When the Houston Texans play the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs on Saturday, it will be a matchup featuring quarterbacks from California and Florida.
C.J. Stroud of the Texans was a multi-sport star at
Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) while the play of Lamar Jackson on the gridiron went viral at
Boynton Beach (Fla.).
Stroud's favorite sport to play growing up was basketball and he used his football toughness to play all five positions during his first two years of high school. He could bury 3-pointers and helped the Cougars make deep postseason runs. The 6-foot-3 guard wrangled with the trees in the post, blocking shots and grabbing tough rebounds with ease.
After waiting for his turn on the football field, he was the starting quarterback his junior and senior year. As a junior he threw 19 touchdowns against six interceptions as the Cougars fell in the second round of the CIF Division I Southern Section playoffs to Centennial (Corona, Calif.) in 2018.
The next season Stroud shredded the competition. On the season he had 47 touchdown passes and four rushing scores. The
247Sports five-star quarterback's season and career ended in the Division II Southern Section semifinals against Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) in 2019.
Five years earlier, Jackson was putting the finishing touches on his football career at Boynton Beach.
During Jackson's junior and senior seasons the dual-threat signal caller accounted for 80 touchdowns. Forty-five came through the air and he used his legs to score 35 more.
In the final win of his career in 2014 he threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground he was even more explosive as he raced into the end zone five times and racked up 169 yards in the 63-58 shootout victory.
A dual-sport athlete, Jackson also competed in the 100 meter, 4x100 meter relay and long jump in track and field.
Jackson was a four-star recruit by
247Sports who had one of the most viral mixtapes of all time. One of the highlights was Jackson juking out a player at the goalline, coming to a full stop and scoring a touchdown.
In college both quarterbacks were multiple time Heisman Trophy finalists, with Jackson taking home the award in 2016. Jackson earned the NFL MVP in 2019 and would reach the AFC Championship game for the first time in his six-year career with a victory this week.
Stroud has taken a team coming off a 3-13-1 record to a postseason victory against the Cleveland Browns as a rookie. Drafted No. 2 overall, Stroud has become the first rookie quarterback drafted in the top five to win a postseason game in his first year since Mark Sanchez of
Mission Viejo (Calif.) led the New York Jets to the AFC Championship game in 2009.
C.J. Stroud was a multi-sport star at Rancho Cucamonga. He took both the football and basketball team on deep playoff runs. (Photo: Louis Lopez)
