For the second time, Jacob Schuster is The Olympian’s All-Area football player of the year
When high school football was delayed throughout Washington by the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the state’s elite players chose an early exit.
With fall games cancelled and a spring season only a rumor as the school year began online, top prospects such as Steilacoom’s Ohio State-bound Emeka Egbuka made plans to graduate in December and head off to college in time for spring practice.
Jacob Schuster, Tumwater’s 6-2, 300 pound defensive lineman, was in position to follow suit. He had a scholarship in hand from the University of Minnesota and a 4.0 grade point average.
Instead, Schuster stayed to play his final season with the Thunderbirds, helping them to a perfect 6-0 spring season record and a mythical Class 2A state championship claimed by virtue of a 45-10 road win at Prosser and a 50-12 season-ending thrashing of Egbuka-less Steilacoom in a rematch of the 2019 state title game.
“I’ve enjoyed every year I’ve played at Tumwater. I wanted to finish out with my teammates and spend more time with my family until I head to college,” he said.
Schuster enjoyed playing for the T-Birds, earning a second consecutive 2A Evergreen Conference most valuable player honor after making 39 tackles, eight for losses, in the shortened season. But opponents didn’t enjoy playing against him.
“He changes the game against any team he plays,” said W.F. West coach Dan Hill. “He’s the best football player in the area.”
His dominance of the local football scene earned a second consecutive All-Area Player of the Year selection by The Olympian. Only once before, when the state’s all-time rushing leader and future Carolina Panthers star Jonathan Stewart, from Timberline, went back-to-back in 2003 and 2004, has a player earned the honor twice. At that, Stewart shared the ’03 honor with Capital running back Luke Kravitz.
Only once before Schuster was selected in 2019 had a pure lineman won, Olympia’s Ben Huntley – perhaps not coincidentally coached by current Tumwater coach Bill Beattie – in 2005.
Beattie says he’ll look back on Schuster’s years in his program, which included 2019’s perfect 14-0 state championship run, fondly.
“It’s been a privilege to coach him, to marvel at what he does,” Beattie said. “He’s one of those players who don’t come around often. It’s been a pleasure to be part of his life the past four years.”
Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck is about to embark on four years with Schuster and is looking forward to it.
“We wanted to find the best defensive tackle we could to fit our system and we got one,” Fleck said after Schuster signed his letter of intent. “He’s incredibly strong and a hard worker. When you talk about someone who can make an immediate impact and provide some depth, Jacob’s that kind of guy.”
Though Schuster, who brings the number of years a Tumwater player has been the All-Area Player of the Year to 13, was clearly already a good player in 2019, he made the most of the 15-month gap caused by the pandemic to get even better.
“I was known as more of a run-stop type of guy,” he said. “With more time to work on it over the off-season, I improved my pass rush a lot. I’m more mobile on my hits, I move faster.”
No matter how high Schuster’s skill level has been, he’s still had to face challenges other players don’t.
“He’s done a good job of realizing other teams are out to stop him,” Beattie said. “They’ll double-team him, triple-team him, chip him with a running back.”
Schuster has made reacting to such tactics part of his game.
“I’ve got to be able to move faster than the guy next to me and use my strength as much as possible,” he said.
Beattie appreciates Schuster’s surpassing football talents, but also valued his impact as a teammate.
“He checks all the boxes, starting with the way he carries himself,” Beattie said. “He’s not real vocal, but when he talks, people listen. He’ll go and help out any kid.”
Despite Fleck’s praise and projections from internet football pundits that he may eventually come out of Minnesota as an NFL draft choice, Schuster takes nothing for granted.
“I have to compete for a position like everybody else,” he said. “It’s basically a reset button. I’m starting at the bottom again. I need to keep working on the basics, pass rush, stop the run, being able to read offenses, being smart.”
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected and updated.
PAST OLYMPIAN FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR:
1990: Mark Bruener, TE-LB, Aberdeen
1991: Kevin Clark, RB, Tumwater
1992: Mike Sellers, RB-LB, North Thurston
1993: Jeff Allen, DB/RB, Capital & Derek Lowe, RB, Tumwater
1994: Jimmy Smith, QB-P, Capital
1995: Anthony Hicks, RB-LB, Tumwater
1996: Jon Burbidge, RB-K, Tumwater & Lance Gustafson, RB-LB, Tumwater
1997: Ben Dougherty, QB-DB, Elma
1998: Dale Chase, QB, River Ridge
1999: Jake Kirkwood, WR-DB, North Thurston
2000: Alex Pittelkau, RB, North Thurston
2001: Jordan Carey, RB-DB, Capital
2002: Todd Basler, RB-P, Elma
2003: Jonathan Stewart, RB, Timberline & Luke Kravitz, RB, Capital
2004: Jonathan Stewart, RB, Timberline
2005: Ben Huntley, DL-OL, Olympia
2006: Zach Johnson, RB, Tumwater
2007: Hank Bryant, RB-DE, Tumwater
2008: Ronnie Hamlin, WR-DB, Timberline
2009: Ben Ternan, QB, Chehalis & Cody Peterson, RB-LB, Black Hills
2010: Tyler Sandberg, RB, Capital
2011: Ben Broeker, QB, North Thurston
2012: Andrew Brown, RB-DB, Tumwater
2013: Christian Cummings, RB, Tumwater
2014: Trevor Davis, LB-RB, Tumwater
2015: David Woodward, RB-DB, Olympia
2016: Cade Otton, TE-LB, Tumwater
2017: Michael Barnes, RB-DB, Timberline
2018: Hunter Campau, QB, Timberline
2019: Jacob Schuster, DL-OL, Tumwater
This story was originally published May 2, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "For the second time, Jacob Schuster is The Olympian’s All-Area football player of the year."