Skyview football: Zach Treinen profile

In late April, I interviewed Skyview QB Zach Treinen and we talked about the great season he had. Here is the article that will appear in Skyview football yearbook.

Zach

Treinen:

Hawks’ QB took his place and rose

to the occasion when it counted

By Bruce Smith

Matchup

            Zach Treinen waited for his chance to be quarterback at Skyview High School.
            A Hawks’ fan all his life, he was the backup to Hunter Hyde last year. He played a mopup role, getting action in four or five games during Skyview’s 8-3 season.
            “I would get in during the fourth quarter,” he recalled. “I was never told I would be the starting quarterback this year. I had to prove myself. At the start of the summer, I told myself that it was now or never and dedicated myself to football.”
            It paid off. Treinen said he felt jittery before Skyview’s first game at Fruitland. He wasn’t alone. After that, Skyview quickly showed its potential.
            “Zach was a kid who didn’t know what his role was, but he stuck with it,” said coach David Young. “This year, he owned it and had a great year. He exceeded all expectations.”
            He had some help, but Treinen can safely say he led Skyview to the lead title.
            “I felt we were very successful,” he said. “We proved everyone else wrong and were a forced to be reckoned with. Columbia came into the whole thing favored. They were the ones talking the most had a lot of publicity.
            “I learned a lot from Hunter. I told myself I had to be just as good or better. No slips.”
            Treinen stayed injury-free. In fact, he said he wasn’t sacked until the fifth game (Caldwell). He threw for 1,925 yards and completed 56 percent of his passes. He had 25 touchdowns and just nine interceptions.
            Despite those great statistics, he received only honorable mention all-SIC. Like several other
Skyview players, he fell under most coaches’ radars. His coaches recognized, him, though. At the post-season banquet, he joined Walker Ray in receiving the prestigious HAWK award. He also accepted a partial football scholarship to Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore.
            “My best game was against Emmett,” Treinen recalled. “We were unstoppable. I had five touchdowns (passes) in the first half. Emmett was undefeated in conference, too, and everyone was following them. We took it as a slap in the face. We knew we were better and shot them down.”
            Treinen was remembered more fondly, however, for his ability to step up. Against Middleton, the Hawks trailed 17-0 until Treinen led the team to three fourth-quarter touchdowns and a huge victory. Treinen said the play he’ll remember most was when he sidestepped a defender and fired an 8-yard pass to junior Lane Robbins for Skyview’s first score.
            “We couldn’t waste time. We picked up the pace,” he said. “It (the pass) got the crowd back into it and we surged from there.”
            As the team celebrated the homecoming victory, Treinen was interviewed by the Idaho Press-Tribune.
            “I won’t realize it until I wake up in the morning,” Treinen said. “Even though the score was 17-0, our defense was still stopping them. I knew I had to step it up and change my game.”
            The next week at Columbia, he changed it again. Skyview was locked in a defensive battle and the winner of the game was determined by who made the fewest mistakes.
            “We had high standards here,” Treinen said. “I couldn’t show that I was nervous. I had to hold it in and play. I had a lot of help.”
            Treinen’s help came in the form of Tanner Robison, who rushed for almost 1,500 yards and the team – as a whole – averaged 5.5 yards per carry. Treinen said he also had great receivers in Robbins, Walker Ray, Kacy Bonds, Robert Gold, Tanner Ashworth and more.
            “Lane was my go-to guy,” he said. “He was the guy I could count on. He has so much potential. I have high expectations for him next year and I told him that.”
            Skyview will have to find a guy to throw him the ball, and junior Anthony Marin is the heir-apparent. He’ll have to follow Treinen’s footsteps and work hard during the summer, be a leader through camp and raise his game when necessary.
            Hyde and Treinen proved it can be done. At Skyview, it’s part of what is expected.