Pressure doesn't affect Brown

Brown, Glasmann leading the Broncos, Pumas in the huddle and on the field

JEFF SANDERS - | Posted: Thursday, December 10, 2009 1:10 am

MURRIETA ---- Fourth-and-7 and less than three minutes left. Vista Murrieta’s season was hanging in the balance.

Casey Marquez looked across the huddle and into Derrick Brown’s eyes and saw the same kind of resolve Chaparral offensive lineman Randy Patterson has seen in Mitch Glasmann during a playoff run that landed the Pumas in the CIF Southern Section Inland Division championship game on Friday at Vista Murrieta.

Defenses and special teams have played pivotal roles in both teams’ runs. Vista Murrieta and Chaparral, though, each have a leader in a pressure-packed role that they’ve leaned on in their quests to bring home their program’s first section title.

“It’s the position,” said Vista Murrieta coach Coley Candaele, a former state player of the year as an option-quarterback at Carpinteria in 1989. “Any time you play quarterback at a high level, there’s going to be pressure at a high level.

“Learning to deal with that pressure and embrace it and use it to your advantage is part of the position.”

Both Brown and Glasmann have peaked in that regard over the last few weeks, with Brown’s litmus test coming Friday night in a game his Broncos (13-0) trailed, 27-7, early in the second quarter. His initial touchdown pass ---- a 9-yard bullet to Marquez ---- cut that deficit in half and his second capped a comeback that cemented Brown’s stature as the kind of steady signal-caller needed on a championship-caliber team.

Marquez, after all, didn’t see any fear in Brown’s eyes in the huddle before his 6-foot-4, 234-pound quarterback rolled out of the pocket, read a blanket coverage on Hollis Jones’s 7-yard out and spotted Marquez open in the end zone before releasing a 32-yard heave for the go-ahead score in a 34-33 win against Norco last week.

“He was confident,” said Marquez, who came down with the pass with a defender draped all over him for the win. “His confidence gave me confidence and the team confidence. That’s what we needed.”

All Brown needed was a chance to learn the position. Taking over a spot anchored the previous years by Kavon Seaton, Brown showed up at Vista Murrieta after a freshman year at Paloma Valley. He impressed coaches the second he stepped onto the field.

Brown’s fullback-like frame is a load to bring down when the junior quarterback tucks and runs (862 yards, 15 touchdowns). His real gift is an arm that’s powerful enough to make all the throws on the football field, and Brown flashed it on a single throw during his first summer workout for the Broncos.

“He dropped back and ... he made a throw on a deep dig route that just had vapor trails coming off it,” said Broncos quarterback coach Rick Hansen, whose son, Tyler Hansen, played for Chaparral now starts at Colorado. “It was a big-time throw. ... Coach Candaele and I made eye contact and just went, ‘Whoa.’

“Right from Day 1, he was a giant, physical, massive mound of clay that had all this talent that just needed to be tweaked here and there.”

Glasmann, too, showed up too as a transfer from Elsinore with the kind of tools needed to keep Chaparral ahead of the game in the Inland Division as a junior a year ago. Leaning on a massive offensive line and a running back that amassed more than 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns, the 6-foot-4 quarterback minimized mistakes in leading the Pumas both to their first Southwestern League title under coach Tom Leach and their second Inland Division title game appearance.

This year, Glasmann’s taken on more responsibility in the offense and the Pumas have soared on a right arm that’s produced more than 2,700 yards and 27 touchdowns spread between the likes of receivers Antoine Arnold, Deshawn Hathorn and Darius Guillory and running back Jonathan Diaz.

Fades, bubble screens, slants, streaks and posts ----- Glasmann’s used them all in rebuilding Chaparral’s passing game into an unpredictable asset.

“Last year, he could hold onto the ball a little bit too long,” said Pumas offensive coordinator Jonathan Mitchell, also a former pupil of Rick Hansen’s. “We wanted him to be a little more aggressive this year and he’s taking some shots and doing well. He is understanding the game.

“He wants to keep playing and he works as hard as he can.”

Glasmann’s role in the huddle, too, has taken on a bit of a new identity in his second championship run with the Pumas. Ten of Glasmann’s scores have come in a three-game playoff stretch that has solidified the senior’s status as a leader in that huddle.

“Last year, I’d walk into the huddle and look at five massive senior linemen, and that was reassuring to me,” Glasmann said. “This year, I’ve looked at it as I needed to be the senior that everyone looked up to.”

Added Patterson: “He’s a hard worker at practice and keeps everyone in line. He’s a good leader with a great arm. ... He pumps us up and he’s been doing big things lately.”

Both quarterbacks have, in fact, during breakthrough second seasons with their programs.

Glasmann produced five touchdowns last week, including his 15th rushing touchdown of the season on a sneak in overtime, in helping the Pumas end a four-game skid against Centennial, while Brown has amassed 11 touchdowns during a three-game playoff stretch that comes on the heels of a sophomore season interrupted by a broken hand.

The injury didn’t stunt his learning curve, Brown said. His steady hand Friday night proved as much.

“I felt (the pressure), but I told myself I had to stay calm,” Brown said. “When I’m calm, I can calm down our line and calm down our offense. I think when we’re all calm, we make more plays.”

LEADERS OF MEN

QB Derrick Brown | Vista Murrieta

Through the Air

105-of-200/1,626/16 TDs/7 interceptions

On the Ground

818 yards, 15 TDs

QB Mitch Glasmann | Chaparral

Through the Air

161-271/2784/27 TDs/8 interceptions

On the Ground

182 yards, 15 TDs