One league, three BCS quarterbacks

DANVILLE, Calif. - There's a 29.1-mile triangle that starts on the east side of Danville, zigs directly to the west part of the town and then zags to the southern edge of Concord.

This is where three of the nation's top high school senior quarterbacks reside, all physically gifted, all clear-eyed and whip smart and, remarkably, all BCS Division I bound.

Bart Houston, a polished 6-foot-4, 201-pound brainiac from De La Salle (Concord, Calif.), enetered the season undefeated as a starting quarterback while leading the Spartans to back-to-back CIF State Open Division titles – California's biggest prize. He wants one day to build bombs. Now he just throws them. He's headed to Wisconsin.

Zach Kline, a vivacious 6-2, 210-pounder from San Ramon Valley (Danville, Calif.), has a cannon for a right arm. He someday wants to become a sports agent and may someday represent himself. He committed to Cal early in his junior season.

Jeff Lockie, a composed 6-2, 180-pounder from Monte Vista (Danville, Calif.), has quick feet and speed to match his brains and accurate right arm. He too wants to be a sports agent and may too represent himself. Or Kline. Or Houston. He's sprinting to the University of Oregon.

To boast three of the position's elite in the Bay Area is unusual. In the East Bay, remarkable. In one county, mind-boggling. In the same league, preposterous.

Yet Lockie, Kline and Houston will be going head-to-head in East Bay Athletic League play during a four-week span starting Oct. 21.

League play starts tonight.

"How fun is that?," San Ramon Valley coach Mark Kessler said. "What a treat for local fans."

And a nightmare for local defensive coordinators.

He said, he said

All three boast specific skills and strengths. Being that each is a great students of the game, who better to critique than each other. Each did so before the regular season.

* Houston on Lockie: "He's very calm, very poised. He never looks flustered. Like (Brett) Nottingham (former Monte Vista quarterback now at Stanford) he's very polished. He's going to be a great football player. He's a great fit for Oregon."

* Lockie on Houston: "He totally controls the game. He just takes his team and wins. I mean, he's never lost a game as a starter. How admirable is that?"

* Kline on Lockie: "He can not only pass but he can run, a true dual threat. He completely keeps defenses on its toes, which is huge. Oregon is getting a good one."

* Lockie on Kline: "He's got an absolutely cannon. He can put the ball in places most other quarterbacks can't."

* Kline on Houston: "One way or another Bart gets it done. He's not the fastest kid but he finds a way and he's so big he'll bowl people over. He can really fling it too. He's going to do great things at Wisconsin."

* Houston on Kline: "He's got a cannon on his shoulder. In certain situations, he can bail his team out by getting the ball to tough spots. If he develops his touch he'll be really, really good."

The trio have built friendships at local and regional camps – Kline and Houston made the finals of the Elite 11 camp in Malibu July 18-22 – but each secretly carry extra incentive when their teams face off.

"Honestly, they're great kids to be around and if I had more free time I'd like to hang out with them more often," Houston said. "But heck yes, I want to beat them. That's really all that matters."

Said Kline: "I've known these guys for a long, long time and the rivalry is fun. But there are always bragging rights at stake. If you don't do well against the other guy you never hear the end of it."

New Kid on the Block

By comparison to the other two, Lockie is a pup to the game and position. A standout basketball and baseball star as a youth, he didn't play tackle football until he entered Monte Vista as a freshman.

He immediately was attracted to the quarterback spot. And, with all his poise, grace and athleticism, he was a natural.

"The quarterback spot looked like the most fun," he said. "As soon as I tried it, I was hooked. I loved it."

He picked a good school to learn the position. Head Monte Vista coach Craig Bergman was a college quarterback himself and has developed probably the best lot of signal-callers over the last decade in the Bay Area, if not Northern California.

They include the 2002 Gatorade National Player of the Year Kyle Wright, Drew McAllister (now at USC as a safety) and Nottingham.

"There's a reason why all those quarterbacks have been so successful and that's coach Bergman," he said.

Lockie led his freshman team to 9-1 season and the 3.83 student developed so fast, he moved right to varsity his sophomore season and was tutored by the polished Nottingham, who completed 502 of 726 (69.1 percent) for 7,467 yards and 91 touchdowns in his career.

"To learn from Brett definitely helped," Lockie said. "I still talk to him regularly."

Last season as a full-time starter, Lockie threw for 2,449 yards and 26 touchdowns, impressive numbers to be sure. But it is 4.67 speed in the 40-yard-dash that caught the attention of Oregon coach Chip Kelly.

Lockie, whose older brother Matt attends Oregon, said he hasn't been scared away by much-publicized possible sanctions against the Ducks for alleged recruiting violations. Lockie verbally committed to Kelly on July 14.

"Seems like every big school has some problems or skepticism or allegations," Lockie said. "I talked to coach Kelly about it and am very, very excited with my choice. I love their style of play and their winning ways. I love the fact I'll be given the chance to throw the ball and get to make plays with my feet."

As far as the 2011 Mustangs: "I'm very excited. We have a lot of skill guys coming back. We have five new linemen, but they are some really big guys. We'll see how they do. I'm very confident they'll progress fast."

Hopefully, for the Mustangs, as fast as Lockie.

It's been something of a struggle for Monte Vista, which has started 1-2. Locke has been effective, completing 61 of 103 for 802 yards, eight touchdowns and just one interceptions. He's also rushed for 48 yards (including sacks) and a touchdown.

