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Posted by
Austin Tait
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Fri, May 2, 2008
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Football
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Rocky Mountain College has added a gunslinger to its football arsenal.
Quarterback Kasey Peters is transferring from Grand Valley State in Grand Rapids, Mich., to Rocky for the coming season.
Quarterback Kasey Peters is transferring from Grand Valley State in Grand Rapids, Mich., to Rocky for the coming season.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Peters redshirted at the NCAA Division II powerhouse last season after setting single-season passing records at Santa Ana College in California in 2006.
He will be a junior and have two years of playing eligibility remaining at the NAIA Frontier Conference school, said Rocky head coach David Reeves.
He will be a junior and have two years of playing eligibility remaining at the NAIA Frontier Conference school, said Rocky head coach David Reeves.
"He's just looking for an opportunity to play somewhere," said Reeves. "He wants at least a shot to finish out his career playing."
The 20-year-old Peters, who is from Newport Beach, Calif., put up some impressive numbers in passing for single-season school records of 2,588 yards and 25 touchdowns at Santa Ana in 2006. His 203 completions and 363 attempts were also school records at the junior college.
He threw as many as five TD passes in a game at Santa Ana and received all-Mission Conference honors and honorable mention All-America recognition in leading the Dons to a 7-4 record and a berth in the Western States Bowl.
"He's got probably better arm strength than any quarterback I've coached or been around at any level," said Rocky offensive coordinator Brian Armstrong. "And, of course, being an older kid, you always like that. He's been around a few places and had some world experience, so to speak.
"He's started a bunch of games at different levels, in different places and had success wherever he has been."
Peters played his prep football at Newport Harbor High School. He earned all-California Interscholastic Federation accolades as a senior and played in the Orange County All-Star Game. He was the offensive player of the year in his league and the Daily Pilot newspaper selected him as its "dream team" player of the year.
Rocky went 4-7 in 2007 and adding a seasoned quarterback to the mix was a high priority for the Battlin' Bears during this recruiting period. Drew Hedrick, a fifth-year senior, has departed, leaving Rocky with Casey Gregersen, who will be a junior in the fall, and Paxton Paynter and Scott Morrison, who will be redshirt freshmen, at the QB position.
Gregersen has been at Rocky since 2005 and has started four games. The Bears also signed Michael Royer, a prep quarterback from Spring Creek High School in Nevada, this spring.
"The big thing for us is it just really solidifies the quarterback position," Armstrong said of landing Peters. "Casey (Gregersen) had a great spring and we've got Michael Royer coming in who is going to be a great player here. This is another guy that's going to come in and compete for the starting job right away.
"So hopefully we've gone from being quarterback poor to quarterback rich and having some depth and competition at that spot," he added. "Obviously Casey is our starter coming out of spring and had a good spring and got better, but competition is good for everybody. If we could have this type of competition at every position we'd be a lot further along. And we're creating competition like this at most positions."
Reeves, who is in his fifth year at Rocky, said he has watched game film on Peters, who will likely move to Billings in June.
"He's got a very strong arm," Reeves said. "I think that's the first thing that jumps out. The second is he has run this (spread/ no huddle) style of offense before. That's the offense he ran when he put up a lot of those numbers (at Santa Ana)."
Grand Valley State has posted a 91-6 record over the last seven years with four NCAA Division II national championships during that stretch. Last August, Peters was listed as high as No. 2 on the Lakers' depth chart at quarterback, before Grand Valley State added a transfer from Central Florida.
The Lakers had seven QBs listed on their 2007 roster.
Reeves said just the fact that Peters caught the eye of the Grand Valley State recruiters says a lot about his quarterback skills.
"Obviously they felt that he was good enough to help them continue their tradition," said Reeves. "And their tradition is pretty damn good. They don't lose very often."
Peters spent his freshman year at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, Calif., but broke his forearm on his right throwing arm in the first quarter of the fourth game of the season. He moved on to Santa Ana the following season.
"He's a great kid," said Armstrong. "He came up here and visited and, shoot, our kids really liked him and he really liked it here. It's just kind of a good opportunity for both of us."
The 20-year-old Peters, who is from Newport Beach, Calif., put up some impressive numbers in passing for single-season school records of 2,588 yards and 25 touchdowns at Santa Ana in 2006. His 203 completions and 363 attempts were also school records at the junior college.
He threw as many as five TD passes in a game at Santa Ana and received all-Mission Conference honors and honorable mention All-America recognition in leading the Dons to a 7-4 record and a berth in the Western States Bowl.
"He's got probably better arm strength than any quarterback I've coached or been around at any level," said Rocky offensive coordinator Brian Armstrong. "And, of course, being an older kid, you always like that. He's been around a few places and had some world experience, so to speak.
"He's started a bunch of games at different levels, in different places and had success wherever he has been."
Peters played his prep football at Newport Harbor High School. He earned all-California Interscholastic Federation accolades as a senior and played in the Orange County All-Star Game. He was the offensive player of the year in his league and the Daily Pilot newspaper selected him as its "dream team" player of the year.
Rocky went 4-7 in 2007 and adding a seasoned quarterback to the mix was a high priority for the Battlin' Bears during this recruiting period. Drew Hedrick, a fifth-year senior, has departed, leaving Rocky with Casey Gregersen, who will be a junior in the fall, and Paxton Paynter and Scott Morrison, who will be redshirt freshmen, at the QB position.
Gregersen has been at Rocky since 2005 and has started four games. The Bears also signed Michael Royer, a prep quarterback from Spring Creek High School in Nevada, this spring.
"The big thing for us is it just really solidifies the quarterback position," Armstrong said of landing Peters. "Casey (Gregersen) had a great spring and we've got Michael Royer coming in who is going to be a great player here. This is another guy that's going to come in and compete for the starting job right away.
"So hopefully we've gone from being quarterback poor to quarterback rich and having some depth and competition at that spot," he added. "Obviously Casey is our starter coming out of spring and had a good spring and got better, but competition is good for everybody. If we could have this type of competition at every position we'd be a lot further along. And we're creating competition like this at most positions."
Reeves, who is in his fifth year at Rocky, said he has watched game film on Peters, who will likely move to Billings in June.
"He's got a very strong arm," Reeves said. "I think that's the first thing that jumps out. The second is he has run this (spread/ no huddle) style of offense before. That's the offense he ran when he put up a lot of those numbers (at Santa Ana)."
Grand Valley State has posted a 91-6 record over the last seven years with four NCAA Division II national championships during that stretch. Last August, Peters was listed as high as No. 2 on the Lakers' depth chart at quarterback, before Grand Valley State added a transfer from Central Florida.
The Lakers had seven QBs listed on their 2007 roster.
Reeves said just the fact that Peters caught the eye of the Grand Valley State recruiters says a lot about his quarterback skills.
"Obviously they felt that he was good enough to help them continue their tradition," said Reeves. "And their tradition is pretty damn good. They don't lose very often."
Peters spent his freshman year at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, Calif., but broke his forearm on his right throwing arm in the first quarter of the fourth game of the season. He moved on to Santa Ana the following season.
"He's a great kid," said Armstrong. "He came up here and visited and, shoot, our kids really liked him and he really liked it here. It's just kind of a good opportunity for both of us."