Tumwater’s Jacob Schuster is The Olympian’s All-Area football player of the year

It’s not unusual for a Tumwater High School football player to earn The Olympian’s All-Area player of the year honor. T-Birds have won or shared the award 12 times in the 30 years it has been a part of the local football scene. No other school has had more than five winners.

But when junior two-way lineman Jacob Schuster followed up his Class 2A Evergreen Conference MVP award by being named The Olympian’s 2019 All-Area player of the year he became unique on a list that includes several who went on to play in the NFL.

Schuster is only the second player to earn the honor without the ball in his hands.

Purely a defensive lineman and offensive tackle, save for one rushing attempt against Aberdeen, he became the 2A EvCo’s most decorated player — narrowly over Tumwater running back Dylan Paine, who racked up 1,700-plus yards this season — because he creates havoc for opponents.

“Any time you’re picking a player of the year or a most valuable player, the bottom line question is, ‘Does he have an effect on other teams?’ ” said Tumwater coach Bill Beattie who, perhaps not so coincidentally, coached the only other pure lineman named The Olympian’s All-Area player of the year in Olympia’s Ben Huntley in 2005.

“When you’re facing a kid like Jacob, your game plan has to change.”

Schuster has never been the player with the ball in his hands. Now 6-foot-2, 300 pounds, he has gravitated toward the line from the moment he started playing youth football as a second grader.

And he doesn’t miss the bright lights and headlines that come with touchdowns and gaudy yardage totals.

“I like getting dirty, doing the dirty work for our skill players,” Schuster said.

There was more than enough work this season as Tumwater earned its first state title under Beattie, its first since the 2010 season and sixth in program history with a perfect 14-0 mark.

Schuster, despite teams game-planning away from his clutches, finished with 61 tackles — the most of any Tumwater defensive lineman and trailing only linebackers Tyler Woods and Ryan Orr for the team lead.

With injuries shaking up the offensive line, Schuster also moved into the starting lineup at tackle.

“That was the biggest challenge — playing all 48 minutes,” he said.

The biggest challenge for opponents was keeping Schuster out of their backfield. Of his 61 tackles, 26 were for losses. He credits an ability to quickly get into his rush, and fast hands to win one-on-one battles with offensive linemen.

“Jacob’s smart, a 4.0 student, and he prepares,” Beattie said. “He knows what the other team is likely to do. He’s got great technique and he gets off the ball so doggone fast. He’s got a desire and an instinct to the get to the ball. That’s something you don’t coach, but all the great ones have.”

Schuster’s preparation is partly fueled by a desire to honor the work T-Birds coaches — from defensive coordinator Tim Otton, to defensive line coach Rick McGrath and Willie Garrow, the staff’s video expert — do from their end.

“They cut up so much film for us, we want to study to show our appreciation for what they’re doing to get us ready,” he said.

Schuster’s older sister, Gatalina, played softball on strong Timberline teams a few years back, but when their mom needed to move to Tumwater to be closer to her job, Schuster was immediately appreciative of the strong support the community shows the T-Birds.

Meanwhile, Beattie got an early look at Jacob in physical education classes he taught.

“I watched the way he conducted himself. He was the best basketball player in the class, the best volleyball player,” Beattie said. “When a kid that big is that athletic so early, you know he has a chance to be special.”

With that dose of special comes that extra attention from other teams. Beattie warned Paine he wouldn’t get many breakaway runs early in games, until opponents realized Tumwater had other weapons to stop.

It’s been the same with Schuster on defense.

“We’ve told him he needs to be ready to be double- and triple-teamed,” Beattie said. “He’s done a great job of handling that.”

Beating multiple defenders requires speed and strength. Beattie has seen Schuster grow in those areas during his three years as a T-Bird.

“Jacob’s made tremendous strides in helping his skills catch up to his big body,” Beattie said. “He’s gotten faster, stronger and more mobile.”

That he and his teammates on the defensive line — part of a stifling defense that allowed opponents fewer than six offensive points and just 31 rushing yards per game this season — will likely improve before the 2020 season has to be a frightening thought for opponents. Most of the players who made up Tumwater’s championship defense in 2019 will return.

“We’re out there having fun,” said Schuster, who is being recruited by a few Pac-12 schools, including Washington. “We have tenacity. We like to get after it.”

PAST OLYMPIAN ALL-AREA FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

1990: TE/LB Mark Bruener, Aberdeen

1991: RB Kevin Clark, Tumwater

1992: RB/LB Mike Sellers, North Thurston

1993: RB/DB Jeff Allen, Capital; RB Derek Lowe, Tumwater

1994: QB/P Jimmy Smith, Capital

1995: RB/LB Anthony Hicks, Tumwater

1996: RB/K Jon Burbidge, Tumwater; RB/LB Lance Gustafson, Tumwater

1997: QB/DB Ben Dougherty, Elma

1998: QB Dale Chase, River Ridge

1999: WR/DB Jake Kirkwood, North Thurston

2000: RB Alex Pittelkau, North Thurston

2001: RB/DB Jordan Carey, Capital

2002: RB/P Todd Basler, Elma

2003: RB Jonathan Stewart, Timberline; RB Luke Kravitz, Capital

2004: RB Jonathan Stewart, Timberline

2005: OL/DL Ben Huntley, Olympia

2006: RB Zach Johnson, Tumwater

2007: RB/DL Hank Bryant, Tumwater

2008: WR/DB Ronnie Hamlin, Timberline

2009: QB Ben Ternan, W.F. West; RB/LB Cody Peterson, Black Hills

2010: RB Tyler Sandberg, Capital

2011: QB Ben Broeker, North Thurston

2012: RB/DB Andrew Brown, Tumwater

2013: RB Christian Cummings, Tumwater

2014: RB/LB Trevor Davis, Tumwater

2015: RB/DB David Woodward, Olympia

2016: TE/LB Cade Otton, Tumwater

2017: RB/DB Michael Barnes, Timberline

2018: QB Hunter Campau, Timberline

This story was originally published December 13, 2019 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Tumwater’s Jacob Schuster is The Olympian’s All-Area football player of the year."