Northern League MVP Blake Truhitte led the Santa Maria High School football program to new heights. The Saints posted a historical and untraditional winning season from a quarterback with an untraditional football background.
Truhitte has been playing basketball and baseball since he was a child but didn’t step onto the gridiron until he reached high school.
"My freshman year, I went out for the team. I was actually a linebacker, an outside backer. One day after practice, I was just throwing the ball, me and teammate were just messing around throwing the ball. The next day, they needed a scout quarterback," recalls Truhitte.
Not only is he newer to football than most of his peers, he stands at 5’7" and 140 pounds – not quite the ideal height and weight for a quarterback or a basketball player.
"There’s been people who’ve said, ‘Oh you won’t go to the next level.’ When they hear me talking about playing college basketball they say, ‘You’re not big enough’, this and that," said Truhitte. "Actually, my basketball coached instilled in me that you don’t need to be 6’4" to jump out of buildings and to play at the next level. You just want it and work for it. That’s what I was able to do with football; we worked hard and we wanted it. And when you work for something, you get the results you want."
His results:
Leading the Saints to its first Northern League title since 1988.
Leading the Saints to its first playoff win since 1994.
Leading the Saints to its first CIF Southern Section Championship game at home in school history.
Leading all California high school quarterbacks in rushing and with 56 touchdowns, Truhitte is the only quarterback in the state with more than 2,000 passing and 2,000 rushing yards.
The senior tributes his parents to athletic successes. "They’ve done a lot for me. They instilled me to be a good young man, respectful, responsible, and that carries out here to the football field," said Truhitte.
