Football all in the family for Kentwood quarterback

Being a quarterback runs in Justin Seiber’s family.

“My dad played quarterback in high school,” the Kentwood High School senior said. “My uncle played quarterback. It taught me how to throw. I started throwing and was able to do it pretty well. I enjoyed it, so I decided to just keep going with it.”

Seiber started playing football when he was young.

“I used to play flag football,” he said. “I have always been the quarterback all throughout my whole life.”

The 6-foot-3½-inch, 185-pound Seiber also played baseball and basketball, but now his focus is on football.

“It’s just the best game out there – how competitive it is, how much work you have to put in but your reward for putting in that work,” he said.

The Conquerors quarterback was named the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association 4A boys Athlete of the Week for Sept. 3-9. Seiber completed 35 of 57 pass attempts for 334 yards and four touchdowns in Kentwood’s 38-28 loss to Edmonds-Woodway on Sept. 7.

“It is just awesome to be recognized like that,” Seiber said of the honor. “I’m glad the hard work has paid off and excited that my team could help me. I wouldn’t be here without them.”

The Conquerors are off to a 2-2 start this season. They take on Hazen in a North Puget Sound League Cascade Division game at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29, at Renton Memorial Stadium.

So far this season, Seiber has put on big numbers, completing 92 of 142 passes for 1,302 and 16 touchdowns with only two interceptions in four games. He opened the season with a seven-touchdown-pass performance in Kentwood’s 58-29 rout of Glacier Peak at Sammamish.

“We are just coming off a loss, but we have high expectations,” Seiber said of his team’s 24-20 fall to Tahoma last Friday. Seiber completed 22 of 34 passes for 252 yards in the tough loss at Maple Valley. “We are looking to bounce back. I definitely think we can.”

This year, Kentwood hopes to win a playoff game, Seiber said.

“We have won (the division) about five years in a row,” he said. “We have always been a really good team in our league, but we haven’t won a playoff game in a while. So that has been our focus, getting to the playoffs and getting that win.”

This season, Seiber is one of the team’s captains.

“It’s awesome feeling like I have a chance to make an impact and lead my team,” he said. “I like to think I lead by example, putting in the work at practice and helping players with their film and breaking plays down and helping them know what they are doing. That is where I feel like I really help our team.”

Seiber said he hopes to continue his football career and play at the college level.

“I am talking to some coaches right now,” he said. “I am definitely interested.”