Prep Football: Who is The GOAT?

Signal Callers — BZM asks for help finding the greatest local QB of all-time

Kelso quarterback Loren Lindstrom poses for a photo before presumably handing the ball off 40 times in yet another Hilander victory. We want to know who you think is the GOAT quarterback in the Blast Zone area, so be sure to join the conversation. — Photo courtesy of Kelso football

Editor’s Note: This is the first story in an unlimited special series dedicated to finding out once and for all who is the greatest quarterback of all time at each school in the Blast Zone Media coverage area. There will be things we write that you disagree with and guys you remember that we forget, so please write in to tell us who we should add and how exactly they came to be your GOAT.

Sam Barbee for Blast Zone Media

I’m not from Longview stock. Only half Cowlitz County. My mom grew up in Kalama and my dad spent the majority of his formative years in Seattle, only moving to Longview after graduating from college to work at one of our paper mills.

I make this concession to frame your understanding of my understanding. I grew up here, obviously, but was never privy to local sports mythologies. I remember seeing a black-helmetted R. A. Long player on the cover of the newspaper once, but no more than that. I didn’t know about the Polises or the Talleys or the Laulainens. I knew what I knew, which at that time was Rashaan Shehee and Napoleon Kaufman.

I had no live wire to tap. I had no one to ask questions. I knew about Sonny Sixkiller and Jim Owens, though. I knew that one year Washington would issue special purple helmets to outstanding defensive players, and one year it was just both the corners. I knew these things because I knew people who knew them and they told me.

But I didn’t know anyone to tell me anything about Cowlitz County sports. It was out of sight and out of mind, despite me living within spitting distance of our beloved former slough.

R.A. Long quarterback Tom Schroeder throws a pass during practice back in 1981. He followed in the footsteps of his brothers Don and Pat as signal caller for the Lumberjacks. — Photo courtesy of R.A. Long football

So one day at St. Rose as a sixth grader my friend, one Cole Blackstone, the son of all-state Lumberjack Bruce Blackstone, asked if I wanted to be a ballboy with him at the varsity game.

I just wanted to do something with a friend and said yes without hesitation. He told me to be at the stadium, which I had never even seen, at whatever time. So I show up. The late Dave Anderson meets us, takes us into the locker room and has us pick out jerseys. I would later play for Coach Anderson and wear this jersey. The seeds of my loyalties were taking hold.

But I knew nothing about anything. I didn’t know it was Steve Rooklidge’s first game back as head coach of his own Lumberjacks. I didn’t know who Steve Rooklidge was. I might as well have been from Mars. Or worse. Kelso.

So my ignorance gave me a magical moment. A realization. An apotheosis. 

That is to say — I watched Adam Perry play quarterback. 

He was a junior for the Jacks. He was wearing one of those weird Adams brand helmets with the depression around the back that were cool for like five minutes. When he ran laps after practice he’d undo his flak jacket and keep his steady pace,. His face was covered in eye black behind his facemask and he looked super intimidating, but was always quiet. I said, “Nice ball” to him once on the sideline and he just said, “Thanks.” He was probably thinking about the cold front coming in.

He went on to set all the passing records and made we want to play football for the Jacks. I wanted my name on that board in the locker room. As I grew older, I would compare every high school quarterback to him.

“He’s good,” I’d tell people, “but he’s no Adam Perry.” People in Hermiston and Coos Bay had no idea who I was talking about. But I did. Because Adam was a god to me.

Or as former sports editor at The Daily News, John Pisapia would say — “Dick’s kid.” Sometimes, no matter what you do, it’s simply impossible to make a bigger impression than your old man.

Tom Spellmeyer, a Lumberjack legend on the gridiron himself, told me a story about Perry from when he was a sophomore. Please try to imagine him saying some of these things.

It’s a rainy night in Camas and Perry is warming up and Tom hears a whistling. He doesn’t know what it is. He turns to where Perry is throwing, and it’s the ball. He’s making the ball whistle, through the wind and the rain.

“I’d never heard a ball whistle before,” Spellmeyer said.

This guy knows good quarterback play. He played with Mike Polis, who as far as I know quarterbacked RAL to its last state placing. I should know off the top, but I don’t. I’m certain does know, and I’m hopeful you’ll reach out to educate me.

This is where I’m only telling you stuff people have told me. And I’m planning on doing a whole bunch more of that.

These days you might see Mike hitting balls at Mint Valley. He starred in football, basketball and baseball. His kids were all fantastic athletes at Mark Morris, but he played at R. A. Long and was the classic hate him/love him guy. If he’s on your team, you love him. If he’s not, you hate – and I mean hate him. And I can see that. Decades later as a teacher back at his hold school he’d ask me what language I was writing in on that day in American History class because my penmanship was, well, not great.

The GOAT(s)

So who was better? If we are comparing physical tools and passing numbers, then Perry is your guy in this debate. But if you’re talking about competitive drive, leadership and winning, it’s probably Polis. 

Also, which one did you see play with your own eyes? And why do you think the greatest of all time is actually someone else entirely.

All of that gets to the heart of this project.

FRITSCH MUCKS ALONG: R.A. Long junior quarterback Chris Fritsch (15) skirted around left end in the muck Friday night at Longview Memorial Stadium as the Jacks fell to Mark Morris, 6-0. The victory for Mark Morris is its second in a row and cuts R.A. Long’s series lead to 13-4 with one tie. the Monarchs host Hoquiam at the stadium next Friday, while R.A. Long travels to Camas. — Photo by Tom Sakamoto / Photo courtesy of R.A. Long football

We aren’t interested in doing an objective statistical breakdown to find out who actually is best on paper. That’s a fool's errand. Best is subjective and beholden to eras and memories and biases and loyalties. 

