Kramer Will Wait To Name Starting Qb

If there’s an upside to Brian Sherick being held out of all contract drills at Eastern Washington this spring, it’s this: It gives Eagles coach Mike Kramer the entire summer to mull over the difficult question of who to start at quarterback.

In an ideal world, Kramer would have his starter in place by the end of spring practice. But with Sherick, a part-time starter on last year’s 3-8 team, still recovering from off-season knee surgery, that isn’t going to happen.

Kramer explained why Saturday morning after putting the Eagles through their first spring scrimmage in front of a small, shivering cluster of fans, huddled in the stands at Woodward Stadium.

“It really wouldn’t be fair to Brian,” the third-year coach said. “Because we’re going to hold him out of all spring contact, we’re just going to have to play (the quarterback issue) it by ear.”

Sherick, a 6-foot-3 junior out of University High School, opened the 1995 season at quarterback but had his season cut short by a midseason knee injury. He still threw for 932 yards and five touchdowns and would seem to have the inside track on the starting job next fall.

But Harry Leons, a 6-2 junior who threw for 1,041 yards and seven TDs as Sherick’s replacement, made it clear during Saturday’s 90-minute scrimmage that he still wants to run the team.

And Griffin Garske, an untested but physically gifted freshman from Mead, worked his way into the mix with an equally impressive showing.

Leons, from Olympia, completed 15 of 23 passes for 152 yards and led both the Eagles’ No. 1 and No. 2 offensive units on scoring drives against the No. 2 defense.

Garske, a 6-4, 217-pounder with a Division-I arm, connected on 19 of his 31 throws for 144 yards.

“We went on a streak there in the middle of the scrimmage where we completed 10 or 11 passes in a row,” Kramer said.

Fifteen different receivers caught passes and running backs Joe Sewell, Rex Prescott and Mike McKenzie combined for 168 yards on 32 carries.

Kramer emphasized that neither of his two healthy QBs did enough to ease the critical decision he will have to make.

“There’s no doubt that when Garske throws the ball, the ball hums,” Kramer said.

If there is an edge between Leons and Garske, it would seem to go to Leons, simply because of Garske’s lack of game experience.

“I really don’t relish the thought of starting another season buck naked at quarterback,” Kramer said. “I went through that twice last year (with Sherick and Leons) - two guys who had never taken a snap and I pushed them onto the field and said, ‘O.K., drive the car.”’

, DataTimes