Jake Fromm and Tobias Oliver: different, except for success
There are so many differences.
Jake Fromm is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound Caucasian, Tobias Oliver is a 6-foot-1, 175-pound African-American.
Fromm has averaged 29 pass attempts a game in his career at Houston County, Oliver 12 at Northside.
Oliver has run the ball 13 times a game for the Eagles, Fromm about four times a game.
Oliver has broken opponents’ hearts with travel by ground in the Eagles’ read-option offense, Fromm by air finding targets all over the field.
Fromm is media savvy, a trait that started when he was part of the last Warner Robins American Little League team to reach the Little League World Series, in 2012.
Oliver is your normal teenager, with all that encompasses when around other teenagers, yet he pretty much clamps up around adults, especially if they ask him to talk about himself.
Fromm accepts and handles the attention, while Oliver tries to avoid attention like a blitzing linebacker and post-practice running.
All those differences, and they are tied together by one thing: supreme and phenomenal success.
And on the high school level, their unspoken rivalry — part of the very spoken Northside-Houston County rivalry — comes to an end Friday night when they meet at Freedom Field.
With Oliver starting, and he took over the spot three days before the season opener his sophomore year, Northside is 31-4. One of those was in the GHSA Class 5A state title game in 2014, beating Mays 25-18.
And the Bears have become something of a state brand since Fromm took over during his freshman year, going him 29-7 the past three years with him as the full-time starter (the Bears won both of his starts his freshman year, when he played in every game).
Those who have followed the Bears and Eagles the past few years have enjoyed a treat that doesn’t show up very often in a community in a lifetime, watching a pair of legends do their thing.
Obviously, the final game for the pair, whenever they are, will be followed by long faces for their head coaches and assistant coaches and longtime fans.
Oliver has started 35 games, 40.1 percent of Kevin Kinsler’s games as head coach at Northside.
Fromm has led the way for Von Lassiter even more, in his third year as the full-time starter after splitting time as a freshman with Taylor Boyett. He has played in every game at Houston County that Lassiter has coached at Houston County.
None of the parties involved are much about hype and comparisons and legacy entering this final meeting.
Two quarterbacks in one county have, as starters, combined to lead their teams to win 84.5 percent of the time.
One quarterback will go down as one of the best in state history, ranking in the top two in passing yards and touchdown passes for his career, having played a tremendous role in turning a so-so program into a statewide name. And, of course, he was introduced to the sports world as a Little League baseball player.
He is by far the county’s most prolific quarterback, obviously, in those stats, as well as one of the most notable and highly recruited athletes in any sport in Middle Georgia history. After all, Alabama and Nick Saban were happily ready to welcome him during his junior season. And Georgia Tech’s stellar baseball program was ready for him as a sophomore.
And one quarterback took over as a sophomore at a program of state prominence. The last sophomore quarterback in this county storied for football to lead his team to a state championship?
Mark Wright at Warner Robins in 2004. Oliver is the second.
Marquez Ivory and Northside won 30 straight games and two state titles in 2006-07.
The quarterbacks of record for Warner Robins’ titles in 1976, 1981, 1988 and 2004 were Jay Griffin, Keith Soles, Eric McDowell and Wright.
Of the public school state title quarterbacks from the county, Oliver is first in rushing yards (2,609) and rushing touchdowns (32), second in passing touchdowns (26) and total offense (5,072) and third in passing yards (2,393).
He also caught a touchdown pass this season, perhaps not his last.
It’s highly unlikely either one is very aware of all that information, since conversations or interviews tend to veer back to one thing:
Winning.
Getting here
Attention found Fromm during those Little League days. Take, for example, this Bleacher Report story in 2011 on “Five players you’ll remember from the 2011 Little League World Series.”
It was only two sentences, but a start: “Jake Fromm finished the tournament with three home runs and eight RBI. His talent, though, was further exemplified through his pitching prowess, striking out 11 of the 18 batters he faced.
Another story that week noted his braces. And then there were the ESPN intros, where each player introduced himself and his favorite player. Fromm’s? Teammate Dillon Strickland, who years later – last spring –came up with a huge home run at Gainesville to help the Bears to the Class 5A state baseball title.
Between state and regional play, not to mention the World Series, Fromm learned early about big games, big crowds and lots of questions. And because of that and his performances in middle school and junior high, expectations for Fromm were high, and his future in the program planned out fairly early.
Oliver, whose second sport has been basketball, was a different story.
He was just another eighth-grader who had some ability, but didn’t stand out to Northside’s varsity staff, even after working out in front of the coaches in that spring.
Plus, the Eagles are such an established program with a solid feeder system, candidates for playing time are many, freshmen aren’t on the varsity roster and rarely are sophomores counted on.
Oliver started showing potential during his freshman season, running the offense well. That spring, he got plenty of reps with the varsity and, Kinsler said, “really grew up those two weeks.”
But it was the offseason that raised his profile even more, when he spent much of it working out with upperclass standouts Willie Jordan and Isaiah Johnson, among others.
Being around the varsity players and staff, Oliver’s work ethic and competitiveness began to draw attention.
“He had to step it up with those older guys,” Kinsler said. “He accepted the challenge. He didn’t back away from it. … He had a very, large burning desire to be as good as he could possibly be.”
