Jack Schneider and Ty Olsen have been playing pitch and catch at Del Norte High School for three years. Sometimes Schneider, the Nighthawks’ senior quarterback, and Olsen, his go-to junior receiver, communicate on the field with just a nod of the head.
They sit next to each other in offensive meetings, are teammates when they hit the beach and play Spikeball, and confide in each other in all matters non-football.
“They’re brothers, that’s how tight they are,” said Eric Olsen, Ty’s father, and Del Norte’s wide receivers coach. “They’re together all the time. They squabble like brothers, come together like brothers.”
In its 14th season, Del Norte won the school’s first San Diego Section football championship on Saturday, dominating La Jolla 31-15 in the Division 2 title game. After the win, near midnight, the team, packed in two buses, pulled up to the In-N-Out in Carmel Mountain Ranch and celebrated by ordering 80 double-doubles.
Besides a late-night food run, Del Norte is being rewarded with its first state playoff game when the Nighthawks (11-2) play host to Lake Balboa Birmingham (11-2) in the Southern California Regional 3-AA championship game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Schneider and Olsen have had more than a little to do with Del Norte’s success. The 6-foot, 180-pound Schneider has completed 170 of 248 es (69 percent) for 2,416 yards and 23 touchdowns. He has been intercepted just three times.
“He can make all the difficult throws, the deep outs, throwing (across the field) from one hashmark, the hole shots (when a quarterback must drop the ball between a cornerback and safety),” said Del Norte coach Nick Barnett, a former Green Bay Packers linebacker in his first year as a head coach.
“And he protects the ball very well.”
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Olsen has caught 71 es for 1,248 yards and 15 TDs. One out of every 4.7 catches winds up in the end zone.
“I think’s going to be one of the top Division I talents (in college),” said Barnett. “He was born and bred to play this game. He practices hard, plays hard, prepares hard and is a tough kid.”
Before the 2021 season, Olsen was a freshman and Schneider a sophomore, both starters on a senior-laden team. The program had been dismal the previous two seasons, posting a combined 2-13-1 record.
“We were the youngest guys on the team,” said Ty Olsen.
“They bonded instantly,” said Eric Olsen. “And instantly had chemistry.”
The pair helped lead Del Norte to 7-5 seasons the past two years. Now, a section championship banner will be hung in the gymnasium.
“(Winning a title) for the first time, it’s really cool,” said Schneider. “Something we’ll forever.”
Two weeks after the past two seasons ended, Schneider and Olsen would begin working on routes. By summer, along with other teammates, they’d be practicing, away from the coaching staff, 2-3 times a week, plus playing in at least 10 seven-on-seven tournaments.
Play 37 games together, endure hundreds of practices, spend hours in the weight room and complete thousands of es, and a quarterback and receiver get to know each other. The Nighthawks often line up in what’s called a 3-by-1 — three receivers to one side, a solo receiver on the other. Olsen is often lined up solo, the formation designed to draw him one-on-one coverage.
Seeing that Olsen has drawn man coverage, the pair often nod their heads in each other’s direction at the line of scrimmage.
“I know I’m going to him,” said Schneider. “And he knows it.”
Schneider is fleet of foot, having rushed for 797 yards in his career and 16 TDs.
“When he’s scrambling, he knows I’m going to try to sit down and find the open spot,” said Olsen. “If he takes off, I find somebody to block.”
As best friends will do, they poke fun at each other. Schneider its Olsen reigns at the video game Fortnite.
“I destroy him,” said the wide receiver.
In offseason workouts, they’ll occasionally flip the script, Schneider running routes, Olsen flinging the ball.
“He claims he was an all-star quarterback in seventh grade,” said Schneider. “I don’t know about that.”
“I could chuck it,” said Olsen.
Replied Schneider: “His skills have definitely fallen off.”
They both serve on the Associated Student Body. They discuss serious matters, relationships, family, even potential prom dates.
“We’ve had that discussion,” Olsen said. “He’s my go-to person.”
Both plan to play college football. Eric Olsen played wide receiver at San Pasqual High School and Colorado State, where he caught 80 es The Rams have offered his son a scholarship. The expectation is that after next year he’ll land at a Power Five conference school.
Schneider has drawn offers from Benedictine College (NAIA) and Adams State (Division II).
“I want a school that’s heavily invested in football and also invested in academics,” said Schneider, who has earned a 3.92 GPA.
College, though, can wait.
Sitting in a Del Norte classroom, about to watch practice film, Olsen said, “What we’ve accomplished, it feels good, but we’re not done. We want to win state.”
