Slim Odds

What’s tougher for an elite quarterback: reading a defense or battling the bugs that gnaw on their victims at Greenbrook Adventure Park?

On Oct. 15, the bugs were a more pressing threat for Braden River High quarterback Shawqi Itraish and The Out-of-Door Academy quarterback Tyler Beasley. The quarterbacks, both seniors, were at the park for a photo shoot, and the midges were buzzing like it was the 2007 MLB playoffs. The quarterbacks swiped at the flies between clicks of the camera. It did not help much.

You would never know there was an issue just from looking at the pictures. Itraish and Beasley handled the infestation like professionals. That’s a promising sign because the top two quarterbacks in the region are likely going to have to deal with more uncomfortable photo shoots in the future. Itraish, who is 6-foot-3, is committed to Rice, selecting the Owls over schools such as Appalachian State and Connecticut, as well as most every Ivy League school. Beasley, who is 6-foot-1, is uncommitted but received an offer from Tennessee in March.

To have one quarterback with NCAA Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision) talent in an area is rare; there are 130 FBS teams, so if they each have approximately three scholarship quarterbacks on their roster, that’s 390 quarterbacks of that level nationwide at one time. That’s not many, and it feels even less when you remember that there are approximately 16,000 high school football programs in the U.S. That means only 2.4% of starting-caliber high school quarterbacks make the FBS.

Having two quarterbacks with that talent in the same graduating class, at schools less than 8 miles apart? That’s special.

Special, too, are these quarterbacks. Itraish, a traditional pocket passer, is in his second full season as the Braden River starter. As of Oct. 15, he’s passed for 3,192 yards in his career, completing 60.5% of his passes and throwing 26 touchdowns to just five interceptions. Beasley, a dual-threat quarterback, is in his third season at ODA’s helm. He has improved each season. Beasley accumulated 18 touchdowns (10 throwing, eight running) in 2019, and through two games in 2020, he’s thrown for 708 yards and seven touchdowns to just two interceptions.

Unteachable Talent

Despite growing up close to each other and playing the same sport, Beasley and Itraish had never met before the photo shoot. Braden River and ODA are in different football leagues (the Florida High School Athletics Association and the Sunshine State Athletic Conference), and they had never run into each other at a camp or in a seven-on-seven league, where they spend so much of their offseason. Being an elite quarterback does not leave much time for friend-making, especially outside of their own schools.

To them, the sacrifices are worth it.

“It shows that if you keep working, keep your head down, your time will come,” Itraish says.

You can read the stats and watch the tape, but what makes the duo unique are the things that cannot be taught. You cannot, for instance, be taught how to be teachable. You cannot be taught how to build chemistry with a wide receiving corps, ensuring you know with pinpoint accuracy where each member of that corps will be when you take the snap and count to three in your head as 250-pound linebackers try to bulldoze you into the turf. You cannot be taught to lead an 11-person unit into a three-hour-plus battle and keep morale high when things inevitably go wrong.

“My mindset is to always be prepared,” Itraish says. “I just do my best on the field when the time comes. Everything will fall into place.”

A humble answer, but one that belies the work these kids put into their craft. Like most elite quarterbacks, Itraish and Beasley have been working at this since they could throw a football. They practice their throws, yes, but they’re also in the weight room getting stronger and in the film room studying defenses — or studying other area quarterbacks. Both Beasley and Itraish admitted they take a peek at what others in the area are doing, especially if they share an upcoming opponent. But that can be a dangerous game.

“You don’t want to get too caught up in that stuff, the comparisons,” Beasley says. “You don’t want to get a big head. But you do want to see what everyone is doing.”

That goes for media, too. At a time when most professional athletes deny reading the things written or said about them (even though they do), Itraish and Beasley embrace it. To them, they say, it is a chance to hear another opinion, to get more feedback, even if they are not going to like it. It is another tool, another way to improve, however subtly.

It’s the advice Itraish and Beasley say they would give young quarterbacks hoping to reach their level someday: Never stop improving. Never feel satisfied. Yes, there are things great quarterbacks have that can’t be taught, but you don’t know if you possess those traits until you try.

So try. The odds are, admittedly, against them, but it’s not impossible. This year’s duo knew the odds, too, and waived them away like Han Solo.

Work hard, and you too can duel with midges at a photo shoot.