Columbus East’s Zach Foster fires a pass during the first official football practice at Columbus East High School, Monday, July 31, 2023.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
Whether they’ve been pass-first quarterbacks like the Kiel brothers or run-first athletes like Alex Cowan and Josh Major, Columbus East has trotted out a steady run of standout quarterbacks for at least two decades.
But following the graduation of two-year starter Ethan Duncan, the Olympians had a void to fill at football’s most important position. For now, they look to have found a pair of underclassmen who are capable of leading the team into the 2023 season in junior Zach Foster and sophomore Kyson Villarreal.
“We would love to have one quarterback, but both of the guys have competed really hard and really have not separated themselves yet,” East coach Eddie Vogel said. “We have confidence in both, so for now, we’re going to play both. I don’t know that that’s a great situation, but that’s kind of where we are, and I want to be fair to both of the young men. I think they both deserve to play.”
So when the Olympians open the season Friday at Bloomington South, both Foster and Villarreal will see action.
“It’s going to be kind of a week-to-week decision, and really, it’s a series-by-series decision. If we have a guy that gets hot, we’re going to kind of stick with them,” Vogel said. “We’ve talked with them, and they both know that. I know both of them are competing hard, and they both want to be the guy and at some point, one of them will be the guy. We’re just not there yet. I want to make sure that we’re diligent with giving both of them the opportunity to become the starter.”
Columbus East’s Kyson Villarreal fires a pass during the first official football practice at Columbus East High School, Monday, July 31, 2023.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
Foster and Villarreal have split reps through the summer and in Friday’s scrimmage at Martinsville.
“I think we both had our ups and downs,” Foster said about the scrimmage. “I think that splitting time is a good choice for now. Maybe it will change later in the season, but I think the scrimmage went pretty well overall.”
Zach Foster
Foster was East’s JV quarterback until fracturing two bones in his back doing a quarterback sneak the fourth JV game of last season against New Albany. He was out of action for 6 1/2 months.
“It was pretty tough the first couple of months seeing all my teammates get to come out here and play,” Foster said. “It was more frustrating than anything because I wish I was out here with them. I didn’t get to play basketball either. But the rehab has been pretty good. I had to gain a lot of strength, and weight was the most important thing. That’s really what I focused on when I was out. Obviously, my main goal is to get stronger, but I think I’m in a pretty good spot right now.”
“I know it was really frustrating in the offseason not being able to lift for awhile,” Vogel added. “I know he’s frustrated and kind of champing at the bit to get some of his strength back, and he’s done a good job in the weight room. He’s gotten stronger.”
Kyson Villarreal
With Foster out, Villarreal had a chance to step in as a freshman and see some action in last year’s 35-7 opening-round sectional loss to Bloomington South, the opponent the Olympians will be facing on Friday.
“It was a great experience,” Villarreal said. “We had some struggles in that game. I had some struggles in that game, but I’ve been waiting all year for this game coming up. I’m excited.”
Villarreal thinks he has made strides since that sectional game.
“I feel great,” Villarreal said. “I feel like I’m doing a lot better than I was at the start of the summer and last year, as well. I’ve worked on my mechanics a lot, and I’ve figured out the playbook. I’ve been going through it a lot and watching film, so that’s really come to me easily.”
Vogel said the 5-foot-11, 157-pound Foster and 5-9, 207-pound Villarreal have slightly different skill sets.
“Kyson is obviously a much bigger individual than Zach is, so when he runs the ball, he runs it with a little more authority,” Vogel said. “But Zach in our scrimmage showed that he could escape the pocket and get out and run it and make some good yardage. Zach may throw it a little bit at times better than Kyson, as well, but both of them have done a really good job of competing and we just feel like we want to make sure that we give both of those guys an opportunity to really themselves and show their best so we can make a decision, and until we can do that, we’re going to keep playing both.
“It’s not a great situation for those guys, but I think they both understand kind of where we’re at,” he added. “Both guys are doing a good job for us. It’s really going to come down to I think at some point, probably some of the intangibles about leading a team. I feel like your quarterback has to epitomize the identity of your football team. I think our team knows what we want our identity to be, and as soon as one of those guys becomes that, then they’re probably going to be the guy.”