That became more evident during preseason practice.
And the rare reliance on sophomores certainly changed back on Aug. 20, 2014. Starting quarterback and senior Jurmon Weaver came down with appendicitis, two days before the opener against North Cobb.
“Coach (Chad) Alligood stopped me,” Oliver said of that day. “’I just got off the phone with Jurmon. He's got to have emergency appendix surgery, so you're gonna have to go (Friday).’ To him, I was like, 'all right'
Oliver’s inner reaction was less calm. And Northside beat North Cobb 38-20 two days later.
Oliver had moved into the No. 2 spot behind Weaver and was set to get plenty of time in the rotation at wideout. Suddenly, he was behind center full-time, and there was no looking back.
To say Oliver adjusted and handle the role is of great understatement. His fourth game was a loss, 45-37 at Jones County. The Eagles didn’t lose again until Nov. 6, 2015, 34-13 to Houston County, and then came Northside’s first two-game losing streak when the Eagles fell a week later to Ware County in the playoffs.
The Eagles are 8-1 and ranked third in Class 6A entering the game, Oliver’s 36th.
“We have expectations for kids, and we expect all of them to develop and work hard and step up to the plate,” Kinsler said. “But there’s no way you could have anticipated (this). We didn’t know what his work habits are or his competitiveness (were) at the time.”
Now, they’ll never forget.
Did you know?: Fromm
Fromm is a pure Southern teenager, his non-football hobbies consisting mainly of hunting and fishing, especially now that his baseball career is over, courtesy of him forgoing his senior baseball season at Houston County to enroll at Georgia.
He admits another dream.
“I wish I could sing,” he said. “I tell everybody, if I could sing, I would forget this football thing and be the next country music star. I’d be the next Luke Bryan.
“If I could sing.”
There’s always that possibility of a forced show as a college freshman.
“I might have to,” he said. “Honestly, I’d probably enjoy it more than anybody else.”
Did you know?: Oliver
To those above the age of, oh, 20 years old who aren’t family or, at times, Northside coaches, Oliver is quiet and humble, and defers to teammates and most anybody else.
But when he’s around his high school colleagues, it’s a different Oliver, which he admits.
He’ll talk smack, especially with defensive back Tae Daley, also the rare three-year Northside starter. Oliver spends part of each practice taking snaps at wideout, meaning he regularly goes up against Daley.
They’re not quiet.
“I love to see it when they’re going at it,” linebacker Kam Burnett said. “When they go at each other, they’re gonna be jawin’. Tobias, he’s just funny when he’s going against Tae.”
Burnett used the same word to describe Oliver as Oliver used to describe Oliver.
“He’s goofy, now,” Burnett said.
Respect
The two aren’t best buddies, but they have been to camps and communicate occasionally on Twitter, and both admire the skills and success of the other.
Fromm and Oliver have earned remarkable respect from opposing coaches, and clearly, deservedly so.
Naturally, those who prefer air travel may like Fromm a little more, those opting for ground attacks enjoy Oliver’s abilities.
And, of course, the honor students both lift their teams and win.
Under no circumstances would either coaching staff want to trade quarterbacks, but both sides are clear in holding the opposing quarterback in high esteem. Of course, the aforementioned resumes along with program philosophies indicate any trade talk is absurd. They fit perfectly what their team’s offensive philosophies are.
Lassiter’s respect for Oliver grew this season as both teams have competed in arguably the toughest region of any classification in the state.
“That’s what blew me away,” Lassiter said last week. “You keep thinking that dude ain’t getting up after that one.”
Lassiter produced an astonishing point during the Bears’ off week recently, right before Lee County was to play Valdosta last Friday.
“I thought if anybody could really put him out of the game, it was Lee County,” Lassiter said of the Trojans’ vaunted physical-but-clean defense. “There are two quarterbacks this year that have made it through a whole game with Lee County, just two. Jake Fromm and Tobias Oliver.”
This game, the legacy
Two years ago, this battle took on extra interest because of some back-and-forth in social media and elsewhere regarding the differences between the two schools, and the rivalry — despite Northside never having lost to Houston County — intensified. Northside came back in the fourth quarter to win 34-33 en route to the state title.
Things were calmer last year off the field, but no less amped on the field as Houston County broke the long losing streak with a 34-13 win, giving the Bears their first football region title and all but bringing Fromm to tears afterward.
The countdown toward Friday began long ago, but the hoped-for battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2 didn’t materialize, courtesy of Houston County’s first two-game losing streak since 2013.
Still, it’s the biggest game of Fromm’s career and for the two dozen seniors. If they win, the seniors will be 2-2 against Northside. Much more importantly is that a Bears win keeps them alive for the postseason, and that they’re in a must-win scenario is a drastic change from the expected script.
For Northside, it’s a chance to wrap up at least second place in the region and be assured of a home game in the playoffs.
The elite level of the quarterbacks in the game is a topic for everybody, except those two quarterbacks and their coaches and most of their teammates.
“There’s a lot of good players on both teams,” Kinsler said. “I think if you ask either one of them … ‘it’s all about us’ and not about him. That’s what makes them both as successful as they are.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Jake Fromm and Tobias Oliver: different, except for success."