Latest / Whatcom Preps Podcast / Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 178 - 2023 Senior QB Special

Transcript

Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 178 - 2023 Senior QB Special · Whatcom Preps Podcast

0:18
Greetings and welcome to the Walcome Preps podcast. This is episode one seventy eight,
0:23
a special Quarterback edition. I am Tyler Anderson of Walcom Preps and I'm
0:27
really excited about this episode as we're gonna sit down and chat with the four
0:31
senior starting quarterbacks in Walcom County. So let me just introduce who we're talking
0:36
with here. I'm just gonna start introducing everyone to the quarterback that has thrown
0:40
for over two thousand yards in his career and it's only forty three yards away
0:44
from surpassing a thousand rushing yards. He's the Nooksack Valley Pioneer quarterback Joey Brown.
0:49
Joey, how are you doing man? Doing great? How are you
0:52
doing awesome? Also quarterback that led Walking County last season in touchdown passes with
0:58
sixteen. He's the new Belling Dat quarterback Josh Leonard. Thanks for being your
1:02
Josh, How are you doing good? Thanks for having me? Awesome?
1:04
Thank you. You're welcome. Next up, he holds the record for the
1:08
most passing yards in a single game in his school history, with four hundred
1:12
and eight yards in one game. He's the Linden Christian quarterback Jeremiah. Right,
1:17
it's great to have you. Jared. How are you doing good?
1:19
Good? How are you doing awesome? And finally he topped all these guys
1:23
by averaging sixteen yards per completion last season and he makes an amazing ice cream
1:29
Sunday. Just ask my girlfriend. He's the Ferndale quarterback Bishop Ootsy. What's
1:34
up, buddy, How are you doing good? How are you doing awesome?
1:37
Okay, so let's get into this a little bit. This is something
1:40
new that I've been wanting to try, and now that everybody's used to zoom,
1:45
you know, I thought it would be fun to have the senior quarterbacks
1:47
on and just talk football, maybe some other sports and have a little bit
1:49
of fun. So first off, let's just talk about the position of quarterback,
1:55
Like how long you've played the position? Josh. Let's start with you.
1:57
How long have you been playing quarterback? Like since I was like five?
2:01
I think, Yeah, I mean it's it's, uh, you know,
2:07
it's one of those positions that it's tough to jump into, but you've
2:08
been doing it for a long time. Oh yeah, a long time.
2:13
Yeah, So uh, it's it's like I said, I played it in
2:15
seventh grade. I think I attempted four passes and I threw one interception.
2:19
I'll never forget that. Jared, correct me if I'm wrong. But was
2:22
last year the first time you ever played the position? Uh? No,
2:25
I've been playing this since sixth grade, and then I took your off sophomore
2:30
year. Okay again last year started playing again, right? And so playing
2:37
since since sixth grade? Is? Uh? Do you have like a memorable
2:40
time were you? Were you taller than everybody back then too? Yeah?
2:45
For the most part, I was confusion for ones out there. Yeah,
2:49
yeah, what about you, Bishop, You've been under a center for quite
2:52
a while. Uh, since like seventh eighth grade. I kind of started
2:57
off as a running back and then so showed a quarterback towards the end of
3:00
middle school, and then since then been there. I would imagine at Ferndale
3:04
it's playing running back. It seems like there's like thirty kids that want to
3:06
play running back. Is that kind of the case back in seventh and eighth
3:08
grade? Yeah, it was everyone was either like fullback, halfback, something
3:14
like that. So it was kind of like, you know, where am
3:15
I trying to get on the field at? So switched over me? That
3:19
nice? What about you, Joey, same thing you've been playing for a
3:21
little while. It's fifth grade, in my first year of tackle football.
3:24
Yeah, I didn't fly. Yeah, I've never been anything else. You're
3:30
right, all right, So let's talk about think about this, guys.
3:35
Think about your first varsity start that you had, three of you guys,
3:38
and your first parsity start went up against big time, big time defenses,
3:44
and Jared, I believe your first varsity start was against the Canadian school that
3:46
looked a little bit overmatched. So let's start with you. What do you
3:50
remember about your first varsity start at quarterback. We didn't really know much about
3:54
the team since they were from Canada, right. We heard that they were
3:59
good up there, but we didn't really know how to correlate over here,
4:01
so we kind of we probably overplanned for them. But the outcome ended up
4:05
how we wanted it. So it was good. Exactly Bishop week one last
4:11
year, the opener against a Linden team that went on to win the state
4:14
championship. They just came off a state championship. What was that experience like?
