TURNER — Eric Theiss doesn’t get flustered easily. His stomach isn’t a safe haven for butterflies.

But then, how much damage could butterflies do to a guy who had a hand in three touchdowns in just one half while on the verge of vomiting because of a flu?  

“He’s a kid that doesn’t get rattled,” his father, Jim Theiss said. ” (Coach) Mike (Hathaway) has a calming effect on a lot of the kids, and Eric’s got a lot of trust in these kids playing with him. They’ve grown up playing football the same way.”  

From the time he was a four-year-old on his father’s shoulders watching Leavitt win the 1995 state championship, the Hornets’ senior quarterback has been waiting for Saturday’s Eastern Class B championship (1:30 p.m., Leavitt Area High School). Gardiner is the only thing standing between Theiss and his own state title game.

Theiss put on his fever-pitched performance against the Tigers three weeks ago. Joe Montana once shook off the affects of the flu to lead Notre Dame to a second half comeback in the Cotton Bowl, but Theiss didn’t wait until the second half. He threw a touchdown and ran for two more in the first half, including one score where he scooped up his punt after it was blocked and scrambled to the end zone.

Senior tailback Josh Strickland has become more and more a focal point of Leavitt’s offense since shaking off an early-season hamstring injury. But, if anything, Theiss has become more dangerous with defenses concentrating on the talented runner. The consummate double threat in the Hornets’ spread offense, he has rushed for 820 yards (at 11.6 yards per carry) and 14 touchdowns. He’s passed for another 1,134 yards and 12 TDs. 

Theiss downplays his own contributions. Playing on the most prolific offense in the state (49 points per game) opens opportunities for everyone, he said.

“We use everyone here, so it takes a little pressure off me,” he said.  

Directing such an explosive offense as the quarterback can add some of that pressure back, though, especially if the QB feels the need to keep all of the weapons at his disposal happy. 

“To be honest with you, he can’t think of it that way. That’s something we’ve talked about,” Hathaway said. “Sometimes in the summer, in 7-on-7, he starts thinking ‘Well, I’m going to throw it to this guy on this play,’ and that really defeats the purpose of what we’re doing. When we’re running the option and we’re running the combo routes in the passing game, it’s his job to read the defense and make the right throw, no matter who the guy is.”  

“I think we’re pretty close,” Theiss said of his relationship with Hathaway. “He can count on me and I can count on him. He used to be a quarterback himself, so he knows what he’s talking about and I respect him a lot.”

Theiss follows in the footsteps of Tyler Angell and Evan Barker. Like them, he was introduced to varsity football on defense as a sophomore, then took over the signal-calling duties as a junior.

Perhaps just as important to his development as a quarterback in Leavitt’s offense was his experience running the ball in youth football. Coached by his father and Dave Bochtler, now both varsity assistants, Theiss started out playing quarterback, then moved to running back alongside Strickland.

“We moved him to the backfield just to get him the ball more,” Jim Theiss said. “We actually ran the wishbone back then with him and Josh. It was a pretty good 1-2 punch.”

It still is. While Strickland was racking up 265 yards on the ground in the semifinal win over Hampden Academy, Theiss threw the ball a season-low four times, but still scored two rushing touchdowns.

Theiss appreciates the heat his good friend, Strickland, takes off of him.

“It’s kind of nice when they’re keying on Strickland,” he said. “I don’t get beat up as much.”

“I just do my job the best that I can,” he added. “Just like everyone else would do.”