Michael Eubank takes a firm position about playing QB

There’s no high school quarterback in Southern California quite like Michael Eubank of Corona Centennial.

He’s 6 feet 5, weighs 220 pounds and looks as though he should be on the cover of a muscle-and-fitness magazine.

“I take it as a compliment that they try to say I’m a finely tuned athlete,” he said.

When he runs with the football, feel sympathy for the mother or father of the kid who’s trying to tackle him, because Eubank is so big and powerful that he might run over the defender.

“It’s impossible to bring me down sometimes,” Eubank said.

And as a passer directing Centennial’s no-huddle offense, he has made dramatic improvement from a year ago, when his mechanics and throwing motion had people insisting he couldn’t play quarterback.

“My release and accuracy have come a long way since last season,” he said.

He has led Centennial to a 5-0 start, completing 66% of his passes for 812 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception while rushing for 380 yards and scoring seven touchdowns.

Yet college recruiters remain unconvinced that he can be a quarterback at the next level. Only Northern Colorado has made a scholarship offer.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Coach Matt Logan said. “I really don’t have a clue [why]. I talked to one guy, and word was he wasn’t a quarterback, he was an athlete. I think he’ll be a great quarterback. He’s not even close to where he’s going to be.”

Eubank, a 17-year-old senior, has decided to ignore the skeptics.

“I really don’t take it to heart,” he said. “I take it as motivation. I understand people have opinions. Playing quarterback has always been in my dreams.”

Eubank remembers throwing a football around when he was 13 and friends telling him, “Maybe you should go out for quarterback.”

That’s what he did as a freshman at Centennial, and he has no intention of changing his plans.

“I won’t even consider any college that won’t take me as a quarterback,” he said. “That’s what I’m set on playing for the rest of my career in football. I have all my faith and have been working too hard not to believe in it.”

Good for Eubank. He’s too big and too talented not to get a chance to play quarterback in college.

“As the season progresses, he’ll get offers,” Logan said.

With every victory and every impressive individual performance, Eubank is thrusting himself into contention as a player-of-the-year candidate.

The last Centennial quarterback about whom recruiters wondered if he could play the position was Taylor Martinez. He’s now the starter at Nebraska and a Heisman Trophy candidate.

A year of experience running Centennial’s offense has helped Eubank the most. Centennial’s no-huddle offense is similar to Oregon’s in that it relies on a quick tempo and needs a quarterback to make snap decisions and reads. This season, Eubank is doing just that. A year ago, he was indecisive and shared quarterback duties.

“If you can think quickly, you’re successful,” Eubank said.

Eubank notices how much the game has changed in a year’s time.

“Everything seems slow,” he said. “Things have opened up. It’s a lot more fun. During practices, I’m able to joke with coaches because I actually know what I need to do.”

There’s no joking about Eubank’s physique. He used to be chubby and weigh 250 pounds. Now he’s chiseled.

“I stopped eating the wrong foods, worked even harder, and ran even more outside of football,” he said.

And he runs plenty with a football.

“I enjoy throwing the ball a lot,” he said, “but if the play breaks down and leads me to run, I have no problem taking off.”

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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