Peyton Manning doesn’t have anything on Jacob Eason.
Well, OK, that might be a bit of an exaggeration considering Manning is the quarterback for the NFL’s Denver Broncos and widely considered to be one the of top-five QBs in pro football history. Eason, on the other hand, is the quarterback of the Lake Stevens High School Vikings, a team looking to secure a Wesco 4A championship with a victory Friday over Kamiak High and its star senior quarterback, Tyler Becker.
Eason may not be an NFL quarterback, but he is dominating his competition. And Becker is having a great season as well. And if you measure their success using the NFL’s complicated quarterback rating system, both are having spectacular seasons.
Jacob Eason, Lake Stevens
Just how good are Eason’s numbers? Plug his statistics into the NFL rating system, and you get a passer rating of 131.2 — 13 points higher than Manning, who currently leads the NFL at 118.2.
When Lake Stevens coach Tom Tri was asked to compare Eason to a current NFL quarterback, it was a different Super Bowl-winning signal caller that came to mind.
“In terms of overall comparison, he’s kind of a Tom Brady-ish type quarterback, I guess,” Tri said. “He won’t like me saying that because I know his favorite quarterback by far is Peyton Manning. He’s a big Peyton Manning fan and tries to emulate a lot of those same mannerisms, probably. But I think style of play and the type of passer that he is, he reminds me more of Tom Brady than Peyton Manning.”
One thing Manning and Brady have in common is they don’t throw a lot of interceptions. Manning has three so far this season, while Brady has two.
Eason has even fewer, having not thrown an interception since a week one victory over Meadowdale.
“One of our biggest priorities is not turning the ball over this year and trying to create as many turnovers on defense as possible,” Tri said. “Winning the turnover battle has been a big point of emphasis and Jacob’s certainly been a part of that because he’s got the ball in his hands on almost every play.”
Tyler Becker, Kamiak
Becker’s statistics might not fly off the page the way some of Eason’s do, but the Knights’ senior has been a big reason his team hasn’t lost since falling to Marysville Pilchuck in week one. Like the Vikings, Kamiak can clinch a Wesco 4A championship with a victory tonight.
Becker’s quarterback rating is 118.1, which would be just a hair behind Manning and slightly ahead of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Like Eason, Becker’s rating has a lot to do with taking care of the football. Becker has thrown just two interceptions.
“He does a nice job at the line of scrimmage,” Kamiak head coach Dan Mack said of Becker. “He understands our offense and what we’re trying to do. He’s just a tremendous field general. He takes care of the football. He’s an intelligent kid that understands the task at hand.”
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A big reason Eason’s quarterback rating is higher than Becker’s is his number of touchdown passes.
Eason, a junior, has thrown at least two touchdowns in every game this season and has 22 through seven games. He’s thrown 15 touchdowns in the past four weeks. The Vikings have won each of those games by an average of 42 points.
“I think a lot of it has to do with preparation,” Tri said. “I know Jacob has spent a great deal of time watching film and trying to understand opposing coverages as well as what their blitz packages are, just trying to understand where pressure might come from. I think he does a good job of getting the ball out on time and not holding it for too long and creating problems. His reads are good and he’s accurate. As a result of that, he’s had a lot of success completing the ball.”
Mack boasts that Becker is equally as prepared.
“Tyler spends a tremendous amount of time on film study — understanding coverages and what his opponent likes to do,” Mack said.
Becker doesn’t throw the ball nearly as much as Eason — he has 134 attempts this season to Eason’s 204 — but he makes the most of his pass attempts. He has completed 59.7 percent of his passes this season and is averaging 17.15 yards per completion.
A perfect example of Becker’s efficiency was in the Knights’ most recent game, a 62-38 win over Snohomish. Becker completed two of his four passes in the first half of that game, but those two completions went for 170 yards and two touchdowns. His first completion was a 99-yard touchdown pass to Jared Pexton.
Several of those passes were set up by the Knights’ rushing attack. On his first eight carries, Kamiak running back Jo Jo Binda totaled 235 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
For that reason, Tri said a key to slowing down Kamiak’s passing attack tonight starts with stopping the run.
“You have to try to stop their running game, believe it or not,” Tri said. “What’s causing those yards per catch is their play action. They’re running the ball with Binda and it’s run, run, run and teams are forced to bring their safeties up and linebackers and (defensive backs) have to commit to stopping the run. And the next thing you know, they’re throwing ball over the top on you.”
If the Vikings’ defensive line can slow down the Knights’ running game, Tri said it should make it more difficult for Becker to be successful in the passing game.
Eason and Becker do it in different ways, but both have found a great deal of success in 2014. The two of them, coupled with the stakes of tonight’s game, should make for a great championship battle.
“They’re both very competitive,” Mack said of Eason and Becker. “That’s an attribute that they both have. They compete.
“I think it’s going to be a good hard-nosed football game. Both teams have prepared for this moment.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
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