4:17
It was crazy? You know, Linden Ferns always a big thing every
4:20
year, so an atmosphere was like insane. You know, obviously nerves are
4:25
a big factor, especially in this sport, so they kind of got to
4:27
me in that sense. Yeah, outcome didn't necessarily go the way we wanted
4:31
it to, but learn from it, bounce back. We're able to make
4:34
it pretty deep instate ourselves too. So yeah, learning experience with how I
4:38
described that for sure, Josh. Most people don't know that your first Parson
4:42
start wasn't last year, but it was two years ago on the road against
4:45
Linden and the weather was horrible for that game, especially for trying to throw
4:48
the ball. What do you remember about that game? It was horrible.
4:51
I couldn't we had we couldn't the ball, so they tried to put me
4:56
in at one point just throw like I think it was a two point conversion
5:00
because I could not throw the ball. And then I think Layton got hurt,
5:04
so I came in after half, and I remember his nerves and the
5:08
weather too didn't help. So yeah, that was that was that night that
5:12
you know, everyone played during that week, but that game at Lyndon was
5:15
just injuries, muddy field, raining, sideways. It was horrible. And
5:23
let's see here, Joey, your first your first party start. Was your
5:29
first game your freshman year, something that not many quarterbacks can say. It
5:33
was against extremely hard hitting Mount Baker defense. Tell us about that night,
5:38
Well, it wasn't fun. I was like one hundred and fifty pounds,
5:42
didn't know what I was doing. Yeah, I didn't really pay attention in
5:46
the practice as a freshman until that game. It was like the day before
5:49
I got told I was going to play. But all I remember is Davin
5:55
Beeson and a lot of interceptions. Yeah. I think if anybody played against
6:00
Davin Beeson, definitely, and I kind of knows what that's like. Okay,
6:03
let's talk a little bit about defense now, Jarre Bishop. You guys
6:08
have been starting on the defensive side for quite a while, since you were
6:11
sophomores. Bishop, I'm gonna start with you. Does it does it kind
6:14
of throw you off your game a little bit playing defensive back or does it
6:16
make you feel like you're more in the game because of it? I think
6:20
more in the game. It's a huge thing. Like obviously as a quarterback,
6:24
like all these guys who know too, like being able to read a
6:26
defense is an important part of it, right, and so like being in
6:29
on the defensive side of the ball, knowing coverages, stuff like that.
6:30
From that point of view. Two. Definitely, it's kind of helped me
6:33
at least improve, especially going into this season. Like what I'm looking at
6:35
when I'm under center. Right, Jarre, you've been coming off the edge
6:40
on defense for a couple of years now as a defensive end that kind of
6:43
like an outside linebacker. So I'll ask you the same thing. Does it
6:46
does it? Does it you feel like it helps your performance or does it
6:47
kind of make it feel like it's tougher to play quarterback if you're playing defense.
6:51
I think it helps our performance because, like Bishop said, you kind
6:55
of you kind of feel how the defense is as obvious to go against one,
7:00
so you kind of see how they operate. And also you kind of
7:02
if you come off a bad play, you don't really have time to think
7:04
about it. You have to go out and just go back to defense,
7:08
so not really like think about your mistakes, which can be good. Right,
7:13
Joey, do you think you're gonna take any stamps on defense this year?
7:16
No? What about you, Josh, do you think you'll get into
7:19
any No? See, And that that's the crazy thing is there's a lot
7:24
of quarterbacks that never played defense. There's a lot of them that that play
7:27
a lot of defense. And like you said, Jeremiah Bishop, you guys
7:30
have been playing it longer than you've been playing a varsity quarterback. So okay,
7:33
So I'm gonna I'm gonna go on to the next subject really quickly.
7:36
I'm gonna talk about family. Okay, to be more specific, fathers.
