Colton's Josh Straughan's career couldn't have gone much better as a high school quarterback. The Colton High School product put up some fantastic numbers and went on to receive the AP Washington State 1B Player of the Year award, threw for 141 touchdowns and 10,000 yards in his career - in addition to rushing for 1,256 yards on the ground.
Unfortunately for Straughan, the video-game like numbers weren't enough to impress many Division 1 coaches, who hesitated to give him a full-ride scholarship offer. They may be regretting that decision now.
"You know I figured I wasn't going to get a lot of looks," Straughan said. "And of course, I had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder, especially coming from a smaller school...I had a fair share of people who were supportive of me and I had people who told me I couldn't do it, so it was definitely in the back of my mind, especially coming from a eight-man school. I knew it wasn't going to be easy."
The odds may have been stacked against him, but it didn't take long for Straughn to make his doubters look foolish with the opportunities he was given as a true freshman at Stillman College, an NCAA Division II school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, some 2,500 miles away from his home.
In his first game of his college career at Stillman, Straughan came off the bench to lead the Tigers to an incredible comeback victory. With his team trailing Central State University 20-7 in the fourth quarter, Stillman coach Teddy Keaton ignored his gut and sent Straughn in the game.
"He's a freshman who played eight-man football - you're thinking I don't want to put him in this situation. I want him to learn. He had been doing it all camp so he had been doing really well, but I didn't give him the start only because I wanted him to grow." Keaton said. "But he kind of put the handles forth. I went to him and said, 'Josh, you're going in and take over.' Nver once did he blink."
By game's end, Straughan had thrown for 143 yards and two TD Passes and led Stillman on three touchdown drives in a 28-27 win. He was named Most Valuable Player of the Dayton Ohio Classic, and the outstanding Newcomer of the Week for the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC).
"Before the game I was nervous, but once I got into the game in the fourth quarter, I was ready to go. I had been working for that experience ever since I've been playing football, so I was ready to go when I got in there," said Straughan, who instantly became a hero to his team. "I'm not going to lie, I was pretty excited and so was the team...It was a pretty unrealistic game and my dad was there to see my first college game and my first college touchdown pass, so it's pretty surreal to be honest."
The momentum from the Tigers' season opener was quickly halted when Straughn and the offense was shut down in their following game, but Stillman regrouped to put together a three-game winning streak, defeating Kentucky State, Lane and Benedict, with two of the wins coming on the road.
Stillman faced more adversity when it lost three straight games to fall below .500, but just as he did earlier, Straughan stepped up when his team needed him the most. He threw for 234 yards and four scores against Clark Atlanta University to put the Tigers at 5-5 on the season, and followed it up with a 248-yard and three-touchdown performance against Concordia University.
As a true freshman, Straughan helped the Tigers secure their first consecutive winning seasons in six years. He also completed 203 passes for 1,849 yards and 14 touchdowns. Straughan finished first in number of pass completions, second in passing touchdowns, third in passing yards, and fourth in passing yards per game in the SIAC.
Straughan doesn't plan on leaving the field anytime soon. Not only does he plan on becoming a coach someday, he still has three years left at Stillman. And that is music to Coach Keaton's ears.
By the way, Josh has a brother Jake, who is also a talented QB for Colton High School. His sophomore year, he earned all-league and all-state as a receiver for catching 92 balls for 1,528 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Last year, as a junior, Jake played QB and earned all-league honors as well as all-state by scoring 53 TD's for 3,625 yards. He threw for 40 TD's for 2,814 yards and rushed for another 13 TD's for 811 yards. Jake will play QB this year for Colton and he just committed to play Division 1 basketball for the University of Idaho.
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