Jacob King (7)
By George Edgar
Special To The Sports Paper
PORT TOWNSEND ‑ Up on the Olympic Peninsula, tucked on the upper right corner of Jefferson County against the Quimper Sound, you can find one of the West Sound’s most explosive all-around athletes.
Jacob King is a three-sport athlete for Port Townsend High School. He’s a guard for the basketball team, and an outfielder and pitcher for the baseball team. But it’s on the football field as a quarterback at the venerable Jefferson County Memorial Stadium where he currently excels.
Just ask any defender who has tried to tackle him. One second you have him, the next second you don’t, and King is running downfield towards the end zone.
As PT’s quarterback, the 6-foot, 175 pound King is more Russell Wilson than Andrew Luck. King is the West Sound’s leading rusher at 834 yards and 10 touchdowns, and has passed for one more, and returned an interception for another.
Even though he is a quarterback, his favorite player is actually defensive back Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears.
“I think of myself as a running back who hikes the ball,” King said. “He (Hester) has got wicked speed.”
“He’s definitely the kind of player who comes around once in a while,” Port Townsend coach Nick Snyder said. “As our quarterback, he runs our option, but he can play running back or wide receiver. As an option team, you want to put your best athlete at the quarterback position. He fits the mold for the offense we’re running.”
For the option offense, that’s run first, run second, and run third. But there are those occasions where Port Townsend has to throw the ball, and King has shown that he can.
“He’s a very accurate passer,” Snyder said. “We don’t throw that much, but when he does, he’s on the money.”
King said of his passing, “I can throw it when I need to, but I like to tuck it and run.”
The only down game King had as a passer was against Eatonville, where he was 2 of 14 for 13 yards in the rain.
“But I remember counting five dropped balls,” Snyder said.
And passing against King could be at your own risk when he is playing at the safety position on defense. Against Vashon this past Friday, he intercepted a Pirates pass in the end zone, and took off running. By the time he stopped, King had a 102-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Port Townsend eventually won 48-14, as King, in addition to his pick six, rushed for 154 yards and passed for another 60.
“We were playing man up,” recalled King, who is also one of the Redskins’ leading tacklers on defense. “The receiver went one way, the ball went the other. It was a footrace from then on out.”
Port Townsend is currently 4-1 overall, 1-1 in Nisqually League play. This season has been part of a turnaround that saw Port Townsend end a 20-game losing streak during the 2012 season when they went 4-6. King was a sophomore during PT’s 0-9 season in 2011.
Jacob King
“It was rough during my freshman and sophomore seasons,” King recalled. “You got to take those lumps get through it all. If anything, it brought the senior class closer together.”
Before Port Townsend’s first practice of the 2012 season, Snyder, returning as PT’s coach after a few years in Chelan, came out to the field to get the team lined up for warm ups. But King had seen the coaching staff approaching, and got the whole team lined up before Snyder said a word.
“He’s a tremendous leader, always has been,” said Snyder. “It’s hard to find a good team leader who is that vocal and back it up. He’s a big leader by example.”
It’s a big week for Port Townsend, as they will play Cascade Christian, ranked No. 2 among Class 1A teams, on Friday at Jefferson Memorial. It’s also their homecoming game, so a win would be big for the whole school and community. Last year, the Cougars throttled PT 55-19 at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner and knocked the Redskins out of post-season contention.
“It could be a championship game for us,” said Snyder.
It’s also their third and final home game of the season, so if you want to see Port Townsend play, Friday night would be perfect for a trip across the Hood Canal Bridge, and a bite at the Highway 20 Roadhouse just as you enter town or at Nifty Fifty’s a couple of blocks from the stadium.
“Last year we had a bunch of home games,” King said. “It looks like we’re alternating. I’d like to see it more evened out.”
This season, the top three teams from each Nisqually League division will advance to the post season. The division leaders will play each other for seeding, while the second and third teams cross over and play loser out games. The winners will advance to the Class 1A qualifying playoffs against teams from the Northwest Conference.
“We haven’t put our best offense and defense teams out at the same time,” Snyder said. “Once we do that we can compete.”
A winning season would be great for King and his PT teammates like Tim Russell, Matt Cain, Skylar Coppenrath, and Alex Reiersen, in the senior class and culminate a journey that began in the Port Townsend youth program, through middle school, and the trials and tribulations of that 20 game losing streak.
“What it boils down to, I want to remember having a great time on the field,” King said. “The senior class has been through thick and thin. It’s good to be able see it all out on the field. It’s good to be the hammer not the nail.”
