High school football: Jacobs’ Joey Price proves to be fast learner

ALGONQUIN – Nick Zonta used to look at his massive friend, Joey Price, on the basketball court in middle school and wonder what could be.

Zonta played football. Price, at that point, played only basketball.

“I thought, ‘If we can’t get a guy like this out on the field, we’re going to have some problems,’ ” said Zonta, a senior offensive and defensive lineman at Jacobs.

Zonta and his buddies kept urging Price, who was far bigger than everyone else, to try football. Finally, before his junior year of high school, Price decided to give football a shot, which quickly opened a door for his future.

After only one season playing football, Price (6-foot-8, 325 pounds) has provided the Golden Eagles a force on the offensive line and assured himself that his college education will be paid for. He has nine NCAA Division I scholarship offers, with Illinois, Iowa State, Minnesota and West Virginia among his favorites.

“If you had told me this is where I was going to be a year ago, I probably wouldn’t have believed you,” Price said. “I didn’t believe a lot of guys who always told me I could do great things if I tried football. I started off slow, learning a different sport. It was hard at first. As the weeks went on, it got easier and easier. Then I came back this year with more confidence. I knew what I was doing.”

Jacobs coach Bill Mitz marvels at how far Price has come in one year of football. He plans on using Price on some defensive downs this year along with his spot at offensive tackle.

“That’s tough for any guy who does [football] his first year,” Mitz said. “First-year varsity player period, especially when it’s his first year playing football. There’s nothing inrooted in him at all. There’s tremendous upside with Joey. He just gets better and better every day out there.”

Mitz believes that upside, even though Price still is new to football, is why college coaches are so attracted.

“When he first got here, trying to get him in a stance took 20 minutes,” Zonta said. “Now, he’s got one of the better pass sets I’ve seen. His footwork has come a long way. I like the way he’s come along as far as his footwork goes.”

Price’s gains in strength and agility, along with knowledge, have combined to give him the necessary confidence.

“It was hard because the first time doing something, you want to know, ‘Am I doing this right?’ ” he said. “You wonder if you made the right decision. You second-guess yourself the first time you’re doing it. It takes a while to learn it. You have to come back and know what you’re doing and be confident in that.”

Price visited Illinois, Iowa State and Minnesota this summer. He also made an unofficial visit to Northern Illinois. He wants to visit West Virginia sometime soon.

Price made big increases in his three power lifts this offseason. He deadlifted 620 pounds, squatted 345 and increased his bench press from 225 to 315. He was most proud of the bench press.

“I worked most on conditioning and footwork,” he said. “I’m trying to get bigger and stronger, more stamina, so I can last longer in games.”

Price appreciates his friends’ persistent pushes toward a new sport.

“I think it was the camaraderie [that sold him],” Zonta said. “When people are around him and he’s in a public atmosphere, he excels. So being on a football team and everyone rallying around him, and us playing for each other, really turns him on.”

Mitz said Price is just getting started.

“He’s improved immensely. It’s just going to get better and better,” Mitz said. “Some guys have been playing football a long time. What you see is what you get. To him, there’s tremendous upside because the sky’s the limit.”