Dresback’s in control

The name is familiar, but there’s something that doesn’t look quite familiar.
The quarterback for the undefeated Freeman High School football team is named Dresback, same name that led the team to an undefeated regular season and a berth in last year’s Class A quarterfinals.
That was Jon Dresback, a double threat in the Scotties’ veer offense — an effective passer and a devastating runner.
This year it’s Andrew Dresback at the controls. Standing well over 6-feet and weighing in at more than 200 pounds, the sophomore is definitely not Dresback light.
“He’s bigger and stronger than Jon was,” Freeman coach Jeff Smith said. “Jon played cornerback for us on defense. Andrew doesn’t play defense this year, but when he did, he was an inside linebacker. Jon was built like a defensive back and Andrew is built like a linebacker.
“Jon was very much at home running the ball. He loved to tuck the ball under his arm and take off. Andrew is much more at home staying in the pocket and throwing the ball. He’s already taken some pretty good hits and bounced right up. He’s a big, strong kid.”
“Jon and I talked about playing quarterback all the time,” Andrew Dresback said. “We used to run all the drills together and I went to every one of his games and watched what he did very closely.
“He used to say ‘Come help me work on my passing and then I’ll work with you on your quickness.’ That helped me a lot.”
The fact that the starting quarterback is a sophomore comes as something of stunner to the casual observer.
“People are surprised to find out that Andrew is just a sophomore,” Smith said. “But really, we’ve been watching him for a couple years. When he was in the eighth grade, he went with us to a seven-on-seven passing camp at Eastern Washington University. We had trouble getting enough guys to come out, so we had him play quarterback there. He was impressive. He had a real grasp of the passing game and was checking-off to his second and third receiver even then.”
Dresback divided his time at quarterback last year with the Freeman junior varsity.
“I played the second half of games,” he said. “My goal was to play one game with the varsity last year, and I did that. I suited up for one game, and even suited up for the playoff game at Royal when we needed a couple extra players.
“The good thing is, we run the same offense on the junior varsity that they run on the varsity, so I’m running the same plays, the same formations this year. That helps. And coach Matt Smith, Coach Smith’s son, is our quarterback coach and was my coach last year. He helps me a lot with keys and stuff. He helps me know what to look for when I come up to the line of scrimmage.”
Jeff Smith has been pleased with his quarterback’s performance.
“I use a computer analogy with the kids,” he explained. “You can’t come up to the line of scrimmage and think like an Apple Mac II. You have to think like a G4. Andrew does that.”
Coming into the start of practice this year, Dresback was in a battle for the starting job, but after a week, the coach gave him a warning.
“He took me aside and told me that I should start preparing myself mentally to be the starter,” Dresback said, a grin spreading across his face despite being hidden by a sky-blue facemask. “I was so excited. I still am.”
Dresback ran for the team’s first touchdown of the season at Deer Park and has thrown three touchdown passes, two in that opener with the Stags. Then again, he hasn’t had to do much more than hand the ball off to Kevin Hatch.
The speedy back has rushed for six touchdowns as the team won its first four games, piling up 612 rushing yards — an average of 153 yards per game.
“It makes my job so much easier having a back like Kevin back there,” Dresback said. “I come to the line and see teams stacked to stop him. The passing game is so wide open because of that. It really makes my job easy. In fact, that’s been a little bit of a problem early in games. The coaches will send in a play and I’ll think it’s a brilliant call and get all excited. And I’ll be so pumped up that I’ll overthrow a wide-open receiver.”
That’s to be expected.
Especially the way the Freeman defense has played. The Scotties blanked their first three opponents and did not give up a point until its Northeast A League opener last week with visiting Newport.
“Our defense has been great,” Dresback said. “I stand on the sidelines and watch them in action and get so fired up by what they’ve been able to do. Besides, those guys on defense are my teammates on offense. The defensive line is my offensive line. I have to pull for my guys.”