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Q and A with former Stockdale High athlete Josh Scurlock
Quarterback has blossomed at Division III Whittier College
| Monday, Jan 7 2008 8:50 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Jan 7 2008 8:54 PM
By his own admission, Whittier quarterback Josh Scurlock hadn't exactly found his form before he concluded his career at Stockdale High School. He wasn't even sure he was going to play football in college.
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He's glad he did. Scurlock finished his senior season for the Poets against rival Occidental, ranked No. 24 in NCAA Division III, going 25-for-40 for 443 yards and seven touchdowns with two interceptions in the Poets' 67-61 upset victory Nov. 10.
He set Whittier single-game records with the seven touchdown passes and 443 passing yards; Scurlock also rushed for 105 yards and another score.
Scurlock finished the 2007 season with a team single-season record 2,650 yards of total offense. He completed 163 passes, just two short of the record for completions in a season and threw for 20 touchdowns, three short of the season record. He leaves Whittier with career records in passing yards (6,439), total offense (8,064) and touchdowns (50).
What was the main reason you decided to attend Whittier?
When I started looking at schools for college, I knew I wasn't ready to stop playing sports. There were a few offers outside of California (Tabor, Kan., for basketball, Westminister, Pa., for football) but I wasn't ready to leave the state ... or play football in the snow for that matter.
Once I decided to play in Southern California in the SCIAC, the college search got narrowed to a few SCIAC schools I had talked to. The ultimate decision was made because of Whittier's strong reputation as an academic institution, as well as the opportunity to fight for a starting job on the football team my freshman year.
Was there a point where you debated whether to play football in college?
Coming out of high school, I was certain I was going to be playing basketball in college not football (while (stepfather) Scott (Douglas) was always telling me I would make a good college quarterback, we weren't on the same page yet).
Besides that, I knew that I wasn't ready to stop playing sports after high school and was grateful at my opportunities to continue.
Whittier isn't a Division I program, but still you have to practice and spend some time with football, while also attending classes, etc. Did it ever seem like you didn't have enough time?
I think almost every college kid in the country will tell you that there is "not enough time." ... For me, personally, I think playing sports in college didn't give me as much opportunity to procrastinate, knowing that I might have had 6 a.m. workouts the next day or practice till 10 that night. ... My belief with athletics in general is (that) the same diligence people must show to succeed in their respective sport can and should be transferred over to the classroom.
At Whittier, you set some records, earned some honors ... expected or unexpected?
The first day of football camp we had eight quarterbacks: a couple Division I throwbacks, and a 6-foot-4 pure muscle, most athletic kid I've seen, coming out for quarterback. ... I was a little discouraged to say the least, and I still wasn't quite sure what I would bring to the football field since I didn't really come out of my shell in high school in terms of football ... so, to answer the question, unexpected.
Concerning things other than football, how do you like attending Whittier?
Whittier was definitely a good choice for me. It's about half the size of Stockdale High School and some of my upper-division science classes consisted of about 8-10 other students. Whittier is extremely teacher-student oriented and I couldn't imagine going to a school where I didn't know my professors inside and outside of class.
What's the most important thing you learned playing football at Stockdale that helped you at Whittier?
Well, I learned a lot in general in my high school career at Stockdale, but I think it's more what I took for granted at Stockdale. Coming into Whittier my freshman year, the program was in shambles and "rebuilding" definitely accurately described the program. At Stockdale, I was surrounded by kids who enjoyed hard work, didn't second guess morning workouts, stayed late to watch film, respected their coaches/peers, and overall were just a well-formed football family who needed little leadership (off) the football field to get done what needed to get done to succeed on the football field.
Coming into college, I didn't have this at Whittier. I had to consistently get after teammates (55 freshman entering with me) who didn't have the same kind of hard-working football ethic that I was brought up in at Stockdale. So in that sense, I tried to bring what I learned at Stockdale with me to Whittier.
Your final game was a 67-61 win over Occidental in which you threw for more than 400 yards and seven touchdowns, and ran for more than 100 yards and another touchdown. Quite a way to go out?
Yeah, I couldn't imagine much of a better way to end my career and definitely it will be a game that I will look back on forever. Knowing that we knocked off the No. 24 (NCAA Division III) team in the nation, our rivals, who we haven't beaten since the 1990s and get back "the shoes" will continually be a great memory. If I could just have back that interception that I bounced off my running back's facemask during a screen ... haha.
You're pre-med, and you intend to graduate in 31/2 years ... does it leave much time to be a college student?
Oh, I enjoyed myself through college. I'm living at a house right now near campus with seven of the 17 seniors remaining from my freshman class, which is a great experience ... and we enjoy our opportunities to "be a college student ..."
Was there anything in particular that led you to declaring pre-med?
My father is a doctor, my mom a nurse; my oldest sister is a P.A, and my other sister a nurse. ... I'm starting to believe that it's hereditary. ... I want to be able to use all my years of sport to help in my career, so my goal is to be an orthopedic surgeon who is contracted to some sports team, maybe even good ol' Whittier College.
-- Bob Varmette