7:41
Three of you guys have dads that played college sports, so I kind of
7:44
want to dig into that a little bit more. Bishop, your dad played
7:46
basketball for Western Washington University. So what what what's your favorite sports memory with
7:53
him growing up? Oh, that's tough. I mean I've played a lot
7:58
of basketball as a kid and fall, but basketball is probably where it was
8:01
at for me when I was younger. Yeah, and so he was my
8:03
coach for as long as I could remember, until like I hit almost high
8:09
school and we played like the ras Fest out in Lindon a couple of years
8:13
in a row. I played with Jeremiah actually, and we wanted three years
8:16
in a row and he was our coach for those. So oh, I
8:18
probably stay doing that, like that type of stuff, like being able to
8:22
celebrate like wins and losses, even like just him talking me through that stuff
8:26
is probably my favorite. Nice Jared, your dad played as an offensive lineman
8:31
at Western Washington University playing football. Do you have his favorite sports memory with
8:33
him growing up? Probably him being by middle school coach. He coached me
8:39
seven to eighth grade year, so kind of just getting the experience like those
8:43
first kind of couple of years of football with your dad as a coach,
8:46
it was enjoyable. Yeah, and he knows a lot about football, I'll
8:48
tell you that. Josh, your dad played basketball and baseball at the University
8:52
of Puget Sound and now is your football coach. What's that been like playing
8:56
for him? Is it a is it a difficult dynamic or does it flow
9:00
pretty well? It's it's pretty good because we've had he coached me in every
9:03
single sport like basketball or basketball and baseball since I was young, So to
9:09
go back to that, it's been pretty easy because I mean, so,
9:13
yeah, I know he was really involved with coaching youth sports and stuff like
9:16
that, so you know, it's kind of cool that he's coaching you again,
9:20
and and a lot of players that he probably coached when they were young
9:22
too. Yeah. Joey I don't know anything about your dad playing sports,
9:30
but do you have a favorite sports memory growing up with him? Yeah,
9:35
so my dad didn't play any sports ever in his whole life, but he
9:41
like, we always played past with the football, especially out in the street.
9:46
We have a special we have a special play that we always run.
9:50
He always jokes about time my coach to put it in the playbook, but
9:54
just playing pass out in the street's probably the best memory. Nice. Yeah,
10:00
all right, so let's talk about winter sports for just a second.
10:03
Jared, Obviously you're well known on the basketball court. You've been a major
10:07
part of state championship team stuff like that. Talk a little bit about what
10:11
those experiences have been like. To be a part of a state championship team
10:15
multiple times. It's a pretty cool experience. I've kind of had two different
10:20
roles in both of them. One was kind of like a sixth man and
10:24
the other one was a starter where I was more like part of the offense.
10:26
But it's pretty cool experience to have, and to be able to do
10:30
it twice even better since not like so, Yeah, it's been enjoyable.
10:37
Hey, Bishop, you're also pretty well known as a basketball player. Have
10:41
you ever found yourself switched on defense and you had to cover Jeremiah down in
10:43
the post. Surprisingly, yes, quite a bit. Actually, I used
10:48
to play with him when I was younger too, so I kind of knew
10:50
how you played, but kind of hard to stop it when you're about seven
10:54
inches shorter. But oh man, at Joey, I've seen you knock down
11:00
those those three pointers. What's it like playing on the basketball team. How
11:03
do you How do you like playing with the Pioneers. I've played basketball for
11:07
the friends and I enjoy it, but it's not my sport. I mean,
11:13
I've seen you. I've seen you knocked down those threes. I saw
11:15
you in that Blame game. Man, there was two jumpers on like thirty
11:18
seconds. I was like, Man, get him in the game more.
11:20
This is this is you can play. That's all I do though. So,
11:24
Josh, you got to be close about six foot four. What kind
11:28
of game do you have on the hardwood? I don't. I stopped when
11:31
I was a freshman, so yeah, you just had just haven't played since
11:37
then? Really yeah? No, oh man, I would imagine the lefty
11:41
coming off the dribble. Holy cow. Okay, let's talk about spring sports
11:45
for just a second. Okay, Joey and Jeremiah, Both you guys are
11:48
on the track and field team, And when I think of track and field,
11:50
I think of a lot of different kinds of athletes. You got your
11:52
sprinters, your distance runners, your jumpers, your throwers. Well, both
11:58
of you guys are loaded with talent. You probably we would be perfect decatholics
12:01
or de decathletes for walking County. You both can do lots of things.
