Jamarrius Courtney's football journey is bringing him back home
Jamarrius Courtney has always been a quarterback, with a penchant to run.
He scored the first touchdown of his life — a long QB scramble — at 6 years old. His life to date has been brought full circle by football.
"It was definitely an up and down journey," he said.
Courtney is originally from north Minneapolis. He played for three Minnesota high schools. Now, he's the starting quarterback at Crown College, with a bunch of stops along the way.
"I played at (Robbinsdale) Cooper and then I played at Benilde (St. Margaret's). And I played at Chaska my last year. Graduated there and went from there," said Courtney. "Not far. Not far at all. Definitely wanted to stay in my hometown. Stay at home this time."
Because home became Chaska, his last prep stop. He balled out for the Hawks, which caught the attention of local coaches at the next level, including Crown's Anthony Franz.
"Oh man, so we recruited Jamarrius out of high school and he told us no and went somewhere else," said Franz. "But we recruited him twice and got him after he left the junior college. We had kept a relationship and kept a close eye on him, knowing that he was the kind of quarterback that we were interested in."
Courtney elected the junior college route. spending the last two seasons at Iowa Central.
"Didn't really play a lot," he said. "Helped the guys get prepared for games and stuff, was really in the weight room. Learned from other guys, got my degree and came here."
Back to Minnesota and St. Bonifacius. A dual-threat quarterback who has already made an early-season splash with the Polars.
"Having a guy that stresses defense in the run game and in the pass is vital to our success," said Franz. "He does it at a really high level. I got multiple texts from in-conference schools saying, 'Who's the new Q?' So, it's real exciting to watch him run the ball and throw the ball."
Courtney's new school is 20 minutes away from his last high school. Coincidentally and unknowingly, he is neighbors in Chaska with his new head coach.
"I just figured that out when he was recruiting me," laughed Courtney. "I never knew that he was that close. I don't know how we didn't run into each other either, I usually jog around that area. I never seen him. It's crazy."