His statistics aren't overwhelming, and his team has struggled to a 3-7 record but Shamokin Area freshman quarterback Tucker Yost has quietly been pretty impressive this season.
If you watched him play in last week's 20-7 loss to Mount Carmel, you saw a lot of what has happend to him this season. Some success - 119 passing yards and a beautiful fourth-quarter touchdown pass. And some adversity - several sacks and an inability to get his team to move the ball consistently.
But through it all, Yost and his teammates kept plugging away, and that's what he's done all season, according to Shamokin head coach Dan Foor.
"The big thing is that's he matured," Foor said. "The maturity I've seen in him from last spring, through the summer, preseason camp and now is something. He's really grown up. He and I sat down last spring and we talked about what was expected of him, and he's really done everything we've asked of him. He never gets too high, and he never gets too low. He takes constructive criticism very well."
Yost didn't win the starting job outright. He and sophomore Sean McLaughlin shared the position early in the season until it became apparent that Yost was the better thrower and McLaughlin a better runner. At that point, Foor gave the job to Yost and tried to work McLaughlin into the lineup in other ways.
Yost has completed 51 of 110 passes for 638 yards and six touchdowns, with six interceptions, and Foor said that even when he hasn't completed a high percentage of passes, his throws have for the most part been accurate.
"He really throws a nice ball," Foor said. "There are things he needs to do to improve but you also don't want to mess with something too much that already looks pretty good. That pass the other night was thrown into a little bit of a wind. He needs to get into the weight room and put on some weight, but that will come. He also plays basketball, and that's a good thing. I think playing other sports helps anyone. It will make him more competitive."
Foor also credits Yost's teammates with helping him improve.
"The seniors have done a great job of protecting him," Foor said.