Evan Maruska is a 4th grade student at Sequoia Pathway Elementary and has been playing football for 2 1/2 years. He enjoys playing the sport because he gets to play with his friends and likes the quarterback position because it allows him to be a team leader.

Evan believes that a good quarterback should possess leadership qualities, a sense of brotherhood, and should be a good student athlete. His favorite quarterback is Josh Allen, who he admires for his amazing run and pass game.

When Evan is not on the field, he likes to build Legos, play Madden, and draw. He also attended Coach Gio’s football camp last year, where he learned great techniques and met new friends.

Evan’s 6-month goal is to make improvements on running and throwing at the same time, and his 12-month goal is to throw further than 45 yards and to take the spring and fall championships with his youth team, the Junior Pumas.

To prepare for a game, Evan likes to listen to hype music like Shell Shocked, and he and his team always have a pregame prayer. His dad, Coach Taylor, and Coach Gio have been big influences in his football career so far. Evan’s dad always ready to go throw with him or go workout and play, Coach Taylor guided him in his start by teaching him proper footwork, hand off and throwing positioning, and Coach Gio developed the skills he already had and taught him techniques to go even further.

Evan doesn’t have an off season as his youth league plays in spring and fall, so they are always conditioning, playing catch together at school, and working on their footwork. His best play so far was during the fall season, when he had linemen coming at him, and he threw a 25-yard “dime” to his receiver, which resulted in a touchdown after the receiver ran another 20 yards.