One year ago, this was not supposed to happen.
Entering the 2011 football season, then-sophomore Josh George was a back up to quarterback Michael Bocksnick and safety Garrett Avina. He wasn’t supposed to be a key contributor. But things quickly changed.
After a season-opening loss to Palo Alto, George became the Balers’ starting safety. After a plethora of injuries shortened Bocksnick’s season, George finished as the team’s starting quarterback.
One year ago, this was not supposed to happen.
Entering the 2011 football season, then-sophomore Josh George was a back up to quarterback Michael Bocksnick and safety Garrett Avina. He wasn’t supposed to be a key contributor. But things quickly changed.
After a season-opening loss to Palo Alto, George became the Balers’ starting safety. After a plethora of injuries shortened Bocksnick’s season, George finished as the team’s starting quarterback. The year started with George playing a reserve role, but ended with George playing a key role in the Balers’ most successful season since 2005.
Now – after Bocksnick transferred to Sobrato – George is in an unfamiliar position entering his junior year, which officially starts Friday with the team’s first double-day practice. For the first time since he started playing football nine years ago, he enters the football season as the starting quarterback.
“This is a first,” he said.
That doesn’t mean he is not prepared.
Since his first days on the Pop Warner football field at age 8, George has always been a quarterback. He liked the responsibility. He had the ability to throw the ball. But – except for a few games – he never had a consistent chance to start.
“I knew how to throw,” George said. “The only reason why I started playing quarterback is that I knew how to throw. I love the responsibilities and the leadership. You have to have those.”
During the Hollister Vikings’ run to a Pop Warner National Championship during the 2005-06 season, George was a receiver instead of a quarterback, he said.
“I caught the winning touchdown in the national championship – that was a big deal,” he said. “That was a lot of fun in Pop Warner.”
He played quarterback so little during his Pop Warner days, before his freshman year at San Benito High, he decided not to play quarterback for the first time.
“I’ve been playing quarterback most of my life and I wanted to try something new so I played running back,” George said. “But after a while, I kind of missed it.”
With the help of assistant coach Todd Freitas, who also coached George throughout Pop Warner, George returned to the quarterback spot in time for a promotion from the freshman team to Chris Cameron’s varsity squad.
And in Cameron’s triple-option offense, George found comfort – something he didn’t expect two years ago.
“I didn’t want to play quarterback in high school because I didn’t know what a triple option was,” George said. “Once I found out what it was, I thought it fit my skills. I knew how to run and throw the ball. I have the ability to do that well.”
Last year as a sophomore, George took over the starting quarterback role in some of the Balers’ most important games. On the road at Salinas, George led San Benito to a 28-7 win. After a leg injury to Bocksnick knocked the starter out in the first quarter at Palma High, George led San Benito to its last Tri-County Athletic League championship in a 13-12 win.
Three of the sophomore’s 20 pass attempts went for a touchdown and he finished third on the team in rushing with 263 yards, as George was named the TCAL’s sophomore of the year.
“I learned so much,” George said. “I’m a quick learner and it’s fun running the triple option and reading the defense. You can’t be selfish to be successful. You have to trust your teammates and just have fun.”
Entering the new season, the team and George want to rid themselves of the bad taste left after last season ended at home to Archbishop Mitty in November.
“I remember a lot of things from last year that I could have done better – especially the Mitty game – which always haunts me,” George said. “No one wants to feel how we felt after that Mitty game, where we got shut down. It was kind of like a reality check. We were flying through games and then boom, that game hit us. I think personally it helped us a lot more to look forward to this year. We know how it feels like to get shut down and we don’t want to experience that again.”
George expects the team to fulfill its lofty expectations of another league championship – this time in the Monterey Bay League – and Central Coast Section berth. To do that, the team will have to replace a majority of its offensive line, including all-league center Zach Szyndrowski, and defensive Most Valuable Player Jon Huaracha. The team, though, returns leading running back Zach Hicks and receiver Robert Soto.
“We have to listen what the coaches say and buy into our program,” George said. “They say it every day at practice: ‘Buy in, buy in, buy in.’ If everyone buys in, we have a pretty good chance.”
George expects to win in his first full year at quarterback, he said.
“We just have to work hard, especially right now,” George said. “We have the first games and preseason games, which are going to be big, coming soon. I think as a team, we believe we can win out. We can beat any team that comes up to us and that’s good for us.”
To get ready for the Aug. 31 against Pioneer, the Balers start double days Friday.
Cameron did not return phone calls before press time.