To get cliched; Best is in the eye of the beholder.

So what this series is intended to do is document our collective prep athletics mythology, and we’re starting with quarterbacks. And since I’m writing the first one, I started with R.A. Long and Longview.

Fun fact time. Can you name the quarterback tasked with filling Perry’s shoes after he graduated in 2004? None other than current Mark Morris head coach, Mike Peck.

In our reporting for this project, we found a goldmine. We talked to Darren Talley, a last name that is familiar as it is storied, a sports dynasty that is near synonymous with Cowlitz County athletics. Talley himself coached at all three high schools over the course of a long decade, but also played at Mark Morris and watched closely as his father guided the most successful era in Monarchs history.

“During my time coaching Adam Perry sticks out at R.A. Long and Cort Carpenter sticks out at Kelso,” Talley said. “But that was a very short time span.”

Put a pin in the Kelso stuff, Coach. We’ll get there soon enough.

But on the cusp of the most consequential Civil War meeting in more than a decade, it would be a missed opportunity if I failed to point out that Mark Morris has produced some absolute dudes.

Tom Chamberlain, for instance, got a full-ride to Oregon State. Talley, who had recently moved back to Longview with his family after spending the first few years of his life east of the mountains but remembers with a child’s eyes that Chamberlain could throw it 70 yards. Seventy. Seven times 10. 

“It was a great time for a sixth grader to be watching his first year of football at Mark Morris,” Talley said.

Chamberlain switched to defensive end at OSU and also pitched on the baseball team. So maybe he could throw it that far.

Three of the Chamberlain brothers of Mark Morris pose for a photo during their collective prime. Tom Chamberlain went on to play football and baseball at Oregon State, while Marv and Vern Chamberlain both received athletic scholarships to Washington State University. — Photo courtesy of Mark Morris football

Talley also mentioned Greg Cowell, who followed Talley to Washington State in the fall of 1979.

At the time, Jack Thompson, the Throwin’ Samoan, was just wrapping up a storied career quarterbacking the wing-it-all-over-the-place Cougars at a time where that was a novelty. Knowing that Cowell was from Longview, Thompson asked Talley if WSU should offer Cowell, adding enthusiastically that he “had the best arm” of any prep quarterback they’d seen on film.

Talley, without hesitation, said yes. Of course.

This was, of course, back when Mark Morris was coached by Del Talley, who quickly turned Mark Morris into a football power. Suddenly, MM was turning out D-1 players on the regular after being a doormat for most of its short existence up to that point.

“It’s always been a basketball school, and it still is, but when my dad started coaching there it became a football school too,” Talley said.

Tell Us Your Stories

I’m going to be up front here. Now’s a good place to do it. I wrote 600-plus words about me and my views because they’re mine, and I know them well. 

But this is intended to be a living document to be added to and expanded on. We hope to spark conversations and memories. It’s hard to just stop someone and say, “Who’s the best quarterback you remember?” and hope to get someone to jog their memory efficiently on the spot. Our brains don’t really work that way. We need to be prodded, to be reminded, to be encouraged.

So that’s what this is. 

We ask you, the reader, and everyone you know: Who is the best quarterback in the area? Who made you feel something? Who did you watch with child-like awe and know deep in your soul that you were watching someone who wasn’t fully human? Who did you pretend to be on the playground? Tell us in the comments below, or send us the receipts at: blastzonenews@gmail.com

The Rest of the Dudes

The next place we need to delve into is Kelso. So, which Kelso option quarterback was best? Who ran the ball best from under center? Who was best and pitching it before getting tackled?

We kid. But just a little bit. After all, Kelso’s current head coach only recently told Blast Zone Media that they Hilanders’ passing game is simply “an extension of the running game.”

But winning counts for a lot in any good sports debate, and the Scots sure have done an awful lot of that.

Former Kelso quarterback and current Hilanders head basketball coach Joe Kinch slings a pass during practice during his playing days. He forgot to mention himself during research for this story. — Photo courtesy of Kelso football

Before we go, I want to tell one more quick story, one that you’ll hear more about.

It’s about a guy who just might be the best Longview athlete no one talks about. 

The man’s name is Leo Gillnet. He quarterbacked the 1947-48 Longview High School Lumberjacks to a mythical undefeated State title, one the school has yet to properly claim. If Kalama can claim a mythical title, so can we. Nobody would complain. 

Well, Kelso might.

But Gillnet belongs in the legends category with Slim Wintermute and Whitey Nelmark and Mike Polis and Adam Perry. I’m guilty of this ignorance, too. I didn’t know his name until only very recently, but we’re going to be talking more about him soon.

As with most of the good things in life, the trick is finding the right people to tell you the things you didn’t know you needed to know.

 “Those guys would all be about 94 years old now. So if you can find someone to talk about Leo Gillnet you’re going to hear almost legendary types of stories,” Talley promised.

And we promise to report back with what we learn about all the legendary signal callers from around the Blast Zone. Stay tuned for more guys you may remember, and don’t forget to tell us what you think.

Note for the Crowd: Blast Zone Media publisher/editor Jordan Nailon contributed to this story. Please send your opinions, anecdotes and stats on the greatest local quarterback of all-time and we’ll do our best to share it with everyone. Send email to: blastzonenews@gmail.com