By Aaron Coe
Herald Writer
ARLINGTON — The thing that stands out most about Kevin "Spike" McCormack is how hard he can throw a football.
It’s nearly impossible for receivers to get out of range of a quarterback who can throw it 65 yards.
McCormack, however, was more than just a hard-throwing quarterback this season and during his three years as a starter at Arlington High School.
He was accurate.
He was fearless.
He was a winner.
Those are the reasons McCormack has been named The Herald’s All-Area Offensive Player of the Year for the 2001 season.
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2001 Defensive Player of the Year |
"He can throw a hard ball," Arlington coach John Boitano said. "He could about put a hole in you if he wanted to. But, he can put a real nice touch on the ball. I’ve had quarterbacks in the past that had good arms, but they couldn’t put a touch on it."
McCormack led his team to the playoffs for the third straight season and compiled 1,733 yards through the air and 15 touchdown passes. He completed 109 of 184 passes (59 percent) during Arlington’s 8-3 season. The Eagles were 19-3 in conference games and 23-8 overall during McCormack’s three years. He owns the school record for career passing yards. McCormack had a solid sophomore season (1,300 yards) and got a little better every year. He passed for 1,500 as a junior.
Arlington moved up to Class 4A this year and many, even McCormack, thought the Eagles would struggle against the larger schools.
"Last year when they told us we were moving up to 4A, everybody was like, ‘Oh man, we’re going to get stomped,’" said McCormack, who is being recruited by Western Washington, Portland State and Minot State (North Dakota), among others. "I even thought we weren’t going to be that good, but we proved everyone wrong."
Early in the season, the Arlington nay-sayers appeared they might be right.
McCormack, who lived in Hong Kong until he was 5 years old, spent the summer in Hong Kong with his uncle. He was unable to work with his receivers over the summer as quarterbacks often do. In fact, he wasn’t within a continent of even touching a football.
"They’ve never even heard of football over there," McCormack said.
Just as he was getting used to the feel of the laces again, he learned that two of his favorite targets would miss several games because of academic suspension.
McCormack was out of sync himself, and his usual receivers were unavailable. The Eagles won their first two games, then suffered consecutive losses to Snohomish and Lake Stevens that easily could have eliminated them from playoff contention.
McCormack never stopped believing. After the 2-2 start, the team took a trip to Park Rose, Ore., for a non-league game and played well in a 28-13 victory. The pressure was left behind for the weekend getaway, and the long bus ride made the team a much closer group.
The receivers McCormack had been missing returned after that, and the Eagles conquered a string of four Western Conference teams to qualify for a district playoff berth.
That proved to be McCormack’s finest game of an impressive season. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound senior passed for 240 yards and two touchdowns in the winner-to-state, loser-out game. He also played outside linebacker and helped hold an explosive Mariner team to seven points. Though the Eagles were handled by eventual state-champion Kentwood in the first round of the state playoffs, McCormack was a solid 15-for-23 for 149 yards.
This was the first season McCormack got a chance to play defense. Boitano prefers to limit his quarterbacks to offense so they can spend more time digesting Boitano’s complicated passing attack.
McCormack started the season as a safety, then moved to linebacker in the middle of the year. The chance to be the hitter instead of the guy getting hit made his senior season even more special.
"I love the contact," said McCormack, whose nickname "Spike" was given to him during Pee-Wee football because of a spiky hairdo. "I love to hit people."
Being on the field rather than the sideline while the Eagles were on defense also helped his offense. McCormack said he didn’t have time to fret a bad play or get too high after a good one.
Though his talent speaks volumes, McCormack isn’t one to say a whole lot. He’s as quiet as a wall calendar, and puts up numbers just as consistently as one. He didn’t talk much, but when he did, his teammates listened.
"He can lead a team," said Joseph Boitano, the team’s leading rusher and son of the coach. "He’s pretty low-key. He just likes to go get the job done."
"He was so quiet, I couldn’t even get him to be a captain and pick teams during P.E. class," coach John Boitano said.
The coach and quarterback had drastically different personalities — McCormack shy, Boitano not so much — but the two were generally on the same page during football games. Boitano said McCormack’s "deep understanding of the game" led to much of Arlington’s success over the last three years.
"He’s been a solid guy for us," Boitano said. "He really came on later in the year when we needed him."
For three years, the Arlington football team needed its quarterback to deliver. This year, even more than before, McCormack proved himself a winner.
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