Thursday, November 1, 2007 - Page updated at 02:03 AM
Eastlake, Bothell seniors trying to win games, scholarship offers
By Tom Wyrwich
Seattle Times staff reporter
ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Ryan Robertson's coach says the Eastlake quarterback is much improved at reading defenses, cutting his interceptions almost in half this season while still averaging 241 yards.
ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Johnny Hekker started only one Bothell game as a junior, but got attention at summer camps with his arm and his size.
Only minutes after Eastlake beat KingCo 4A rival Woodinville in September, Eastlake assistant Rich Starrett found quarterback Ryan Robertson on the sideline.
If it hadn't been a win, it would have been a game Robertson would have liked to forget. A couple long plays helped salvage what was otherwise an ugly game for one of the state's best passing teams.
But Starrett put a vice grip on Robertson's shoulder pads and looked him right in the eyes in a speech Robertson hasn't forgotten.
"It doesn't matter now what you did in the game," Starrett told him. "The game's over. All that matters is getting better week by week."
Heading into the playoffs this weekend, Robertson is one of the area's leading passers, with 241 yards per game and 23 touchdown passes. But as his senior season nears its end, Robertson doesn't have a college scholarship offer. Like many other senior quarterbacks, including Bothell's Johnny Hekker, Robertson has to resist turning each game into a college audition.
"Of course, it's tough that your future is on the line and every game could make a difference," Robertson said.
Greg Biggins, a West Coast recruiting analyst for rivals.com, said by the time the high-school football season begins, most Division I colleges have already made their offers to quarterbacks for the next recruiting class. Both Robertson and Hekker have taken trips to Division I schools — Hekker went to Oregon last weekend — but they are open to playing for smaller colleges.
"It's so hard to get really noticed just based on your senior year of football," Biggins said. "Sometimes people get so caught up in the recruitment thing that the on-field play starts to suffer."
From Biggins' point of view, Robertson and Hekker took the most important step for senior quarterbacks before the season even began. Both attended summer camps, the best opportunity to get noticed.
Hekker entered the summer with only one start at Bothell. He was the backup last season to Cody Atkinson, who led the Cougars to a state runner-up finish. Hekker had almost no video to show recruiters. But at camps in Oregon and California, where physical attributes are most important, his size (6 feet 5, 200 pounds) and arm impressed recruiters.
"It was kind of intimidating being with all the best guys in the nation, and I didn't even really play varsity last season," Hekker said. "It was fun to hear the feedback from the coaches."
Bothell coach Tom Bainter said that camp allowed Hekker to realize he could play in college. Yet, Hekker's numbers this season haven't been eye-popping: 153 yards per game and 15 touchdowns.
Bainter said because Hekker didn't start until this year, he is still learning how to read defenses.
"The thing with Johnny is his ceiling's high, still," Bainter said, adding that he expects Hekker to keep growing. "Kid doesn't shave yet. He'll only get stronger and get better at reading this stuff."
Biggins said Robertson didn't leave the summer camps with as much hype as Hekker. But this fall, Robertson already has thrown for more than 2,000 yards for the second consecutive season.
Eastlake coach Gene Dales has two statistics to show how Robertson has improved, particularly in reading coverage. First, Robertson cut his interceptions from 17 last season to nine. Second, he has had only one game with a completion percentage lower than 50.
"His ability to get it to different people is what makes it seem like there's a lot going on in the passing game," Dales said.
Douglas Robertson, Ryan's father and a former UNLV quarterback, reminds his son to forget about recruiting and worry only about the season. Dales said that even as signing day gets closer only three months away now he hasn't seen Robertson panic.
"He understands the importance of how well the team plays," Dales said, "and that the longer we get a chance to play in the playoffs, the more exposure he'll get."
Tom Wyrwich: 206-515-5653 or twyrwich@seattletimes.com