As the regular season comes to a close, playoffs are looming for teams fortunate enough to make it. Hilmar finished the regular season at 8-2 with losses in the season's opener and finale. Quarterback Andrew Olson keys the Yellowjackets' potent offensive attack.
A 6-foot-3, 200 pound senior, Olson directed the offense to a 37.8 point average. His junior year was cut short by a broken wrist injury but he has bounced back strong passing for 1,307 yards with 18 touchdowns and two interceptions while running for 317 yards and six touchdowns. Olson is second in the Trans Valley League with 1,624 yards in total offense as he sat out many fourth quarters during some easy wins. As a team, the Yellowjackets had to rally after the death of offensive line coach Franky Silveira over the summer.
In the season opener against Beyer, Hilmar faced a competitive Division I team but held a comfortable halftime lead of 20-7. Olson passed for 205 yards with four touchdowns but Hilmar lost on a game ending field goal 30-27 to the eventual MMC league winner from Modesto. Another high profile game for Olson was the Modesto Christian game that was a league rivalry game that had him face against Arizona quarterback commit Nathan Sudfeld. Olson was efficient in throwing for 176 yards and two touchdowns as his Yellowjackets cruised to a 59-20 victory.
With the demands of school and the regular season, Olson still made time to work with his personal quarterback coach, Roger Theder. Theder, who has coached Cal commit Zach Kline and Wisconsin commit Bart Houston, helps Olson with his arm strength, footwork, and mechanics and assists him on route check downs and reading defenses. Theder is a well-known quarterback coach who has trained former Nevada Wolfpack Colin Kaepernik, Josh Johnson, and Trent Edwards. Olson started to train with Theder in the 7th grade as family friend, Kaepernik, recommended the coach.
Theder who has worked with Olson 46 times since he started training with him, says, "Andrew has gotten bigger and stronger since the summer. His footwork and mechanics are good. He's got ability with his size."
Division I recruiting is slow but he has been contacted by a hand full of Division II and NAIA schools. Menlo has indicated strong interest in Olson while several schools have asked for game film including CSU Pueblo, Fresno State, Nevada, Northern Arizona, Sacramento State, San Jose State, and San Diego State. All of the previously mentioned schools have indicated that they will continue to evaluate Olson through the end of his season and playoffs.
Regardless of what happens in playoffs and recruiting, Olson is working as hard as ever to get a shot to play at the next level. He broke Hilmar's power clean record at 260 pounds and can bench 335 pounds and squat 500 pounds. After the playoff season, Olson plans to focus fully on weight training and conditioning to get bigger and faster. Olson's mantra is "Never Quit." This quote was a favorite of the recently deceased Coach Silveira and is posted above the door on the way out of the weight room and is what drives Olson to football and overall life success.
Hilmar has had recent quarterback success. Nate Costa from the 2006 Hilmar class played along side Dennis Dixon for the Oregon Ducks. Costa was a top 20 national quarterback according to Rivals for his senior year.
Frank Marques is Hilmar's head coach. "Andrew has come back strong with no side effects from the injury. He has been an anchor for our team," said Marques. "He's had a great season and we are fortunate to have a player of his caliber leading us into the playoffs. I think Andrew has all the tools to be a next level quarterback. Strong accurate arm, mobility, running the spread, and generalship of the game makes him a great fit for a team who likes to run the spread offense."
Academically, Olson has a 3.2 cumulative GPA and scored a 20 on the ACT test to be eligible for college. Being a college level quarterback is important to Olson, but he will be the first person in his family to attend a four year university as junior college was the previous level achieved by his family. He wants to major in History and become an educator (teacher or professor) and also incorporate coaching football. After football season concludes, he will participate in community service programs till graduation.
Olson's football journey reads of the small town kid trying to make it to the big town stage. His path was going well till his injury last season that derailed his recruiting exposure. If Olson was on center stage in the San Francisco area instead of Merced County, he could have been in more highly profiled and highly covered games.
Hilmar will start as the third seed in the Division IV bracket for the SJS playoffs. Hilmar will play at home against Linden. Regardless of how far the Yellowjackets get in the playoffs this season, Olson is back on the right track for his gridiron goals.
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