TACOMA, Wash. — The last time
Jordan Etter threw a pass in a football game COVID-19 didn't exist.
Etter last lined up under center in the fall of 2019 for Spanaway Lake High School.
Nearly three years later, he found himself in a shotgun formation for the Pacific Lutheran football team as the fourth-string quarterback trailing 12-7 with four minutes left in the game.
His first pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage, but his second pass was a deep ball down the left sideline that landed in the sure hands of
John Walker, who toe-tapped for a touchdown.
Pandemonium swept the Lutes sideline as the improbability of what they had just witnessed settled in.
"I still can't even comprehend the feeling I felt after the refs signaled touchdown," Etter said. "It was very emotional for my family and myself. It was just an unbelievable moment — something you can't script.
"I'm just grateful to be able to be a part of this program and have the opportunity to do what I did."
Etter's heroics were backed up all day by a stout defensive effort, including a fourth-down stop in the final 40 seconds to seal the 13-12 victory in the Northwest Conference opener for both teams. PLU hosts Lewis & Clark College at 1 p.m. Saturday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup in the annual Homecoming game.
"Dawgs make plays. Athletes make plays. Playmakers make plays," Walker said. "I had trust in Jordan and he had trust in me and the coach had trust in both of us.
"You just gotta go make plays like playmakers."
Etter was thrust into the spotlight after previous injuries to the first- and second-string quarterbacks, and then when
Kellan Kranc was injured on a sack on second down in the fourth quarter.
The Lutes trailed 12-7 to undefeated George Fox. There was a little more than 4 minutes remaining in the game and Etter suddenly found himself in the backfield ready for a shotgun snap.
His first pass was deflected at the line.
With fourth down looming from the 27-yard line, the 6-foot-1 junior said he didn't feel any nerves at all.
"I did a lot of mental training with my QB coach," Etter said. "One of the big keys is finding that flow mentality and not being too excited or nervous. Just finding that equal zone and then it came down to trusting in myself and my teammates believing in me."
After Walker cradled the ball in his arms, the referees gathered to discuss whether he had caught the ball inbounds. A few seconds later, they signaled touchdown, and the sideline went nuts.
"He stayed calm, he stayed composed, he didn't panic and he stepped up in the pocket," PLU head coach
Brant McAdams said. "That is what you are looking for when you put him in that situation.
"At the end of the day, if a (defensive back) gets a hand on that ball it was still a really, really well placed ball."
Part of the reason the ball was so well placed is the hours of work Etter has put in since he blew his knee out on his final high school pass in the fall of 2019.
After two years at Dakota Wesleyan, an NAIA school in South Dakota, he came home, took classes online at Pierce College and eventually transferred to PLU.
Walker and Etter soon met through a local trainer and the pair began working together every day, dreaming of a time when they would both be on the field together.
So far, though, the only time they had seen the field at the same time was with Etter lining up at running back or wide receiver, or returning kicks.
"Me and Jordan have been working nonstop almost every day since May," Walker said. "So, I had a lot of confidence in him that he was going to make a play like that. It was just a best friend's connection.
"We just looked at each other like, 'Let's do it and make a play.' "
And they did just that.
