He Craves the Action, Not the Attention : Poway: As a wide receiver and free safety, Jeff Pattison does his best work over the middle.

Jeff Pattison has to stay active all the time. He plays football, soccer and baseball for Poway High. He’s a starter in each, and in that down time between baseball and the end of school, he’s bored out of his mind.

He must keep active. So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that he longs for military life.

The Army’s Special Forces.

The Green Berets.

“He hasn’t any fear,” said his coach, John Self.

How would you like to have a guy with that attitude playing on defense?

Self does, and he likes it. Poway (10-3) enters Saturday’s San Diego Section 3-A Championship having allowed only 12 touchdowns in 13 games. It has allowed only 86 points, or 6.6 per game. All the offense has to do is score a touchdown and kick an extra point, and Poway wins.

Pattison has played a major role on offense (split end), defense (free safety) and special teams (punter).

“I like to hit and get hit,” said Pattison, a senior. “I like to catch the ball over the middle. I like to hit someone when they catch the ball over the middle. It’s the best of two worlds.

“I can’t think of anything to compare it to that would give it justice.”

Assaulting enemy forces might be close.

He heard about the Green Berets from a friend’s father who served in Vietnam.

“He told me all about it, the good and the bad, and it seems really intriguing,” Pattison said. “A kid like me would like to roll around in the mud, shoot guns and jump out of airplanes.”

He probably will roll around plenty against Morse. Pattison is the focal point of the Titan offense. Stop him and you can stop Poway.

Subsequently, Pattison gets much of the attention when Poway does well. Yet it is a position in which he is uncomfortable.

“The sports I play are all team sports, and I couldn’t receive any recognition without anyone else,” he said “I guess I’m kind of lucky, also. Not many offensive linemen get their names in the paper. Since I play a position which automatically receives a lot of attention, I get (that recognition).

“Everyone else on my team does just as good a job as I do or better, but I receive the attention. The real star of our team is the 11 guys on the field called defense. That’s why we’re here. We don’t have any standout players, but we have the will to succeed, and we did.”

Pattison has enjoyed success no matter the athletic arena.

“Sports has always come easy to me,” he said. “Math and English come easy to some people, but sports comes easy to me, and I’m lucky to have the God-given ability to go out there and play because that’s what I enjoy most--to compete and have fun.”

He played first base on the second-place baseball team and goalie on the second-place soccer team. Poway tied for second in football this season. He’s excited about the prospect of finally finishing first. That’s one reason he doesn’t play individual sports: “When you win, there’s no one to share it with.”

He won’t be alone Saturday, and Morse is sure to think there are more than one of him.

At 6-5, 195 pounds, he has grown two inches in the past year. He just outgrew his father and thinks he’s still growing. His size has been an advantage all season. He runs the fade pattern very well and his quarterback, Travis Nichols, lofts the ball over diminutive defensive backs. Pattison has caught 49 passes for an average of 18 yards. More importantly, no receiver has come close to his 11 touchdown receptions.

“I’ve attained a lot of success only because of a strong offensive line and a quarterback who is giving me the ball,” he said.

That’s something you get with Pattison--the company line. He is quick to point out the Titans are a product of teamwork, not outstanding individual performances.

“I’d rather the team get more recognition than just one individual,” he said. “I get a big kick out of the papers when they say Poway’s defense wins the game because football is a team sport and no one individual can win or lose the game.”

But Pattison makes quite the individual effort on both sides of the ball.

“He will catch anything near him,” Self said. “In summer passing league, teams would put three guys on him and they couldn’t stop him. One thing he has got is courage.”

If the beret fits, wear it.