(Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune) South Summit quarterback Kael Atkinson during practice in Kamas, Utah Tuesday September 26, 2017.
Kamas • Kael Atkinson has more than a few reasons for an expanded ego.
The junior is the starting quarterback for South Summit, the top-ranked Class 2A football team in the state.
And even though this is his first year as the starter, Atkinson has blossomed in the role. He’s completing better than 70 percent of his passes and averaging 297 yards through six games.
But those around him at the Kamas school insist Atkinson actually is the least likely candidate to let pride hinder his development.
“He’s probably the humblest player I’ve ever played with,” said running back Jared Dansie, one of Atkinson’s closest friends as well as a frequent target for his passes. “He’s super-fun to be around. He’s a jokester — he loves to make jokes. He’s just a funny guy and super-kind to everybody, never putting anyone down.”
The Atkinsons are a fixture at South Summit, although Kael and his family live in the nearby town of Oakley. And when it comes to the extended family, all four of his grandparents are from the area.
“Great kid. Very, very coachable, humble,” South Summit coach Mike Grajek said. “I know those are clicheed answers, but that’s exactly right.”
Atkinson mostly was an efficient junior varsity quarterback in 2016. But when Wildcats starter Nick Beasley went down with an injury late in the regular season, Atkinson was summoned for a first-round playoff game against Enterprise.
KAEL ATKINSON <br>School • South Summit <br>Year • Junior <br>Position • Quarterback <br>2017 passing stats • 132 of 182 for 1,784 yards, 23 TDs, 3 INTs <br>2017 rushing stats • 27 carries for 182 yards, 1 TD
South Summit won that contest 55-23, but Atkinson’s time as varsity QB was cut short by a concussion, which kept him sidelined through the rest of the playoffs.
The Wildcats went on to beat San Juan in the semifinal round before falling to Beaver 55-35 in the Class 2A state championship game.
“For anybody, if you lose a state championship, it hits you hard,” he said. “You’ve been putting in work all summer, all throughout the fall and then you come up short.”
Atkinson has a theory about what went wrong against Beaver.
“I think we just came in with big heads, thinking it was going to be easy to beat these guys,” he said. “But Beaver’s a really good team.”
The Beavers started this season as Class 2A’s top-ranked team before South Summit beat them 30-7 on Sept. 8. Atkinson threw for 255 yards and two scores while adding 75 yards and a score on the ground in the win.
Atkinson already has racked up 1,784 yards passing, and his touchdown total of 23 is second in Utah only to American Fork’s Bronson Barron, who has thrown 25.
Grajek is even more proud of Atkinson’s touchdown-to-interception ratio as defenders only have picked off three of the quarterback’s 182 offerings this year.
About the only thing the South Summit coach would like to see from his junior signal-caller is a little more mass on his 6-foot-1, 170-pound body.
“We’ve got to beef him up. I want him to eat two extra peanut butter sandwiches a day,” Grajek said. “We’ve got to put a little more weight on him.”