Oak Harbor senior quarterback Luke Felkner made his varsity debute when he trotted on the field late in the Wildcats’ second game of the season. At that point his team had gone seven quarters without scoring. His coaches thought they’d give the second-string guy a shot.
The move appeared to be one of desperation. The Wildcats were blanked 19-0 by Cascade the week before, and now trailed Monroe 19-0 in the fourth quarter. Enter Felkner, a senior backup with no varsity experience.
It didn’t take Felkner long to put his “I’ve arrived” stamp on the season. He rifled a 60-yard touchdown pass to Mike Washington. Minutes later he hit Washington for a 43-yard score. Felkner topped off the night with another TD to Washington. Three touchdowns in six mintues. Oak Harbor had a new — and talented — starting quarterback.
Since then Felkner has become one of the state’s leading passers and is matching numbers with Marshall Lobbestael, a current quarterback at Washington State University and among the best ever at Oak Harbor High School.
Against Snohomish, Felkner threw five touchdown passes, one shy of Lobbestael’s single game record. Then against Stanwood, Felkner put up 370 yards, tying Lobbestael’s school mark.
Technically Felkner is 23rd in the state in passing with 182 yards per game going into last night’s game. However, he has really played only 3.25 games. He sat out the opener with Cascade, was injured (concussion) in the first quarter of the Everett game and missed the remainder of that game and all of the next with Mount Vernon. He also sat out the fourth quarter against Arlington with a hand injury.
If his statistics were based on 3.25 games, he would have the third best per game average, 280 yards, in the state regardless of classification. He also has 13 touchdowns and only four interceptions.
He has completed 67 of 101 passes; his .663 completion rate is third in the state among regular quarterbacks.
Felkner admitted, after sitting through the first game, that he didn’t know if he would ever get a chance. When that moment came against Monroe, he was relaxed. He said, “Everybody was thinking that’s just the second-string guy.” He realized he had nothing to lose, so he let the football fly— literally.
He plays with a Brett Favre gunslinger mentality. With that mentality comes spectacular “I can’t believe he did that” plays as well as “I can’t believe he did that” mistakes.
Felkner said, “I like to squeeze it in, and sometimes it doesn’t work out. I like to play on the dangerous side.”
He wants to finish the season with no more interceptions and 20 touchdowns.
Felkner’s success caught everyone by surprise. Offensive coordinator Mike Fisher said, “Honestly, I never thought he would play this well, and to do some of the stuff that he has done this year statistically has been really cool to watch.”
Head coach Jay Turner said, “We are all surprised and very impressed. We always knew he had a live arm but we didn’t know how he would react under the lights. One of my bigger screw ups is not putting him in during week one.”
Fisher added, “He just lives for the moment and is enjoying it all. Nothing bothers him within the game.”
Turner echoed Fisher’s comment: “He has no fear. He doesn’t get rattled even during heated and emotional games.”
Fisher said Felkner’s demeanor is an asset to the team: “Luke is a great kid, the type every team needs, even if he weren’t starting. He’s the guy who just plays the game because he loves it and wants to have fun.”
Fisher said Felkner would make a good coach someday. “He is really football smart and sees things on the field on how to attack a defense that are really advanced for a high school kid.”
Not bad for a second-string guy.
