AA football: Kindred quarterbacks lead Flathead revival
When Flathead coach Kyle Samson talks about his junior quarterback, you could swear he was talking about someone else.
He sounds like he’s talking about himself.
“The thing with him is he’s a coach’s son,” Samson said. “His dad has a lot of knowledge and that’s always a plus for a quarterback. And he loves to watch film, he loves to learn about offense and defense and to me, as a coach, that’s a great thing to have.”
Samson, the former Montana high school player of the year who went on to star at quarterback for his football coach dad at Montana State-Northern, has mentored junior signal caller Bridger Johnson since he arrived at Flathead two years ago. After a dominating 28-7 win at Great Falls C.M. Russell a week ago in Johnson’s first varsity start, the pair have the Braves riding high into tonight’s game at Helena.
Johnson was a running back as a youngster and it wasn’t until a six-inch growth spurt in the summer before his freshman year that the now 6-foot-3 passer first played the quarterback position. His growth — both literally and figuratively — into the job has been fueled by an obsession with the game.
“There’s just something about football, I love it,” Johnson said. “It was tough at first. I didn’t know how to read defenses, but once I got up to the varsity level with Samson he got us in the film room in the summer and made sure we knew how to decipher coverage.”
Asked what it’s been like to learn from one quarterback to another, Johnson gushed with praise.
“You can come to (Samson) with any single question on the field,” Johnson said. “He literally knows every position, what they’re going to do, and he can read defenses like the back of his hand. It’s crazy, he can tell you how to read defenses, how to throw the ball, and he knows (throwing) technique the best I’ve ever seen.”
Johnson went 15 for 21 passing for 168 yards in the Braves’ win at CMR, throwing a pair of touchdown passes to Keaton Krantz. More importantly, the young signal caller did not turn the ball over.
“For his first game, (Johnson) did a heck of a job,” Samson said. “The biggest thing I liked from him was he controlled the game. He made some checks when he needed to, was very poised in the pocket and didn’t let the game be bigger than it was.”
Flathead will need another strong effort out of its quarterback to open the season 2-0, facing a Helena team that came into Kalispell and knocked off defending state champion Glacier, 23-17 last week.
The Bengals are led by senior quarterback Jackson Thennis, who needed only five completions to rack up 117 yards through the air against the Wolfpack. Helena running back Nick Van Horssen had 117 yards on the ground in Week 1 and presents the second straight stiff challenge to a Flathead defense that allowed only seven points a week ago and held CMR star running back Andrew Grinde to just 85 yards.
The Braves have had early season success before — they started last season 2-1 before finishing 3-7 — but the thoroughness of last week’s win over an opponent they hadn’t beaten in more than 10 years has Flathead’s campus buzzing.
“Everyone’s really pumped up around the school and cheering on our team which is awesome,” Johnson said. “Everyone’s just more excited for our program. It’s fun when you’re winning.”
And so far, winning’s all Johnson’s done.