Timing On The Side Of Riverside’s Quarterback

Timing has been everything for Riverside’s Joel Schurtz.

The Ram football player arrived from Sammamish his sophomore year, in time to share quarterbacking duties on Riverside’s State A football championship team.

While the Rams were compiling a two-season record of 20 wins and 2 losses, he drew attention from college coaches both for his play on offense and as a defensive back.

On Friday he played a major role in Riverside’s biggest victory as a Class AA Frontier League team.

Schurtz passed for 192 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 90 more and three scores to help upset a West Valley team that was a game away from playing for the league championship.

The Rams scored nearly as many points in the game as they had in four previous league contests, and against a team that had allowed an average of 14 points per league game.

On the very first series, a fake punt on fourth down resulted in a Schurtz first-down completion.

“It set the tone for the game,” said his coach, Allen Martin.

Schurtz has been setting the tone for all of his three years. As a sophomore he shared quarterbacking duties where his passing and mobility were first recognized.

At 6-foot and 200 pounds, with 4.6 speed and the ability to bench press 345 pounds, he poses problems for opposing teams if he is allowed to sprint outside the pocket.

“He’s probably been involved in 75 percent of our touchdowns either running or passing,” said Martin.

It is a luxury Riverside won’t have after he graduates.

“Obviously the emphasis next year is going to have to change,” said Martin. “We like to run the quarterback when we have an athlete like that. His experience will be hard to replace.”

Schurtz, whose father is a Northwest Airlines pilot, moved to the Seattle area six years ago from Texas. He played football in the fifth and sixth grades but an injury caused his mother to ban him from the sport until high school.

After coming to Riverside, he served a learning year as a sophomore backup to senior Frank Dozhier during Riverside’s championship season. Still, he earned all-league consideration.

Last year a loss to Quincy in the playoffs after going unbeaten in league, he said, was humbling.

“That was kind of rough,” he said. “We were looking to repeat and Quincy jumped up and bit us.”

This year, Riverside jumped from Class A to Class AA competition. The Rams could finish 3-3 in league and 5-4 overall if they beat Colville Friday.

“I think the competition is a lot better,” said Schurtz. “Better athletes put us to the test.”

Schurtz said he has received a boxful of letters for football from colleges, including Washington State University, for defense, and Brigham Young University, a noted quarterback school.

“My preference is quarterback,” he said. “It’s exciting and where you get a lot of attention.”

He said he is leaning to Utah schools, where he’ll play whatever position he’s asked, the bigger the school the better.

“I’m really not sure where colleges are looking at me (to play),” he said. “I’d like a big school but would prefer a lot of playing time.”

During Friday’s win against West Valley, the Eagles saw more of him than they would have liked.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo