All eyes on QB Stevens as Vista Murrieta opens season

MURRIETA – Nick Stevens understands he'll have a number of eyes fixated on the No. 7 jersey he'll wear onto the field Friday night in Vista Murrieta's season opener.

It's simple, really. The Broncos are coming off back-to-back Inland Division championship game appearances. They return a number of defensive stars, and Stevens is replacing a three-year starter at quarterback who's now at the University of Washington.

Clearly, Stevens isn't Derrick Brown. But how Vista Murrieta's new junior starting quarterback performs will, nevertheless, be a theme worth watching as the Broncos open the season against Etiwanda at Ontario Colony High.

"I know what's ahead of me," Stevens said. "I know everyone is going to be watching me. I'm motivated to show everyone that I can handle it and do well under pressure."

The Broncos, of course, have plenty of players capable of deflecting that pressure, the majority of them on a defense that features several NCAA Division I prospects.

Senior defensive lineman Jeremy Castro has delivered an oral commitment to Washington after last year's 11-sack season, senior defensive back Darion Williams is drawing interest from schools across the country, and junior linebacker Su'a Cravens has already emerged as a buzz-worthy prospect for the class of 2013.

On offense, seniors Corey Whitaker and Sapule Ta'amilo anchor a line returning four starters from a year ago, senior Aaron Piecukonis is a returning veteran in the backfield and Williams and Cravens will provide plenty of big-play potential at various spots in the offense.

Still, all eyes will be Stevens. Even his teammates'.

"It's a new quarterback, and everyone else has a returning quarterback around here," Williams said. "It's something to look forward to – to see how he reacts in a game and wonder what he can do. I think he's going to step up and do what everyone hopes he's going to do."

Those hopes, of course, should come with a bit of a disclaimer. After all, the 16-year-old Stevens – who is replacing a quarterback who accounted for 39 touchdowns as last year's All-Valley Offensive Player of the Year – won't be asked to carry the offense the way Brown did while leading the Broncos to back-to-back championship game appearances.

At least not yet.

"You change your offensive philosophy based on your strengths," Broncos coach Coley Candaele said. "Derrick's strengths were running the ball, throwing short passes and the occasional deep ball. Kavon (Seaton's) strengths before him were running the ball and the deep post.

"We're going to find out what Nick's strengths are."

So far, what's between his ears has Stevens ahead of the game as he preps for his first varsity action. The owner of a 4.31 grade-point average, Stevens loads up on Advanced Placement classes during the day, hits the film room hard before practices and has demonstrated a grasp of the position beyond someone limited to four passes and nine rushes during a pair of mop-up duty appearances last season.

"He's a real analytical kid," said Broncos quarterback coach Rick Hansen, who has groomed, among others, Brown and his son, Tyler Hansen, now the starting quarterback at Colorado. "When something happens wrong in a play, he can spit it back when you ask what happened – 'What did you read, what did you see?' He'll intelligently tell you what he saw and why he did something.

"He's already at that level academically as a football player. The physical part of the game is going to come."

Of course, it might not ever come the way it did with Brown, who has checked in at Washington at 6-foot-3 and 236 pounds after bulldozing his way through the Southwestern League the last three years as a bruiser of a quarterback. No, the 6-foot-4, 180-pound Stevens will have a bit more finesse to his passes, fewer running plays designed inside the tackles and more set-ups in the pocket.

In other words, it will all go down Stevens' way. Where he – and perhaps the Broncos – goes from here will be up to him.

"Derrick was a huge part of our offense. Those are big shoes to fill, and I hope I can get it done," Stevens said. "... I'm just motivated to fill those shoes and lead this team to some wins."