Big Fish, Bigger Pond : Brethren Christian Quarterback Priestley Will Take His Game to Ohio State Next Season

David Priestley is in his second full season as quarterback for Brethren Christian, and the tag of “potential” sits squarely on his shoulder pads.

Not many small-school football players wind up competing for major college programs such as Ohio State, but Priestley has decided he will be in Columbus next fall. He orally committed to attend the school three days before the start of the football season.

Priestley, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound senior who passed for 1,600 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, enjoys being in charge and the attention it brings.

“I play football because it’s fun and it’s something I think I can excel at,” said Priestley, who is preparing for Brethren Christian’s game Saturday against Hesperia Sultana. “It’s something I wouldn’t mind doing as a job. I like being good, and it’s one of my goals to be known. I don’t think of myself as a great player, but I’d love to be a household name.”

Bruce Eien, in his first year as Brethren Christian head coach after being a defensive coordinator at Brethren Christian, laughs softly at Priestley’s remarks. Like everyone else at the school, he has become accustomed to his quarterback’s penchant for being slightly outrageous.

“When David was a 10th-grader, some of the other players had problems with his overconfidence,” Eien said. “Now, the team just lets him go. He has the perfect quarterback mentality: No matter what the situation, he thinks he can win.”

Brethren Christian players are

no strangers to Division I colleges. A number of them have gone on to play major-college ball and Eien believes Priestley has the potential to be the best of the bunch.

“I think he’s the best quarterback in the state,” Eien said. “He’s only in his third year at the position and has learned no bad habits. He has a very quick release and is technically well advanced. [Ohio State quarterback coach] Walt Harris said David was doing things in high school that their quarterback last year wasn’t doing as a senior.”

Football isn’t Priestley’s first love, he said. He started as a baseball player, making use of his strong right arm at shortstop. But one day in the sixth grade, he remembers somebody putting a football in his hand and asking him how far he could throw it.

Turned out to be pretty far, and Priestly wanted to throw himself into a new sport.

Not so fast, his father Rusty said. In the ninth grade, Priestley stood 5-7 and weighed 120 pounds, “and he wouldn’t let me play,” Priestley said of his father’s decision. In his sophomore year, he grew three inches and gained 20 pounds, and his father told him the choice to play was up to him.

Priestley made varsity team but played only one game before he was sidelined most of the season by an injury.

“It was in practice in a non-contact drill,” Priestley said of the injury. “I was throwing when a guy accidentally hit me and partially separated my shoulder. I sat out eight weeks and played the last two games.”

Priestley kept growing, in size and skill. As a junior, he stood 6-1 and would be 6-3 by season’s end. He also began working with a personal trainer on his speed and quarterback fundamentals.

Brethren Christian finished 4-6 last year, and while Priestley had a pretty good season statistically, he wasn’t sure many colleges knew about him. So he and his family made a videotape of some of his performances and sent it to schools Priestley was interested in attending. Ohio State became interested in Priestley, too.

“I went there to visit this summer,” he said. “I really liked Coach Harris. He’s probably the biggest reason I wanted to go there. I liked [head] Coach [John] Cooper as well.

“I wanted to play in front of a lot of people, and I wanted to get out of Southern California. I didn’t really want to play in the Pacific 10, so I was looking for something different.”

Ohio State also received an oral commitment this week from another Orange County quarterback, Capistrano Valley’s Austin Moherman. Priestley said that was no problem for him.

“I knew they wanted to sign two, and I’m ready to take on a challenge,” he said. “They knew I wanted to be the first one they asked. As soon as they stated that, I didn’t care who they brought in. I thought they would want two dropback-style guys who are tall and have room to grow.”

Priestley said he still has much to learn, particularly shedding his penchant for interceptions. He had 10 last season and was picked off three times in Brethren Christian’s 27-16 season-opening victory over Los Angeles Murphy last Saturday.

“Some of it has been inexperience, trying to force things that are not there,” Priestley said. “I’m still learning how to make the right decisions.

“The colleges liked me for my size and physical abilities. They know I don’t know that much about football; I’ve talked to the coaches about that. Physically it’s there, but I still have things I need to learn about the game from the mental side.”

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Small School, Big Recruits

Brethren Christian football players who have gone on to play on Division I teams:

Derrick Stott, quarterback, graduated in 1987, played at Nevada Las Vegas.

Frank Brady, running back, 1991, played at San Diego State.

Brandon Stott, quarterback, 1991, played at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and and is now an assistant football coach for the Mustangs.

Reggie Davis, quarterback, 1994, playing strong safety at Washington.

Keith Washington, running back, 1994, playing at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Darryl Jones, defensive tackle, 1995, began at Washington State but has transferred to San Diego State.

Kevin Cooper, tight end, 1996, playing at Washington.