12:05
Let me start with you, Joey. You've competed in the one hundred meters,
12:09
two hundred meters, three hundred hurdles, both relay teams, shot put,
12:13
discus, javelin, high jump, long jump, triple jump. Do
12:16
you have a favorite event? Javelin, javelin? Yeah? Is there les?
12:24
Yeah? Well, I got a funny story about three hundred hurdles The
12:26
first time you ever ran those, I was there, you were you were
12:31
kind of nervous about it, but you ended up winning that race. Yeah.
12:37
I mean, is there is there an event that you haven't done yet
12:43
that you're that you want to try or have you pretty much done all the
12:45
things that you want to give a shot? What event that I haven't tried?
12:50
There's two I want to try to open four and I want to try
12:52
pullall oh pull vault? Yeah, well I have to try pull hall next
12:58
year. Oh man, Yeah, Jared. You've also competed in the four
13:03
hundred meters, the one, ten hurdles, three hundred hurdles, four by
13:05
four hundred, relay, I jump, long jump, triple jump. Do
13:09
you have a favorite event when I was younger or sophomore here Paubly the four
13:16
by four? Yeah, it's just really good. And I was a lot
13:20
lighter, so I was a little bit quicker back then, but fun.
13:24
We did good at State, so it was cool. Do you have an
13:28
event that you haven't done yet that you want to try? Uh? No,
13:33
I don't think so. Yeah, you've done all the things you want
13:35
to do four hundred Bishop. You were part of one of the best baseball
13:41
teams in Ferndale history playing in the outfield. Tell us about that experience,
13:45
what it was like last spring. It was a It was an awesome run
13:46
with the team loaded with talent. Man. Most of those guys on that
13:52
team we've been playing together since we were like seven or eight. Do you
13:54
know, just the experience of being able to play with them, especially making
13:56
it to State like for the first time in a while for Ferndale was like
14:00
it was crazy, kind of surreal, like kind of thing we all kind
14:03
of think expected and waited for. We kind of hoped for it last year
14:07
as well, my sophomore year, where I was like more of a platoon
14:11
swap guy, like coming in every once in a while, but being like
14:13
a consistent starter this last season, and like feeling like you were really a
14:16
part of the team that went pretty far. Is it's always pretty fun?
14:20
Yeah, all right, Josh, I've heard that you could bring the heat
14:22
on the mound. Are you gonna play baseball this year? I've been I've
14:26
been thinking about it. I oh man, I'd love to see some some
14:31
heat, left handed heat. That'd be awesome. Okay, so let's let's
14:35
bring it back to football for a second. Okay, it's it's time for
14:37
a little game here, and let's and let's see if everyone can remember who
14:41
they completed their first varsity touchdown past two. Okay, don't don't, don't
14:46
blurt it out, but I just want you to raise your hand if you
14:48
know the answer. Okay, does anybody know? Oh, Joey, Joey,
14:52
who do you got? Who was your first touchdown past two? And
14:56
who was it against? I think it was, but I don't know who
15:01
it was against. I have it as Oak Harbor Jordan's Silva on a swing
15:07
pass. Who bishop you got it? Mine was? I believe talent bung
15:15
guard took like a little dump pass, probably like sixty yards. And who
15:20
was it against? Oh? Carbur? Yes, you're right, Josh?
15:22
Did did you raise your hand? I did? I think it was egging?
15:28
Yeah? Yeah, that was the corner man you burned. Yeah,
15:31
I would you burned him on that? Jared? Can you remember yours?
15:37
It was either Tyler Sema or Tyson. I don't. I don't remember the
15:41
I don't remember the team. The Adian team was it was yeah, Sequam
15:46
secondary. It was actually the lane Deekstra it was. It was a five
15:50
yard pat But I think you threw a handful in that first in that first
15:54
game. But I just wanted to see because that's always something. It's interesting,
15:56
man, Joey. You had to think back like four years to see
15:58
when when your first one was. Okay, so let's let's drill down to
16:03
one particular game. Okay, and these are gonna be games of my choosing.
