for the next spot.”

Bethea said he found out last Sunday that he was going to get the nod, so he first called his dad. He said next he picked Stinnie’s brain, texted back and forth with Bolden, who was still in the hospital after knee surgery, and also got good support from offensive line coach Bryan Stinespring and strength coach John Williams.

But even with the belief of those around him, he said he couldn’t ignore the nerves when he trotted to the line of scrimmage for the first time Friday.

“I’m just waiting for the call,” Bethea said. “I’m focused in and I’m trying to not mess up on the first play.

“But after the first play, I was fine.”

Stinnie said Bethea “played amazing.”

And JMU needed Bethea to hold his own.

The Dukes lost sophomore right tackle Jahee Jackson to injury in the first half against the Wildcats. Jackson never returned, and another freshman — Liam Fornadel — entered at right guard, which shifted senior starter Nick Edwards to right tackle.

JMU was also without senior tight end Jonathan Kloosterman, who was injured in the first half. Freshman Clayton Cheatham filled in.

With a patchwork offensive line and a freshman tight end, JMU managed to rush for 190 yards and two touchdowns as a team.

“It says a lot about how far they’ve come since the beginning of the year and what a great job Bryan Stinespring has done with them,” JMU coach Mike Houston said. “Liam and Zaire had been spot playing throughout the year, so they had experience coming in. But certainly we didn’t plan to have two freshmen out there [Friday] on the offensive line.

“And I just think it says a lot about our team in general. They understand the whole next man up and we talk about it a lot.

“I’ve talked about Wally Pipp and Lou Gehrig, so they’ve heard that story multiple times. They always know that they’re one snap away from being the guy.”

Bethea said he knew, and played against, Fornadel in high school, so the two have good chemistry when they’re on the field at the same time. Fornadel, a former Rivals.com three-star recruit, went to Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J.

The satisfaction for Bethea didn’t come until more than 58 minutes into the first start, though, when junior Trai Sharp scored on a 2-point conversion run to tie the score at 28.

“Thank God,” Bethea said about Sharp crossing the goal line.

Stinnie added that play will help a mostly young offensive line carry momentum into this Saturday’s semifinal against South Dakota State.

Sharp’s carry was designed for him to run left behind Bethea and Stinnie.

“For the coach to have faith in us to run the ball in that critical moment,” Stinnie said. “We all had to have a mindset that we wouldn’t be stopped right there. We had to make the movement that Trai needed to go ahead and score. And when Trai scored, we were all proud of one another.”