Quarterback High

© More from this issue

          
Without a doubt, during their short 13-year existence, Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, La., has left a permanent mark on the landscape of high school football. With seven state titles over the past 13 years and one national championship, the Eagles have etched their dominance in the Louisiana record books from 1A-5A and everywhere in between.

But perhaps the only thing that stands out more than the Eagles’ championship trophies are the quarterbacks that led them there. Cleveland Browns’ quarterback Josh Booty started the Evangel legacy with their first state title in Class 1A in 1993. Booty shattered the state record for single-season and career passing yards set by former NFL quarterback Joe Ferguson, also a Shreveport native, with 4,385 yards in 1992 and 11,700 career yards (45 games).

“Josh was a big, strong talent,” said Evangel quarterback coach and Josh’s father, John Booty. “No matter what kind of ball he had in his hand, he could just go out there and play the game.”

Booty’s completion percentage of 50.4 percent, with a 16.6 average and 126 touchdowns – including 54 in each of his first two seasons – would help earn him USA Today Offensive Player of the Year and Parade National Player of the Year honors. Booty even edged out Louisiana’s Peyton Manning in the USA Today’s “Top 25” football prospects list.

However, football was not the only sport in Booty’s life. The young quarterback turned down numerous offers from the most respected programs in the nation to pursue a career in professional baseball. Booty was taken as the fifth overall pick in 1994 by the Florida Marlins and in 1998 made his way from the minors to the major league. However, Booty’s desire for football was eventually too much to suppress.

“One day he called and wanted to be a football player again,” said Coach Booty. “I said, ‘Josh, you are a Major League Baseball player.’ And he told me that he wanted to play football again.

“He always said to me as a child that he would play both sports in the pros and I laughed.”

Meanwhile at Evangel, Booty’s absence did not ground the Eagles as Philip Deas led Evangel to state titles in 1994 (1A) and 1996 (3A). Deas finished the 1996 campaign with 4,656 yards and 50 touchdowns before heading to the University of North Carolina.

“Philip was a cerebral quarterback and took our spread offense system to another level,” said Coach Booty. “He helped diversify our approach during our transition from 1A to 3A. All the quarterbacks that have followed Philip have reaped the benefits of his accomplishments.”

Speaking of other Evangel quarterbacks, Brock Berlin immediately comes to mind.

“Brock was a super competitor and loved to play the game,” said Coach Booty. “He always felt that he could get the job done. No one has ever set a standard that he could not match. Josh could do things because he was big enough and gifted enough to do it. Brock could do it because he would work as hard as he needed to.”

Berlin, who was also named the USA Today Offensive Player of the Year – along with the Gatorade National Player of the Year, passed for 4,834 yards in 1998 after leading the Eagles to back-to-back state titles (3A). Berlin helped Evangel capture another state title in 1999 (5A) along with the heralded national championship. Berlin, who leads Evangel with 13,902 yards and 145 touchdowns, signed with the University of Florida, but transferred in 2002 to the University of Miami.

“Joe Ferguson told me that when he left high school ball that everyone said that no one would ever break his career records,” said Coach Booty. “And now we break them in one season. But you can’t break all these records unless you get the ball quickly and we are as blessed as anyone in America with our defensive coordinator, Ron Alexander. He is our quarterbacks’ best friend.”

Brent Rawls followed Berlin and is a red-shirt freshman at the University of Oklahoma.

“Brent is a 6-foot-5 kid that can throw the football,” said Coach Booty. “He has a tremendous arm and is as tough as a boot.”

In 2002, Josh’s little brother is leading the way as John David Booty, a 6-foot-4, 190-pounder, is off to a tremendous junior season after finishing his sophomore campaign with 4,330 yards and a state championship (5A).

“John David is a mixture of them all,” said Coach Booty. “He is the fastest of all our quarterbacks and he can run with anybody.

“We do a lot of fun things with our quarterbacks. You watch a couple of boys in the front yard, they aren’t going to run the ball every down – they pitch-n-catch. So what we decided when we started, lets do something that all the kids want to do anyway and then the practices won’t be so boring even to us.

“I had a meeting with coach Mike Holmgren when Josh was drafted last season by the Seattle Seahawks and he said that the system is so important to the quarterback, but you had better have somebody who can turn those knobs back there running the show.”

Well, Evangel will not have any problems finding talented, young quarterbacks to continue running the show because the youngest Booty brother, Jack, is next in line.

NEW BOOK!

Digital Download - 304 Pages of Football Forms for the Winning Coach