Drew Novak’s historic season has him on path to bright future
MOUNT ORAB, Ohio (BVM) – Drew Novak’s talent under center is undeniable. It’s why he threw for 5,269 yards and 56 touchdowns last season. While the Western Brown quarterback is still awaiting more college offers, he has proved through three seasons of high school football that his future is as bright as any.
Novak has been the starter at Western Brown since the third week of his freshman season. However, it was a season of hardships and growing pains, as the Broncos went just 2-8.
“That wasn’t very fun,” Novak said.
Going into Novak’s sophomore season, though, changes came about as 2015 Western Brown grad Nick Osborne was hired as head coach. From there, things began to look up not only for the Broncos, but also Novak’s future.
“When Coach Osborne came in, I kind of made a big jump,” Novak said. “It was a lot different than my freshman year. He’s really tough on all of us, but at the end of the day, it just makes us a better team.”
Another season to develop set the stage for what was a truly historic junior season. The 6-foot-6 quarterback’s 5,269 yards were sixth all-time in OHSAA history, passing the likes of all-time greats in the state such as current Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow. Novak was also just the fourth signal-caller in Ohio to throw for 5,000 yards in a season.
Meanwhile, his 56 passing touchdowns are towards the top of the OHSAA record list, and a mark that surpassed former Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s incredible 1999 season at Findlay High School in which he threw 54 scores.
“I never thought I’d put up numbers like that,” Novak said. “We just wanted to win … To see me pass guys like that is just unimaginable, it’s crazy.”
In addition to multiple 500-yard passing efforts and a seven passing-touchdown game, Novak was also tremendous with his legs, adding 1,200 yards rushing and 21 rushing touchdowns on the season. The Broncos averaged over 50 points a game throughout the campaign, and the elite play of their leader led the team to an 11-3 record and the program’s first regional final appearance.
“It was awesome,” Novak said. “The whole community rallied around us. It was a long year, I’m not going to lie, everybody was tired. But just played game in and game out and fought until the end.”
The historic season for Novak has gone beyond just the stats. When he was young, he watched football with his dad while also watching his brothers play, and wanted to try it for himself.
“My dad played football and he was always watching it on TV, so I was always watching it,” Novak said. “And my older brothers played, so I just wanted to play like them.”
A former player, Novak’s father also coached him as he began playing pee wee football at age 7. Always playing quarterback, Novak developed both physically and mentally within the game as he reached high school.
As he has looked up to other similar-sized quarterbacks in the NFL over the last few years such as Josh Allen, Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence, Novak also continued to do so with his older brother, Dylan, who was an integral part of Western Brown’s success last season.
In his senior year, Dylan caught over 90 passes for over 1,200 yards. He also set a mark of 22 consecutive games with a reception. Getting to throw to his older brother and share in Western Brown’s success alongside him was the icing on the cake to a tremendous season for the Broncos’ quarterback.
“It’s been really special,” Drew said. “Growing up, we always talked about playing with each other, and then finally getting to do it and have one of the best seasons ever here is just really special. He’s the biggest target out there so it made it a lot easier to throw to him.”
Next season, Dylan will go on to play college football at Marian University in Indianapolis. While Drew will be without one of his top weapons, he knows the future is bright for his brother.
“I think the sky’s the limit for him,” Novak said. “He had a pretty slow recruiting process and I’m just so happy that he finally found the right fit for him.”
The brothers have also had the opportunity to play high school basketball together over the last few years, and produced a strong season this past winter in their final year of playing together.
“It’s been fun,” Drew said about playing basketball with Dylan. “This year we actually won league for the first time in like 10 years I think, so that was really special for us.”
As Dylan moves on to the next level, Drew will soon look to do so himself. Despite some interest, Drew is still waiting on some of the big-time college offers one would expect a quarterback with these kinds of numbers and this kind of talent would get. But with recent interest from the likes of Iowa State, Illinois and Miami, it may just come soon enough.
Soon, Drew will attend Marshall’s upcoming spring practice, Illinois’ spring game and camps with West Virginia, NC State, Pittsburgh, Central Michigan and Illinois, as he continues to showcase his tremendous talent to college coaches.
“I’m just a guy who’s always willing to work and improve on his craft,” Drew said. “I’m just going to see what happens, continue to improve and go with the flow.”
Going into his senior season on the gridiron next fall, Drew will have a chance to continue moving up in the record books, as he is approaching 10,000 career passing yards and 100 career passing touchdowns. Another season like this past one will cap a truly spectacular career, but he is more focused on his team’s success, and hopefully leading Western Brown to its first-ever state championship.
“For next year, I want to win the regional finals and have a shot at the state title,” Drew said.
