The Bee’s Prep of the Week: Erik Palmquist, Yuba City
.JPG "Yuba City’s Erik Palmquist scored five touchdowns last week to earn The Bee’s Prep of the Week honors.")
Erik Palmquist doesn’t necessarily consider himself a quarterback, just a team-leading playmaker.
That’ll work.
The Yuba City High School senior team captain doesn’t even wear a typical quarterback jersey – he’s No. 22 – with the thinking that the only numbers that really matter are wins and losses.
The No. 10-seeded Honkers are 8-4 overall and 5-1 since Palmquist became the starting full-bore quarterback. And more numbers: Palmquist’s effort Friday night in a 54-19 Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoff rout of Christian Brothers at Hughes Stadium earned him Bee Prep of the Week honors with over 57 percent of the fan vote.
Palmquist passed for 110 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 125 more and three scores and even returned an interception 52 yards for a touchdown, and then he talked more about his team and teammates after it was over.
Next is a date at No. 2-seeded Placer in Auburn for a shot to advance to the semifinals and to exact a measure of revenge. Placer a year ago ended Yuba City’s season with a 52-19 victory.
“I know they beat us pretty good in the playoffs last year,” Palmquist said after last week’s CB win. “It’s gonna be a dogfight. We wanted to come in here (against Christian Brothers) and show the playoffs that we’re here to play football.”
A 3.8-GPA student who also wrestles and competes in track and field, Palmquist aspires to play football in college. Any position will do.