THE FRONT ROW WITH BRUCE BOURQUIN: Friday, September 18, 2015
Last year, Timberlake quarterback Ryan Starr went through a bit of a growth spurt, growing two inches and 20 pounds from the beginning of his junior year to before this senior year.
That could make a record-setting quarterback even better and it's certainly made him a bit more versatile.
"One thing about him is he was a lightweight about two years ago," Albertson said. "He was short (5-foot-10, 145 pounds) before his junior year, but he grew to 6-foot, 165 pounds during his junior year. He put on 20 pounds."
CASE IN point - Albertson has had Starr run the option this season, something he did not do last season, due to Starr's lack of size. Not that it prevented Starr, who was then a junior, from becoming an all-Intermountain League selection for the Tigers (2-1).
"Last year he wasn't very big," Albertson said. "He's made some huge plays this year. He did a good job though last year, versus Fruitland. He had three long TD passes, we had a three-touchdown lead. He's a team captain and makes all the decisions."
Starr has lived in north Idaho his entire life, was born in Spokane and credits weightlifting to some of his growth.
"Growing a lot was pretty cool," Starr said. "I like to go hiking and biking in Farragut (State Park in Athol) for outdoor hobbies."
Last year, when Timberlake went 8-2 before losing 42-28 in the state playoffs to Fruitland, Starr passed for 20 touchdowns - a school record for passing TDs in a season - and had six interceptions.
Starr is second on Timberlake's single-season passing record list with 1,215 yards, behind Brian Cronnelly's 1,231 in 2010, and third in overall touchdowns with 22. Brian is the son of Timberlake athletic director Tim Cronnelly and he currently is playing tight end Dickinson State University in Dickinson, N.D. So far after last season, Starr is fourth on the Tigers' career all-time passing list, while Cronnelly is third with 2,073.
"I was surrounded by a lot of great players and friends who helped and encouraged me to do well," Starr said. "I'm a lot bigger and more experienced. I'm going to the UI (University of Idaho), but I'm not entirely sure what I want to study yet."
All this and he has a younger sister who is a sophomore, Shelby Starr, a starter on the girls soccer team, which was the state runner-up to Coeur d'Alene Charter last season.
STARR IS pretty quiet, preferring to lead by example.
"He's very quiet," Albertson said. "You have to work to get him to say something. But he's got confidence."
He has been a straight-A student much of his time as a student at Timberlake. He has watched some Seattle Mariners games in person and one time last year, watched an M's game at Anaheim, Calif., with his family, as Seattle played in August the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Starr also is a pitcher for Timberlake's baseball team.
Speaking of family, his father Rod Starr is in the mortgage business and his mother, Myra, is a scheduler for a company in Spokane Valley.
"My sister had a softball tournament in Huntington Beach," Ryan Starr said. "So we went to an Angels game against the Dodgers. It was pretty neat, but I like Safeco Field better."
So this quarterback is quite the star ... and Starr.
Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013, via e-mail at [email protected] or via Twitter @bourq25