Kremler back at QB hoping to be battering Ram for Mount Douglas
Grade 11 pivot, coming off knee surgery, could help Victoria team make some noise ahead of playoffs
This was supposed to be a story focused on how Gideone Kremler is rehabbing from a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered last season, but the Mount Douglas Rams quarterback can get you sidetracked.
There’s a lot to talk about with the Grade 11 pivot from Victoria, who is slated to play his fourth full game of the campaign when the Rams (2-3 conference, 3-4 overall) visit the Vancouver College Fighting Irish today (1:30 p.m.)
He led Mount Douglas to a tripleA provincial title two years ago, something that’s all but unheard of for a Grade 9 athlete.
His twin brother Zairech is one of Mount Douglas’ prevailing running backs. Older brother Justice is a fullback with the SFU Clan. Their dad Zac coaches the Mount Douglas junior varsity team.
The logical assumption is that Zac started all of this. Gideone swears that their mom Launa actually got them all into football, since she had hit the gridiron while attending high school in Winnipeg.
“She played quarterback until Grade 9 or 10, I think,” explained Gideone, 16, who began club football when he was eight. “It was interesting to learn from her.”
Zac grew up in the West Kootenays in Kaslo. He played all sorts of sports other than football, according to Gideone. When he saw his sons taking a liking to it, he started studying.
“He would come home with these DVDs. I don’t know where he got them from. There were things like How to Coach Defensive Backs and The Differences Between Coaching Offensive and Defensive Lineman,” said the sixfoot, 180-pound Gideone. “He’d also find these weird, random football coaching websites. He’d watch YouTube videos.
“We’ve learned a lot together. We share our experiences from our different points of view. I can’t remember how many times he’d come into the huddle during a timeout and say, ‘What do you think we should run now?’ and we’d have a back and forth.
“He’s very good. Anyone who talks football with him now assumes he’s played at a high level.”
There are people who will tell you that Gideone is playing at a high level himself right now. For
instance, he was 13-for-16 for 238 yards with three touchdowns in a 44-0 win over the Carson Graham Eagles last week.
He admitted he’s still not feeling like he’s up to full speed.
“There’s still some rust there,” he said. “There’s a lot of room to improve, especially after the surgery. I’ll be working on things now that I feel I was 10 times better at before the surgery.”
Gideone was hurt midway through last season. He says it was diagnosed initially as a strain. He took several weeks off, was cleared to return and came back for a quarter-final playoff loss at B.C. Place Stadium to the eventual champion Terry Fox Ravens and then had it re-examined, which led to the surgery.
“It was incredibly hard to just watch us play,” said Gideone, who made his season debut in Week 4 on Sept. 29, playing a handful of series against the Notre Dame Jugglers. “I can get antsy and angry watching college games on TV.
“That said, I did find trying to help guys on the sidelines super interesting.”
There are those who will tell you that how things play out in triple-A will be super interesting as well. Mount Douglas is among several teams that would seem to have a chance to make noise in the playoffs — especially now with Gideone back leading the offence.
“He’s like having a coach on the field,” said Mount Douglas coach Mark Townsend. “He has such a high football IQ. He’s mature beyond his years.”
There’s a lot of room to improve, especially after the surgery. I’ll be working on things now that I feel I was 10 times better at.