16:07
I just I'm curious about certain ones. Bishop talk about the game last
16:12
year against Arlington. That was just how crazy that was playing out at Blaine.
16:18
It was back and forth, so many injuries mounted up you end up
16:22
running for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter for the comeback win. Tell us
16:25
about that game. That game was just it was a straight will. Like
16:32
we kind of went into that thinking, like we beat him last year.
16:34
We were thinking about the guys they had lost. I think we kind of
16:37
probably had it easier than we really did. And we went in. We
16:41
were missing Connor Walker, who's obviously huge part of our team, like both
16:44
sides of the ball, and so I actually started the game at safety.
16:48
I hadn't played safety since I was a freshman, and so it was kind
16:52
of like learning that probably two practices before and then going in and then had
16:59
a chance on interset right off the bat, got it like snagged out of
17:03
my hands basically, and then got switched back to corner like two possessions later.
17:08
But late in the fourth quarter, we're down I think twenty four something,
17:12
I believe or twenty something, and our coach just kind of told me
17:17
like he had me on the headset going into one of the last drives and
17:19
just told me, like, we need you here, like we need you
17:22
to keep the guy's level headed, stuff like that. So I wouldn't say,
17:26
honestly, those two touchdowns were anything of mine. Like they were both.
17:29
One was a sneak from like two yards out. The other one was
17:30
just I kept the ball on a like fake handoff five yards out, and
17:34
like, when you have the old line I had last year, it's pretty
17:37
easy to get into the end zone from that far out. Just kind of
17:41
put yourself behind a big guy and push somehow in and that's kind of ended
17:44
up happening. So yeah, it was. That was one of the best
17:48
games I got to see on the sideline all year. Josh, we got
17:52
to talk about that win over Burlington Edison last year. Tell us about that
17:55
game. What do you what do you remember about that one? I remember
17:57
it was it was tough. I remember pregame we were some of the players
18:03
are a little nervous. But remember Nova at one of our receivers, you
18:07
got hurt, like not sure before half maybe, and going into half we
18:15
were down a little bit and then I'm pretty sure it was a longer touched
18:19
on to Jacob, so we're Inston. That kind of brought us back and
18:23
help the Spirits a little bit. Now, you guys won that one twenty
18:26
eight twenty one. There was a couple of deep ones to him and and
18:30
it was an awesome It was an awesome win. I see here, Joey,
18:37
there's a lot of directions I can go with you. But how about
18:40
the road win at Mount Baker last year and how important that one was?
18:42
That was? That was a pretty crazy game. Yeah, that was.
18:47
That was after the lost Elsie. So we were like what either do or
18:52
die? Right, And I don't even think for a second anybody thought we
18:57
were like on our team at least we didn't doubt ourselves. We're like,
19:02
okay, like we have to win, there's no other way out. So
19:07
we played as a team. We had huge plays by Jackson, Bennett,
19:12
Colton Lens. I think those two players were They wont us the game single
19:18
handedly our line, Colton and Jackson, and I knew it was over about
19:27
midway through the fourth quarter when they handed the ball off to Marquee and Duke
19:36
shoe Lace tackled them on fourth down, and I was like, this game
19:38
over, Like I know we can win. From here, But I get
19:44
chills about that game because man, it was it was sheer determination was the
19:48
only way we could win that game because they were Baker's a tough, a
19:53
tough team matter. How good about do you think they are? Yeah,
19:57
so and Jar Jared Obviously, the Royal game was something that you know is
20:03
going to be talked about for a long time. Tell us about that game.
20:07
Going on the road. They hadn't lost a home game during the Ragar
20:11
season in something like ten years. Just tell us about that game and how
20:15
crazy that was. Yeah, it was. I mean it started off with
20:18
like a five hour drive that morning, and then it was the hottest game
20:25
I've ever played, and I think it was like it's gotta be like mid
20:26
nineties when we were playing. Yeah, and it was kind of close.
