Seamount Pierce: Tavita Pritchard born to play the game

Tavita Pritchard, Clover Park's 6-foot-4 senior quarterback, has grown up with football. His father played college football and now coaches at Clover Park, and his uncle is Jack Thompson, a legendary quarterback at Washington State. (STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES)

Tavita Pritchard is 7.

It's Friday night, his favorite night. He is the little one running around the sideline at Centralia High School. His dad is the Tigers' defensive coordinator, his uncle a former Cougars legend.

Tavita Pritchard is 7 years old, and already, the game has him.

Now he's 8, and it's the first day of football practice. Tavita follows the quarterbacks, because quarterback is what Uncle Jack played. Quarterback is cool.

Tavita Pritchard is 17. It's the first day of football practice for the Clover Park Warriors. Pritchard has grown from the young ball boy into one of the state's top high-school quarterbacks.

"I've loved football since the day I can remember," said Pritchard, who also plays basketball and baseball. "Friday nights have been the biggest nights of my life for as long I can remember."

Now a senior, Pritchard hopes the Warriors can build on last year's 6-5 season that ended one win short of a state-playoff berth with a loss to Kennedy in the district playoffs.

"It's a big senior class, and we're expecting the older guys to be the leaders of this team," said Pritchard, a second-team All-Seamount League quarterback last year. "It's my senior year, so I've got to get it done. The only stat I'm interested in is a zero in the loss column."

At 6 feet 4, with exceptional arm strength and a mind for the game, it's almost like Pritchard was born to be a quarterback. The truth is, he kind of was.

David Pritchard, Tavita's father and Clover Park's offensive coordinator, was a coach throughout Tavita's childhood. The elder Pritchard also played football at Clover Park before playing for Army and Washington State.

The desire to play quarterback, however, came from another family member, Jack Thompson. Tavita grew up hearing stories about his uncle's legendary career at Washington State. He saw pictures around the house of Thompson in a Tampa Bay Buccaneers uniform.

Quarterback sounded fun to Pritchard, so that's what he did.

Now people are starting to take notice. Several recruiting Web sites list Pritchard near the top of this year's quarterbacks class. Stanford has already offered him a scholarship, and several other schools, including Hawaii, Washington and Idaho have expressed interest.

He's leaning toward Stanford, though he hasn't decided.

"A Stanford education would be tough to pass up, although Hawaii does like to throw a lot," Pritchard said. And throwing a football is something Pritchard does exceptionally well. He passed for 2,235 yards and 24 touchdowns last season. He even thinks about passes in his sleep.

"Tavita sleeps with his right hand up like he's throwing a pass, but only during football season," says wide receiver Bryan Williams, who lives with the Pritchards and knows Tavita better than anyone. "I swear he does, but he'll deny it. He also calls out plays in his sleep."

Several other Clover Park players are regulars at the Pritchard house, building a team bond that's almost like family.

"I'm really anxious and excited. These guys are my brothers, and I can't wait to play this last year," said Pritchard, minutes after his team's first practice. "I'm getting antsy already for the season. I'm thinking, 'Let's go play tomorrow.' "

It's almost Friday. Tavita Pritchard can't wait.

John Boyle: jboyle@seattletimes.com