Jonathan Dartez is a dual-threat quarterback for Vermilion Catholic in Abbeville, Louisiana. Dartez takes the term dual-threat to new heights with his style of play and is one of the most exciting players to watch across the state. He is a 5’9, 165-pound complete athlete who excels in 3 different sports and is a proven winner on the football field. Last season, he finished the year totaling just over 1,500 passing yards with 19 passing touchdowns to pair with the yards. That was just the first half of his impressive season stat line because he also ran for over 1,800 rushing yards and found the endzone 28 times using his legs.
Dartez is a 4-year starter after being thrown into the offense midway through his freshman season due to the injured starting quarterback. Through his 4 years, he has amassed record-breaking amounts of all-purpose yards and has been a huge piece of the program. He started this season holding the school record for points scored and touchdowns. During the first 4 games of his final season, he has already claimed the other records for total yards and rushing yards, making him a Vermilion Catholic legend for years to come. His performance has earned him Class 1A All-State first-team honors the past 2 seasons. In only his sophomore year, he led the team on an undefeated run to the state championship where it would come to an end vs Ouachita Christian. They would follow up the next season going undefeated in the regular season but losing in the semifinals. They have started this season as dominant as ever, sitting 5-0 on the season right now and looking like it will be another undefeated playoff run for his last year hopefully all the way to the championship.
Check out his full-season highlights from last year here:
Check out my interview with Jonathan below:
Who is your favorite NFL/College player that you try to model your game after?
Tim Tebow. I loved how he played at Florida. Just reallly being a QB that doesn’t slide and runs over people, he was an aggrresive guy and just how he led his team. That’s the kind of leader I want to be.
What’s your favorite thing about playing quarterback?
Everyone feeds off your energy. If you are angry, everyone else is angry. That’s why you have to keep a consistent mood when you are coming into a game because you are what everyone feeds off of. So I think that’s probably my favorite part, the leadership role in being a QB.
As a 4-year starter, how has that experience benefitted you in developing your skills?
It helped my mindset, not in terms of getting nervous but not being scared to make mistakes. You know, I still get nervous before games but being nervous to make a mistake is different. I am not really that nervous to make a mistake anymore because I know that there are going to be more drives in a game and to be a good quarterback/football player, you have to have an open mind and just be loose and comfortable in the game.
While your position is listed as a quarterterback, while I was watching your film, I saw that your game is nothing close to a traditional pocket quarterback. How does you having the dual-threat skills to make a play on your own, whenever needed, help the team?
If you’re a defense facing us and on a pass play, you cover every single pass route right and then you see a QB tuck the ball and go 10 yards, that really messes with a defensive coordinator and the defense’s attitude during the game. So I think that for defenses to always have to say “be sure you watch if he tucks the ball” and just always having me in mind in terms of the rushing game, I think that opens up our receivers a lot more and gets them opportunities.
So looking back over your HS career so far, what has been your favorite game and what made it your favorite?
I’m going to say last year, when we played Ascension Catholic. I think we were down 22-0 in the second quarter and that was during a playoff game where we actually came back and won that game. That’s probably the craziest game that I have been apart of. Especially when we were down 22-0, no one was blaming anybody else. If you were on the sideline, you would think that we were winning 22-0. So I think that was probably easily my favorite game just how we bounced back and were able to get the big win.
How have the coaches and players around you at VC helped you improve to be the best that you can be?
I think they never let me be complacent and I do the same thing with them. I grew up with all the people that are playing with me right now, so they know my competitiveness and I know theirs’. We are all tight to where they still can joke around with me, so if I am in practice, making bad reads, they will start joking around asking “is this the guy that’s all-state?” And then I’ll throw it back at them when they miss a tackle on defense, so just little things like that. Especially in the weight room too, my friend Allen, he’s my tight end, he’s always looking at what I’m benching or squatting and always puts a little bit more just to get me mad. Stuff like that allows me to never become complacent, so I thank them for that.
Entering your senior year, coming off such a dominant season leading up to a loss in the semifinals, what are some personal/team goals you look to accomplish this year?
One of the personal goals was to beat the rushing record and I got that last week actually. Team goal: Honestly I think we have put it in everyone’s mind that it is to win a championship and it’s really nothing else. Another goal is to get better watching film and in my leadership role. Saying the right things to my teammates and sometimes not saying anything beacuse that’s the best thing to say in some moments. So those are the 2 things that really are my goals moving forward.
You guys have started the season off 4-0, what is something that has been working well this season and what’s something the team can improve on?
I think what’s working well is that we are really a team, eveyrone loves each other and wants to see the best out of each other. I think just the morale of the team is very high right now. Only thing I think we could get better on is not taking everyday for granted, like it’s just another day. It’s another day to get better, another day to work, and sometimes I fall short of that, my teammates fall short of that, but that’s just something that’s always a theme at VC a little bit. You get excited for the first couple of games and then when u start winning, like in everything, you get satisfied with just winning and think that’s good enough, but realistically it’s not. We need to be at our best in week 15 and right now we are not, so that’s one thing that us seniors are trying to put into the younger guys.
Last question: I see that you have received first-team honors for your skills in basketball and baseball as well, how long have you been playing all of them and which one is your favorite to play?
This is probably going to sound crazy but I really love playing baseball. Football and baseball are my top 2, basketball is right there. I’ve been playing baeball my whole life. Like I said earlier, I’ve been playing with the same group of guys, so the people on my team now were on my baseball travel team growing up. So we’ve always been together, we’ve always stuck with baseball and that’s a sport that I really got to meet lots of people from different schools. Football is the same thing. I love baseball, but waking up on a football gameday and just feeling those nerves going into a game, beacuse you only get 10 guaranteed, so those games and the community watching you it feels like more.
But I actually don’t know if I am better at football. I think I am more accomplished at football, but baseball I am right there too.
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