The Bomber

Houston was born to be a quarterback, just not a typical De La Salle quarterback.

He's never fit the mold of the program's small, athletic and quick-footed signal-callers who normally run its vaunted veer attack.

But because of his toughness, accurate and strong arm, and football lineage – his dad Guy was a college quarterback at St. Mary's and his grandfather Fred actually coached De La Salle coach Bob Ladouceur at San Ramon Valley – Bart Houston is the program's most highly-recruited player at the position since Matt Gutierrez, who was recently cut by the Chicago Bears.

"Bart has been around the game," Ladouceur said. "He knows the grind and how tough the game is. He doesn't get down when we're hard on him. He just behaves like a football player."

Ladouceur isn't ready to put Houston in Gutierrez' category just yet, but the two do share a similar deep-ball threat and are two of the program's only pocket passers.

"They're both quiet and both different type of leaders," Ladouceur said. "Bart has the potential to go where Matt went and have a successful career like Matt."

In his first two seasons, Houston completed 65 percent of his passes (173 of 266) for 3,179 yards and 30 touchdowns and just six interceptions. It's been a big struggle in the early going for the 2-1 Spartans as he's completed just 15 of 39 for 244 yards. He has rushed for three scores, including the game-winner of overtime in a 26-23 win over Bellarmine.

His most impressive stat, however, is 27 wins and one loss as a starter. He was elevated to starter early his sophomore season after the Spartans started 1-2.

"I wasn't ready to play at the start of that season so I was grateful I started when I did," Houston said.

He's looking forward to his career at Wisconsin, which boasts one of the top 10 chemical engineering departments in the country. His passion besides throwing the deep ball is to build bombs, thus the Big 10 school was a perfect fit.

"It feels great to get that decision out of the way," Houston said. "Now I can concentrate on our season 110 percent. As soon as our season is over, I'll be a Badger."

Something to prove

It was truly a roller coaster ride for Kline last season, his first as a varsity quarterback.

He was offered a full ride by Cal coach Jeff Tedford his first varsity start, then played well in spots while posting modest numbers – 164 of 278 for 1,978 yards and 10 touchdowns (eight interceptions).

Kessler said Kline was nails down the stretch, leading to playoff wins over Deer Valley and Monte Vista.

"I think it took some time to adapt to the speed of the game at the varsity level," Kessler said. "He relied too often on his big arm and forced some passes. … I think he wanted to prove to Cal and others that he earned that scholarship at times. It might have hurt his production.

"Down the stretch, he put together three really great games in a row. I think that will set the tone for this season."

Kline said the season was a great learning experience.

"I learned not to think too much," he said. "I just need to do my best and have fun. I got used to the speed of the game and to roll with the punches and not to stress too much."

Like Monte Vista, San Ramon Valley has a strong lineage of quarterbacks, including current Boise State backup Joe Southwick, Courbin Louks (Nevada) and Sam Keller (Arizona State, Nebraska).

"Danville has produced some great, great quarterbacks," Kline said. "There's definitely a lot of pressure if you play the position. If you think you're a highly touted guy around Danville there's always someone around who might be better than you. It's good to be aware of (the history) but almost better not to think abou it.

"Then again, it's been good for recruiting."

Having an arm like his helps even more. Though certainly born with much of his talent, Kline said endless repetition and strength work has helped with his strong arm.

"There's lots of mechanics in it," he said. "It's about momentum and strong legs and hips and putting less stress on your arm. And it's about making thousands and thousands of throws."

He's started out strong for the 2-1 Wolves, having completed 55 of 82 for 795 yards and seven touchdowns.

COMPARING THE QBS
Name (high school) size, college

* Zach Kline (San Ramon Valley), 6-2, 210, Cal
* Bart Houston (De La Salle), 6-4, 201, Wisconsin
* Jeff Lockie (Monte Vista), 6-2, 180, Oregon
 
FAVORITE ATHLETE
Houston (Peyton Manning/Tom Brady/Aaron Rogers), Kline (Rogers), Lockie (Owen Nolan)
 
{VIDEO_8c39b30a-2a26-4589-8fa2-ec95a3faa4f2,floatRightWithBar}FAVORITE TEAM
Houston (Packers), Kline (Packers), Lockie (Bills)
 
FAVORITE SPORTS MOVIE
Houston (“Remember the Titans”), Kline (“Glory Road”), Lockie (“Coach Carter”)
 
FAVORITE ACTOR
Houston (Robert DeNiro), Kline (Zach Gilliasinas), Lockie (Will Ferrell)
 
DREAM CAR
Houston (Toyota Highlander – “The one I’m driving), Kline (’68 Chevelle), Lockie (“murdered out” Audi)

DREAM DINNER DATE (four guests dead or alive)
Houston (Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Abe Lincoln, DLS QB coach Mark Panella), Kline (Mom, Zach Gilliasinas, Peyton Manning, Jesus), Lockie (George Washington, Jennifer Aniston, Will Ferrell, Ben Franklin).
 
MARK DOWN THESE DATES
Oct. 21 - De La Salle (Houston) at Monte Vista (Lockie)
Oct. 28 - San Ramon Valley (Kline) at De La Salle (Houston)
Nov. 10 - Monte Vista (Lockie) at San Ramon Valley (Kline)
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