Zach Bartlow Prepares to Start

High school sports season may have ended, but not the pastime of sports itself, let alone our interest in it. The Walla Walla Sweets just started up and the Waitsburg Elite still has a game or so left. Lots of our kids will be playing summer ball.

And it's never too early to start thinking about fall. Football players won't even have to wait that long to start camp or practice, which usu- ally gets going in August.

That prospect led me to place a call to our own Cardinals state champion quarterback Zach Bartlow, who appears poised to take up a coveted position in the pocket with his new college team, the Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon University in LaGrande.

Many of us have been curious how Zach, arguably the best quarterback the Cardinals have ever had, has been doing in his temporary home barely two hours south of here.

"It's definitely going well," he said in a phone interview this weekend.

Zach got a football scholarship to EOU and is just finishing up his first year there. He has not received official word yet, so don't let this get back to the EOU athletics department, but in- dications are that Zach will be the starting QB for the Mountaineers this fall.

Some of you might sit up and say "well, of course, he is!" But when it comes to college football, nothing is automatic. Even in the smaller NAIA Division I, teams usually have several players vying for the position and in the case of the Mountaineers, there are seven guys competing for the top job.

Zach was red-shirted this past school year. That means he participated in the team's practices but never played a game so the year doesn't count towards his college sports career and he can start the 2013 season as a freshman.

The advantages are clear. He comes into the start of what we hope will be a successful four-year quar- terbacking career in his first official year as a college athlete. It also means his coaches see a lot of promise in him as someone who can take the team to a new level.

The Mountaineers do not have a stellar record in their Frontier league, going 4-6 last year. With a player like Zach, who displays an exemplary work ethic and team-building leadership skills, the coast is clear for a repeat of his career with the WP Cardinals. They were struggling when he joined the team and came out as state champs in his senior year. Of course, that wasn't all because of Zach; not by any means. But it takes just the right kind of guy in the pocket and Zach was it for the 2011 Cardinals.

Zach himself buys into his vision as a college quar- terback with a daily workout routine of at least three hours and regular film reviews of his spring practices to hone his skills.

"I'm working out more than I ever have," he said. Zach is also the kind of player who hangs out with his teammates and can form the glue that holds the Mountaineers together. Between that, the workouts and the play-by-play self analysis, I suggested to him during the interview that it doesn't leave much time for a girlfriend.

He chuckled before letting me know he doesn't have one. Glad we cleared that up. Sorry, ladies, but no distractions please. This young man is focused and on a mission. But do come down and watch him play, along with what I hope will be a big contingent of other Waitsburg fans who will make the drive for the Moun- taineers' Saturday afternoon home games.

We not only get to have our own college quarterback, we get to see him in action live a little ways south of the state line without a conflict with our first weekend sports destination: Friday nights at Cardinal Field.

The Mountaineers face some tough opponents this fall. Portland State, where Zach looks set to start for his first game of his first college season, is among the most challenging, in part because it's in a higher division. But it will be great practice against a non-league opponent. They'll play in Portland on Thursday, Aug. 29, just in case you're in the area.

The first home game in LaGrande will be on Sept. 7 at 1 pm against Montana Tech at the Community Stadium. For the season's schedule, visit www.eous- ports.com

See you in the bleachers!