Nice write up on HMB QB
- Thread starter GOTF
- Start date
Tomberlin works to improve on terrific season
Quarterback has busy offseason of Training and camps
Half Moon Bay High School will have a junior at quarterback in 2016, which would ordinarily signal a period of learning and the accompanying mistakes. But the Cougars’ QB is Gavin Tomberlin, who already has a full season of varsity starting experience on his resume.
“As a junior in high school, he has taken more reps than most college QBs,” Half Moon Bay coach Keith Holden said. “He’s been doing this a long time. I remember seeing him train as a little guy. Now those reps are paying off. He can put the ball wherever he wants to.”
Tomberlin is coming off a brilliant year in which he led the Cougars to an 11-2 record and a Central Coast Section Division V title. He threw for 1,308 yards with 18 touchdowns during the regular season.
One of his better efforts, ironically, came in a loss; he threw five touchdown passes in a setback against league champion Hillsdale.
“I was at ease that game —calm, collected and cool,” said Tomberlin, sounding like a veteran.
He only figures to get better. The left-hander has gotten taller (he’s 6-foot-1 now) and has packed on about 20 pounds of muscle through rigorous workouts at the high school and at Menlo Park’s Sparta Performance Science.
“The workouts there are the hardest I’ve ever done,” Tomberlin said. “I’ve been weightlifting and working out with a personal trainer. I’m in great shape.”
He has also continued throwing for quarterback coaches Mark Newton, who is also the Menlo School football coach, and Adam Tafralis, the former Mills High School and San Jose State University star who formerly played in the Canadian Football League. Tafralis retired from pro ball after his father, Gregg, was injured in the San Bruno PG&E pipeline explosion.
The offseason has been a maelstrom of activity. Tomberlin took part in an early workout of Trent Dilfer’s Elite 11 quarterback clinic. He did not advance past the initial workout in Richmond, but gained some valuable experience.
Tomberlin found Dilfer, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback and Aptos High School graduate, to be a character, calling out in a humorous way standouts he thought needed to improve.
“That was great,” Tomberlin said of the experience. “I got to meet a lot of new people and new coaches and see some amazing underclassmen and top prospects and see how good they are at making reads.”
Later there will be passing events and camps at the University of Redlands; University of California, Davis; Stanford; Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo; and Washington. It’s going to be a busy summer for Tomerlin, especially since he plans on playing basketball too.
Last year, Tomberlin attracted some attention on the hardwood for making a three-quarters-of-the-court shot in a junior varsity game, swishing it with a baseball-style heave.
“I’ll be looking for the ball at the buzzer,” Tomberlin quipped.
Both sides of Tomberlin’s family have been on the Coastside for at least four generations. Both are also athletic, with father Len having played football and basketball at Half Moon Bay High School and mother Denise playing softball until an injury ended her career.
Tomberlin’s sister Morgan was a basketball star at the high school. She now plays at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His first cousin is Grace Garcia, the star Half Moon Bay High School softball pitcher.
Asked what people don’t know about her son, Denise Tomberlin said: “He has natural athleticism, but he also pushes himself. He’s always doing something to get better. It doesn’t all come naturally.”
An ability to mimic what he sees has aided Tomberlin — and sometimes gotten him into trouble as a youth, like when the 4-year-old developed the habit of slapping his mom on her derriere after seeing his father do the same.
It was OK until young Gavin was in a supermarket with his mother and a lady in the checkout line was wearing a similar type of jeans as his mom, prompting him to almost give her a slap on the rump.
“I caught his arm in the nick of time,” Denise said. “That was the last time he did that.”
Quarterback has busy offseason of Training and camps
- Photo courtesy Tim Miller
Half Moon Bay High School will have a junior at quarterback in 2016, which would ordinarily signal a period of learning and the accompanying mistakes. But the Cougars’ QB is Gavin Tomberlin, who already has a full season of varsity starting experience on his resume.
“As a junior in high school, he has taken more reps than most college QBs,” Half Moon Bay coach Keith Holden said. “He’s been doing this a long time. I remember seeing him train as a little guy. Now those reps are paying off. He can put the ball wherever he wants to.”
Tomberlin is coming off a brilliant year in which he led the Cougars to an 11-2 record and a Central Coast Section Division V title. He threw for 1,308 yards with 18 touchdowns during the regular season.
One of his better efforts, ironically, came in a loss; he threw five touchdown passes in a setback against league champion Hillsdale.
“I was at ease that game —calm, collected and cool,” said Tomberlin, sounding like a veteran.
He only figures to get better. The left-hander has gotten taller (he’s 6-foot-1 now) and has packed on about 20 pounds of muscle through rigorous workouts at the high school and at Menlo Park’s Sparta Performance Science.
“The workouts there are the hardest I’ve ever done,” Tomberlin said. “I’ve been weightlifting and working out with a personal trainer. I’m in great shape.”
He has also continued throwing for quarterback coaches Mark Newton, who is also the Menlo School football coach, and Adam Tafralis, the former Mills High School and San Jose State University star who formerly played in the Canadian Football League. Tafralis retired from pro ball after his father, Gregg, was injured in the San Bruno PG&E pipeline explosion.
The offseason has been a maelstrom of activity. Tomberlin took part in an early workout of Trent Dilfer’s Elite 11 quarterback clinic. He did not advance past the initial workout in Richmond, but gained some valuable experience.
Tomberlin found Dilfer, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback and Aptos High School graduate, to be a character, calling out in a humorous way standouts he thought needed to improve.
“That was great,” Tomberlin said of the experience. “I got to meet a lot of new people and new coaches and see some amazing underclassmen and top prospects and see how good they are at making reads.”
Later there will be passing events and camps at the University of Redlands; University of California, Davis; Stanford; Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo; and Washington. It’s going to be a busy summer for Tomerlin, especially since he plans on playing basketball too.
Last year, Tomberlin attracted some attention on the hardwood for making a three-quarters-of-the-court shot in a junior varsity game, swishing it with a baseball-style heave.
“I’ll be looking for the ball at the buzzer,” Tomberlin quipped.
Both sides of Tomberlin’s family have been on the Coastside for at least four generations. Both are also athletic, with father Len having played football and basketball at Half Moon Bay High School and mother Denise playing softball until an injury ended her career.
Tomberlin’s sister Morgan was a basketball star at the high school. She now plays at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His first cousin is Grace Garcia, the star Half Moon Bay High School softball pitcher.
Asked what people don’t know about her son, Denise Tomberlin said: “He has natural athleticism, but he also pushes himself. He’s always doing something to get better. It doesn’t all come naturally.”
An ability to mimic what he sees has aided Tomberlin — and sometimes gotten him into trouble as a youth, like when the 4-year-old developed the habit of slapping his mom on her derriere after seeing his father do the same.
It was OK until young Gavin was in a supermarket with his mother and a lady in the checkout line was wearing a similar type of jeans as his mom, prompting him to almost give her a slap on the rump.
“I caught his arm in the nick of time,” Denise said. “That was the last time he did that.”
