Halliday’s season reaches new level

Connor Halliday is missing one thing his dad has – a high school state football championship. OK, maybe two things.

“I may have been faster than him,” said Duane Halliday, who quarterbacked Coeur d’Alene to an Idaho state title in 1985 and went on to play at Boise State.

But thanks to his attention to footwork, the sky’s the limit for the younger Halliday, a two-year quarterback starter at Ferris who is committed to Washington State and whose promise is far greater, according to his father.

“He’s obviously much bigger and more physical and is a much smarter player than I was,” Duane said. “His career will be better than mine ever was. He has a chance to be something special.”

Tom Yearout, who coached Connor at Lewis and Clark before he became a Saxon, agrees. Yearout ranks him among the top four Greater Spokane League quarterbacks, including Shadle Park great Mark Rypien.

“He is a tremendous talent and a kid who I think still has his best football in front of him at the college level,” Yearout wrote in an e-mail.

Connor left LC while a sophomore in 2007 during the Tigers’ run to a state title. He had been backup to then-junior Taylor Eglet and played sparingly, passing for a little more than 300 yards.

He was coming off a thumb injury when the move came following LC’s second-round playoff win. The move was ill-timed, Connor said.

“Trust me, I didn’t want to do it during the season,” Connor said. “For the first three months it was tough on me and my family, the scrutiny we went through.”

But it was a move deemed best for his future and a chance for steady playing time.

Connor broke out with the 11th-highest single-season passing yardage total in GSL history for a team that last year made its second straight trip to the State 4A semifinals.

This year he is even better, attaining two of the top four single-game GSL yardage efforts. Last week he completed 38 of 56 attempts for a record 437 yards. Including a non-league game, he’s totaled just less than 2,150 yards this season. Counting all games he’s approaching 5,000 for his career.

But it’s his feet, not his arm, that Connor credits for his numbers and success.

“My arm holds up pretty good,” he said, referring to the two 50-plus attempt games he’s had this year. “But I truly believe a quarterback is made by footwork. My dad preached that, Coach (Jim Sharkey) preaches that. He will tell me if I miss a throw, ‘Your feet! Your feet.’ ”

Having a collegiate quarterback as his youth coach was an obvious advantage. Playing in a spread passing system at Ferris has been another.

Central Valley coach Rick Giampietri was so respectful of his ability that he did everything he could to minimize Connor’s touches during the Bears’ 34-31 triumph by resorting to gimmickry that worked.

Sharkey said Connor has developed into a leader and improved his game from last year to this.

“His pocket presence and footwork have improved,” Sharkey said. “He makes throws few kids can and is incredibly accurate for a high school kid. He will stand in there with pressure and he’s completing over 70 percent of his passes. One area I think that is overlooked a bit is, he’s a really tough kid.”

Connor said he’s become more patient and is not trying as much to hit the big play. Last year he said he would try to force the ball into areas at times. This year he is willing to throw a pass away.

He’s 22 pounds heavier and quick to credit a coterie of talented receivers the past two years for his success, including Aaron Roberts, whom Duane said took Connor under his wing to ease his arrival at Ferris.

The seeds of quarterbacking were sown as a 3-year-old when Connor trotted around in a Dallas Cowboys uniform and pronounced it “coco-back.” By first grade he showed the arm and in high school he’s showed it off.

His decision to commit to Washington State came in part because there were six quarterbacks in the fold at his father’s alma mater at Boise State and because of the atmosphere in Pullman.

“Coach (Paul) Wulff is building a family down there,” he said. “My recruiting class is shaping up and with the class ahead of me I really think we’re building for the future. Whatever’s going to help the team is what I want to do.”

Friday night Connor faces ex-LC teammates and coaches, of whom he spoke fondly.

The Tigers spoiled Ferris’ unbeaten league record a year ago. The Saxons (5-2, 4-2 GSL) can’t afford it to happen again if they are to return to the playoffs, even if it is as a lower seed. It could give Connor one last chance at duplicating his dad.

“We just need to win out,” Connor said. “My sophomore year at LC we were the No. 2 or 3 seed and it was a lot of fun taking a charter to Richland and Woodinville. It might be the reason they won state.”