QB welcomes comparisons to best
It’s not fair to be compared to the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NFL draft. Not as a 17-year-old high school senior.
But Marin Catholic-Kentfield senior Spencer Petras didn’t mind. He relished being measured with the same stick as Los Angeles Rams Pro Bowl alternate Jared Goff, a member of Marin Catholic’s class of 2013.
“It’s good to be compared with him,” Petras said. “He’s obviously a great player and was a great player in high school. He always had a quick release. I like watching the different things he did (in high school). His body language. That’s always something I try to work on. Staying calm like Jared.”
And like Goff, Petras has been named The Chronicle’s Metro Player of the Year.
The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Iowa signee had superior numbers to Goff. By quite a bit.
In their senior seasons, Petras threw for more yards (4,157 to 3,692) and more touchdowns (50 to 40) with fewer interceptions (2 to 12). Both led their teams to North Coast Section titles, although Goff did play in a state championship game.
Petras’ team finished 12-1, one game short of a state final.
“Remarkable,” Marin Catholic coach Mazi Moayed said of Petras’ season. “Fifty touchdowns and just two interceptions. That alone is hard to fathom.”
Petras carved up secondaries from the outset, breaking his own school record in the season’s second game by throwing for 374 yards in a 35-21 win at St. Ignatius.
Utilizing a rocket right arm — “the ball just jumps out of his hands. … He’s got a major-league arm,” Moayed said.
Petras broke his single-game record three more times with 412, 448 and 502 yards, the latter on 24 completions in a 59-56 win over Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa in the NCS Division 3 championship game.
“He’s a stud, man,” Marin Catholic senior wide receiver Ben Skinner said after the title game. “He rallies the troops and takes us to the victory.”
Said Moayed: “He made one of the greatest leaps we’ve ever seen from his junior to senior year. He’s an ultra-competitive guy who wants to get the most out of himself and everyone around him.”
Petras said he’s idolized many quarterbacks over the years.
He liked the big, physical quarterbacks like Ben Roethlisberger and Donovan McNabb and cerebral players like Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. But he always returns to his first favorite: Brett Favre.
“He was a gunslinger,” he said. “That’s why I chose No. 4.”
He might not get that number at Iowa, but Moayed said it doesn’t matter.
“Spencer’s time at Marin Catholic has been a remarkable one,” he said. “He’s made a great name for himself at a place where the quarterback legacy and expectations are high.
“I’m excited about his future at the next level. The sky is the limit for this young man.”