QUILCENE — It’s pretty tough to make a leap from eight-man football to college football, but Quilcene’s Robert Comstock III is doing it.
“It’s pretty exciting. It’s something that hasn’t happened at Quilcene for 21 years. It’s exciting to be able to say I did it,” Comstock said.
Comstock, a tight end for the Rangers, signed a letter of intent this week to play at the College of the Siskiyous, a junior college in Weed, Calif.
“We’re excited about it for him,” said his Quilcene coach Trey Beathard.
“He’s football smart. His [COS] coach told him he will have a chance to play and possibly even start. But Robert will have to do his part,” Beathard said.
College of the Siskiyous is a small junior college located near Mount Shasta in Weed, Calif. But, it is also a football power. Siskiyouswas the conference champion of the Mid Empire Football league in 2013 and 2014.
Comstock said he was looking for a school he could play at. He thought about trying to walk on at an NCAA Div. I or Div. II school, but in doing some research, discovered that many players who walk on to big programs get their start at a junior college. Green Bay Packer Aaron Rodgers, who played at a junior college near College of the Siskiyous, is a good example.
“That’s two years I can get better as a player,” Comstock said. And he also liked that it was a solid, winning program.
“That’s why I picked it,” he said.
Comstock said he has actually visited COS, but it was several years ago. One of his dad’s cousins went there.
Comstock signed on Monday with Beathard and his assistant coach Byron Wilson and his parents Robert Comstock and Beth Welch in attendance.
Comstock is a five-year letterman for the Rangers [at the Class 1B level, players can play varsity beginning in the eighth grade], but he’s a much different player than he was when he arrived at the Rangers’ program.
Beathard said that when Comstock was an eighth-grader, he was about 6 foot, 2 inches tall and weighed about 238 pounds. He played mostly on the offensive line.
“He did OK, he wasn’t doing great. But he got better and he got better defensively,” Beathard said. “As a sophomore, he got a little taller and a little thinner.”
Now, Comstock is much taller, just under 6-foot-5, and much thinner at 216 pounds. He was moved to receiver/tight end and thrived.
Comstock agreed that when he was an eighth-grader, “I looked like a bowling ball” and could barely bench press 150 pounds, not very good for a varsity football player. He said he also had a lot of growing up to do.
“In eighth grade, I got kicked out of class. I was fighting with classmates who I call friends today. Football helped me grow up. It taught me to be on time, it taught me not to slack around,” Comstock said.
This past season, Comstock had a spectacular senior season, earning Associated Press all-state honors on both sides of the ball for a Rangers’ team that went 10-1 and made it to the state 1B semifinals. He caught 31 passes for 643 yards for an average of 20.7 yards per reception and 13 touchdowns. He also caught 13 2-point conversions. On defense, he had 133 tackles, 13 quarterback sacks and returned two fumbles for touchdowns (scoring a total of 103 points on the season). He also blocked three punts.
Beathard said in addition to his 6-5 frame, Comstock has long arms and good hands, and showed the ability to catch balls in heavy traffic, skills that will come in handy against bigger players at the junior college level.
Beathard said Comstock was a great all-around athlete who works out to build up his strength. In addition to his football exploits, he was the MVP of the Quilcene basketball team and played baseball for the Rangers team that made it to the 1B state playoffs.
In addition to Comstock moving on to play college ball, his teammate Olin Reynolds, a running back for the Rangers, is going to try and walk on at Shasta College, near the College of the Siskiyous in Redding, not too far from Weed.
Beathard said he likes telling students the story of Cowboys’ linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, who played for an eight-man football team in Salmon River, Idaho. He walked on at Boise State, eventually became a starter there, then was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Cowboys.
“If they can play, they can play. I don’t want the kids to use [being from a small school] as an excuse,” he said.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