20:32
The whole way through. We were kind of training touchdowns and then just stopping
20:34
each other. And then towards the end they think they scored, so it
20:41
was tied and we had to come back with like pretty much a final drive
20:45
and it was kind of just handed off the cade a couple of times in
20:48
a row. He got us in a position that we wanted to be in,
20:52
and then I remember our coach kind of drew up some play in the
20:55
huddle that we had never run before, and it was kind of just like
20:59
he put at Kaden, Brody and Kade all kind of on their own on
21:03
the outside, just told me to run behind them. Yeah it worked.
21:07
Yeah. I remember looking back after we scored two and it was like there
21:14
was like thirty twenty seconds left on the clock, and I thought there was
21:17
like five minutes. I was just locked in the game, didn't even realize
21:21
the time and stuff. So it was pretty cool. And then we kind
21:23
of go back on defense and they have like one play and then we all
21:27
jump on the field and have fun and then headed back home. But it
21:30
was a cruel experience. Yeah, it's uh. I remember why. I
21:34
was watching that game live online, and it was unbelievable because you know,
21:40
we do our pickums every week and I was the only one that picked you
21:41
guys, and and everyone was giving me a hard time about it. So
21:45
I was really really pumped for you guys to come out with that one.
21:48
It made it made me look like I knew what I was talking about.
21:52
All right, let's let's talk about the next level. What it looks like.
21:55
Maybe at the college level for you guys. You know, you guys
21:59
all have a ton of a ton of talent. Joey uh you know you
22:02
and I have talked. We were at your brother's baseball game talking about the
22:04
possibilities. But now there might be a new possibility for you. What's what's
22:07
out there for you right now? Right now, it's taking a unexpected path.
22:17
It's always been a dream to play football at the next level. But
22:22
I started track sophomore season and now I'm picking up offers for tracks, So
22:27
I mean, that's probably the way it's gonna go. So I mean,
22:33
yeah, I'm not mad about it, but I'm not going to stop trying
22:37
for football. But it sure looking like trucks grinning. Is there a specific
22:41
event for track? Just as a Decatholic it will still have been. Yeah,
22:48
that's awesome. Yeah, Bishop, it's hard to show your talents with
22:52
the run heavy offense. Is it possible that defensive back maybe is an option?
22:59
Yeah, I'm talking to a couple of schools right now for defense right
23:03
now, mostly all corner and like Nickel potentially and then basketball as well.
23:07
Hopefully that's what in all honesty to play the next level. So that's what
23:12
I'm looking at but just kind of like testing the waters right now. Hopefully
23:17
happen a good senior season, able to put some film out and hopefully pick
23:21
up a couple like official offers and stuff like that. Yeah, it'd be
23:23
awesome, Josh, same thing. You're a You're a classic thrower of the
23:27
football from the pocket. I know there's been some college interests. Why don't
23:30
you tell us about it a little bit? Yeah, a little bit.
23:33
I recently just got an offer from UPS, so that's been like the first
23:40
ever like official so that's pretty cool. Yeah. And if I could play
23:45
where my dad played, that would be Yeah, that'd be awesome. Uh,
23:49
jare you're six foot six two twenty five pounds coach. College coaches have
23:55
to be excited about what you can bring. Will it be hoops? Will
23:57
be football? It's so wet position for football. I've been most recruited for
24:04
as a tight end. Some school is possibly like a defensive like a d
24:08
N slash outside backer, kind of edge rusher, and then I've had a
24:14
little bit of interest for basketball, but majority of football right now is that
24:18
is that kind of how you like it too? Or does it matter to
24:22
you really? Which sport. I'm open to both sports like whatever which the
24:26
most opportunity. It's kind of how I've always looked at it. Right ever,
24:32
one that is I'll probably go with, all Right, well, I
24:36
think I think we may have lost Bishop, but uh, and then that's
24:40
totally fine because we're pretty much wrapped up anything or anyways. I hope the
24:44
viewers and listeners at home we're able to learn some stuff about these amazing gentlemen.
24:48
I just want to thank each of you, Joey Brown, Bishop Ootsi,
24:51
Josh Leonard, and Jeremiah Wright for being with me on this episode.
24:53
I wish you all the very best this season. I'll see you guys all
24:56
at practice pretty soon. And until then, this is Tyler Anderson with Walcome
25:00
Preps. And you've been watching and listening to episode one seventy eight of the
25:04
Welcome Preps Podcast. We'll see you next time. Goodbye,