With the return of an experienced upperclassman at quarterback, Beau Eriksson had few clues as to how much playing time to expect under center when fall camp opened in preparation for the 2009 high school football season.
Now, less than three months later, the strong-armed signal caller has helped guide Devils Lake High School to the brink of history. A win over Fargo Shanley on Saturday in the state Class AA championship game will give the school its first-ever state football title, more than a century after fielding its first gridiron team in 1902.
“It would be great to win (Saturday) and go down in history,” said Eriksson, who emerged as the full-time in the fourth game of the season after splitting time in the first three games of the year with senior Cole Boehmer.
“I knew it was going to be a battle for some playing time,” Eriksson said. “(Boehmer) is a very talented and competitive player and he had the experience that I was lacking coming into the season.”
“He’s come a long way,” said Devils Lake coach Jay Schneider, who has his team in the state championship for the second time in three seasons. “He’s worked his way up and has become a good emotional leader on and off the field. He’s kept us in a position to be successful.”
Eriksson has made believers out of more than just his coach in his first season with extensive action.
“He’s a good quarterback for me,” said wide receiver Tyler Mertens. “He throws a good ball and gets it where it needs to go ... he even makes me hustle a bit more to get to the balls that I should be getting to.”
Eriksson, who also stars in hockey and baseball for the Firebirds, attributes much of his blossoming as a quarterback to a summer camp he attended in Minnetonka, Minn. prior to August’s preseason drills.
He said the camp stressed mechanics and he has seen a difference in his throws this season.
The run put together that has landed the Firebirds on the doorstep of school history has not come as that much of a surprise to Eriksson.
“I believed, coming into the season, that we had a very good chance to be a good team,” said Eriksson, who Schneider said has also been the emotional leader on this year’s team.
“The emotions (Saturday) are going to be running high,” Eriksson added. “We just have to keep those emotions in control and continue to do the things we are capable of doing and what has gotten us to where we are.”
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With the return of an experienced upperclassman at quarterback, Beau Eriksson had few clues as to how much playing time to expect under center when fall camp opened in preparation for the 2009 high school football season.
Now, less than three months later, the strong-armed signal caller has helped guide Devils Lake High School to the brink of history. A win over Fargo Shanley on Saturday in the state Class AA championship game will give the school its first-ever state football title, more than a century after fielding its first gridiron team in 1902.
“It would be great to win (Saturday) and go down in history,” said Eriksson, who emerged as the full-time in the fourth game of the season after splitting time in the first three games of the year with senior Cole Boehmer.
“I knew it was going to be a battle for some playing time,” Eriksson said. “(Boehmer) is a very talented and competitive player and he had the experience that I was lacking coming into the season.”
“He’s come a long way,” said Devils Lake coach Jay Schneider, who has his team in the state championship for the second time in three seasons. “He’s worked his way up and has become a good emotional leader on and off the field. He’s kept us in a position to be successful.”
Eriksson has made believers out of more than just his coach in his first season with extensive action.
“He’s a good quarterback for me,” said wide receiver Tyler Mertens. “He throws a good ball and gets it where it needs to go ... he even makes me hustle a bit more to get to the balls that I should be getting to.”
Eriksson, who also stars in hockey and baseball for the Firebirds, attributes much of his blossoming as a quarterback to a summer camp he attended in Minnetonka, Minn. prior to August’s preseason drills.
He said the camp stressed mechanics and he has seen a difference in his throws this season.
The run put together that has landed the Firebirds on the doorstep of school history has not come as that much of a surprise to Eriksson.
“I believed, coming into the season, that we had a very good chance to be a good team,” said Eriksson, who Schneider said has also been the emotional leader on this year’s team.
“The emotions (Saturday) are going to be running high,” Eriksson added. “We just have to keep those emotions in control and continue to do the things we are capable of doing and what has gotten us to where we are.”
