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Thursday
March 11, 2010 Since 1922 |
QB Kolaja steps up as Rangers’ leader
By Dave Rogers
But the second-year assistant, who doubles as the Rangers quarterback coach, said it’s only a coincidence his team’s starting signal-callers this season and last came off the baseball team.
“I think some of those big hits Keagan got last spring probably came from the confidence he gained when he was playing quarterback for us,” Lucero said, referring to 2008 Rangers QB Keagan Kogut, who led District 21-5A in passing in his senior season, his only season to start at quarterback.
Now the ball’s in the hands of senior Colton Kolaja, a 6-foot-1, 180-pounder who skipped playing football last year to concentrate on landing the starting third baseman position for the Ranger diamond squad.
“Just from a leadership standpoint, the kid is off the chart,” Lucero said of Kolaja, who threw two touchdown passes and ran for another in Sterling’s 20-15 win over South Houston last week.
“He’s just one of those kids that’s highly motivated and really positive. He’s really intelligent, which allows us to do a lot of things.”
Kolaja has a 4.0 grade point average and his favorite subject is math, according to the quarterback.
As such, he knows the percentages for the Ranger offense.
“If I had to put a number on it, I’d say our offense is 50 percent of what it should be,” he said. “We’re coming along.
“In the La Porte game, we didn’t look really that good. I think we had a big improvement this past week. But we’ve got a lot more we can improve.”
In a game ended by lightning with the score tied 7-7 at halftime, Sterling failed to score on offense against La Porte.
Before going all-baseball last school year, Kolaja had played quarterback throughout school. He started for the Ranger JV team in 2007.
“I think it helped him,” Lucero said, “from a leadership standpoint, being able to stand in front of the guys in the huddle and when things go bad, to be able to rally the guys.
“It’s more than just schemes. He has those intangibles.”
Lucero calls Kolaja “Colt” because he says it’s easier for a coach to use just one syllable when communicating with a player.
Teammate Andre Corley calls him “Colt the Bolt,” Kolaja says, and C.J. Mixon calls him “Colt McCoy.”
Last week, when South Houston defensive end Darren Leaks blindsided him in the end zone for a first-quarter safety, “Pancake” was fitting.
“The biggest adjustment is probably the speed,” he said. “You saw it on the safety. On JV level ball, you’d have had plenty of time, but these guys are faster.
“The whole game is faster.”
By the time Leaks broke through, Kolaja had already thrown his first varsity TD pass, a 26-yarder to Spencer Schoor.
After South Houston followed up the safety with a TD of its own to go up 9-7, Kolaja passed 39 yards to Jose Herrera to give Sterling a 14-9 halftime edge.
Then Kolaja scored on a four-yard run early in the second half.
“We went in at halftime and I think some kids were feeling too good about being ahead,” Kolaja said. “Then Curtis (nose tackle Curtis Jenkins) told everybody, ‘hey, it’s still a game. We’ve got to play the second half.’
“Then we went out and got the quick touchdown and then we held onto it.”
The Rangers play Sam Rayburn Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Pasadena Veterans Stadium.
“Hopefully, we make that same improvement we made last week this week and every week between now and district,” he said.
But the second-year assistant, who doubles as the Rangers quarterback coach, said it’s only a coincidence his team’s starting signal-callers this season and last came off the baseball team.
“I think some of those big hits Keagan got last spring probably came from the confidence he gained when he was playing quarterback for us,” Lucero said, referring to 2008 Rangers QB Keagan Kogut, who led District 21-5A in passing in his senior season, his only season to start at quarterback.
Now the ball’s in the hands of senior Colton Kolaja, a 6-foot-1, 180-pounder who skipped playing football last year to concentrate on landing the starting third baseman position for the Ranger diamond squad.
“Just from a leadership standpoint, the kid is off the chart,” Lucero said of Kolaja, who threw two touchdown passes and ran for another in Sterling’s 20-15 win over South Houston last week.
“He’s just one of those kids that’s highly motivated and really positive. He’s really intelligent, which allows us to do a lot of things.”
Kolaja has a 4.0 grade point average and his favorite subject is math, according to the quarterback.
As such, he knows the percentages for the Ranger offense.
“If I had to put a number on it, I’d say our offense is 50 percent of what it should be,” he said. “We’re coming along.
“In the La Porte game, we didn’t look really that good. I think we had a big improvement this past week. But we’ve got a lot more we can improve.”
In a game ended by lightning with the score tied 7-7 at halftime, Sterling failed to score on offense against La Porte.
Before going all-baseball last school year, Kolaja had played quarterback throughout school. He started for the Ranger JV team in 2007.
“I think it helped him,” Lucero said, “from a leadership standpoint, being able to stand in front of the guys in the huddle and when things go bad, to be able to rally the guys.
“It’s more than just schemes. He has those intangibles.”
Lucero calls Kolaja “Colt” because he says it’s easier for a coach to use just one syllable when communicating with a player.
Teammate Andre Corley calls him “Colt the Bolt,” Kolaja says, and C.J. Mixon calls him “Colt McCoy.”
Last week, when South Houston defensive end Darren Leaks blindsided him in the end zone for a first-quarter safety, “Pancake” was fitting.
“The biggest adjustment is probably the speed,” he said. “You saw it on the safety. On JV level ball, you’d have had plenty of time, but these guys are faster.
“The whole game is faster.”
By the time Leaks broke through, Kolaja had already thrown his first varsity TD pass, a 26-yarder to Spencer Schoor.
After South Houston followed up the safety with a TD of its own to go up 9-7, Kolaja passed 39 yards to Jose Herrera to give Sterling a 14-9 halftime edge.
Then Kolaja scored on a four-yard run early in the second half.
“We went in at halftime and I think some kids were feeling too good about being ahead,” Kolaja said. “Then Curtis (nose tackle Curtis Jenkins) told everybody, ‘hey, it’s still a game. We’ve got to play the second half.’
“Then we went out and got the quick touchdown and then we held onto it.”
The Rangers play Sam Rayburn Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Pasadena Veterans Stadium.
“Hopefully, we make that same improvement we made last week this week and every week between now and district,” he said.