Labas is a competitive playmaker
Brecksville-Broadview Heights quarterback Joey Labas played his best football late in his senior season. We caught up with his head coach, Martin Poder, to talk to him about Labas' skill set, his recruiting switch, and much more.
Q: How would you describe him overall as a football player?
PODER: I would just say that he is very competitive. It is a quiet competitiveness because he has a little different of a personality off the field. During that time, he is more even keel. From a pure athletic perspective, he is one of the most athletic kids I’ve ever coached. He can do a lot. He is very smart with his understanding of what defenses are trying to do and where to place the ball.
Q: What do you feel are his main strengths at this point?
PODER: As a quarterback, it is just his overall athleticism. He is a true pro-style quarterback who can also run. Athleticism wise, I have told a lot of people that playing multiple sports with basketball and being a shortstop has helped him tremendously. He has a tight compact release that allows him to get the ball out quicker. With his ball placement, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a curl or a fade. He throws kids open.
Q: What separates him from his peers to get the type of attention and honors that he has received?
PODER: He is the type of kid that if healthy my first year here when he was a sophomore, he would have helped us win four or five games. He is truly a difference maker at the high school. When he walks into a room, his peers gravitate towards him. You just know it when you see it. He carries himself with confidence and our coaches and kids all feel very confident about having him out there.
Q: What type of season did he end up having?
PODER: Good. We had a truncated season and were only able to play six games instead of our regular ten games before starting a weird playoff system. We ended up going 7-2 overall and lost in the regional semifinals game to a team that has been to five straight regional finals. He did well. We are not huge statistical people, but he had the numbers in nine games that he did the year before in eleven games. There was a three-week period towards the end of the year where he completed 80% of his passes and threw for 1,000 yards. He was really dialed in and it was during the last week of the regular season and the playoffs. The best players show up then and he played his best football then.
Q: How would you describe his unique recruiting process after having been committed to Ball State?
PODER: I was coaching in the same conference as him and you knew there was a quarterback in Brecksville with potential. He started as a freshman before I got here and was on people’s radars. He was very tall and lean, almost too lean at 140-150 pounds as a freshman. People would say they want to see another year and I got here during his sophomore year. The offensive system went from throwing 40-50 times a game to more of an RPO based system that colleges run. Unfortunately, injuries happened and schools both locally and nationally forgot about him. Going into his junior year, he went to camps and started getting Mid-American conference interest. During his junior year, we went from being 0-10 the year before to being the most improved team in the state and a big part of that was him coming back.
After the season, there was a day in January I’ll never forget where Ball State and Iowa both came in on the same day. Ball State came in during the morning and watched him throw. Coach O’Keefe swung by at 11 and met him before staying in town to watch him play basketball that night. A pandemic hit a month and a half later so there was never a true spring evaluation or a camp circuit. The biggest thing for him is that he wanted to find the right fit. He didn’t want to win Signing Day. He wanted to find a school that he was comfortable at. With the Mid American schools, he felt most comfortable with Ball State. That was the best fit for him, and he really liked their coaching staff.
During that time, Iowa remained in communication, but they had never seen him throw. We ended up getting Joe to do a virtual throwing session once things started opening up a bit with the Iowa staff. We couldn’t do it in person so we were trying to get the angles where they could watch. I think that was the final piece. I think at the quarterback position, you are looking for those skills and the leadership. People get enamored with the skill set, but they looked a lot at his character and personality. He really got to know Coach O’Keefe and Coach Ferentz during that time. He felt that they wanted him for the right reasons. Other schools started recruiting him during that time, but he knew he was going to sign with either Ball State or Iowa. And he felt most comfortable in the end with Iowa.
A three-star prospect, Labas finished the season 167/246 passing (67.9%) for 2,349 yards with 16 touchdowns and three interceptions. He also had 190 yards rushing and six touchdowns on the ground for Brecksville-Broadview Heights (7-2).
See highlights from Labas' senior year in the video below.