Noah Andrews is a most versatile player for Tumwater High football

No. 23 gets his name called plenty often by the Tumwater High School football coaching staff.

At the beginning of the season, Noah Andrews was listed on the T-Birds roster as a quarterback on offense, and a free safety on defense.

But the roster doesn’t exactly account for the laundry list of positions that Andrews actually plays.

“We get a lot from him — quarterback, wingback, halfback, punt, kick — that’s the kind of player we’re dealing with right now,” Tumwater coach Sid Otton said. “He’s getting better and better. As the season has progressed, I like how he’s worked harder at things.”

Now a junior, Andrews became a chameleon on the football field in his freshman season.

“When I was growing up, I played running back and quarterback, and when I came here, they put me at safety,” he said. “Ever since then, I’ve been starting both ways.”

Andrews is a two-time, all-2A Evergreen Conference first teamer at defensive back and has tallied 30 tackles and three interceptions this season.

And when he’s not preventing touchdowns, he’s contributing to Tumwater’s juggernaut offense, which has racked up 522 points this season.

Andrews has 744 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns — eight rushing, one receiving and one passing.

“He had a lot to learn, because we demand a lot of him,” Otton said. “And, I think as we’ve gone along, his effort and what he’s doing is really, really good.”

So, does he ever sit out a play?

“Not really,” Andrews said. “You just have to stay conditioned. You’ve got your energy going the whole game.”

And he means the whole game — offense, defense, even special teams. In the third phase, he kicks off and punts.

Of his 63 kickoffs this season, 28 have landed in or beyond the end zone for touchbacks. He averages 55.1 yards per kick.

And of the 13 times in 11 games that the T-Birds have been forced to punt, Andrews has kicked 10 at a 33.6-yard average. His longest is 64 yards.

“I played soccer as a kid, but other than that I don’t really have an idea of where that came from,” he said.

Call it versatility.

Andrews admits, though, that his endurance could be tested Saturday when the No. 1 T-Birds (11-0) travel to Civic Stadium in Bellingham to play No. 2 Squalicum (11-0).

The second-half breather that Andrews is used to — Tumwater has scored 47 first-half touchdowns this season to its opponents’ eight — might not come.

“Beating teams by a lot, you kind of get out early,” he said. “But this game’s definitely going to be one of those games where you have to stay conditioned, because it’s not going to be a blowout.”

The teams also met in the Class 2A state quarterfinals last season. Tumwater knocked out the Storm, 59-33.

And Andrews could come face-to-face with a similar player.

Like Andrews, Squalicum wide receiver Ben Peterson (32 catches, 724 yards, 13 total touchdowns) threatens in all three phases — as a safety, special teams returner and Wildcat quarterback.

“They’re both very athletic — I’d like to have both on my team,” Squalicum coach Nick Lucey said. “When they get the ball in their hands, they make a lot of things happen. They play on offenses where they’re not necessarily the No. 1 weapon — and that’s scary.”

Peterson is one option the Storm will use to try to stymie Tumwater’s defense — which gives up an average of 11 points per game — but Andrews is in the business of preventing that.

“Their passing game is obviously going to be working with (Peterson) and (WSU commit Josiah Westbrook),” Andrews said. “We just have to shut down their passing game.”

No problem. It’s just another role for Andrews to fill.

“They use him a lot of different ways, and he’s a heck of a player on both sides of the ball and on special teams,” Lucey said.

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 11:39 PM with the headline "Noah Andrews is a most versatile player for Tumwater High football."