Beau Pribula's Coach: 'This is a once in a lifetime kind of player'
Aside James Franklin and his longterm status, there may be no topic more popular to Penn State fans right now than what's going on at the quarterback position.
With Sean Clifford in the starting lineup this past Saturday, I thought that topic may die down a bit, but following the upset loss to Illinois, that discussion is as loud as ever.
What ultimately happens this season is anyone’s guess at this point. Clifford is clearly playing injured, but one thing Penn State fans should feel good about is what they have coming. An incoming transfer in the offseason feels like a must if Clifford doesn’t return, but the Nittany Lions also have two very good young quarterbacks set to enroll early in Beau Pribula and Drew Allar. Over the past few months, Allar has gotten a ton of attention, all of which is well earned, but Nittany Lion fans also need to start taking notice in what Pribula has been doing this season, too.
Following a 31-21 win over Dallastown this past Friday, the Central York star is now completing nearly 80 percent of his passes on the season. He’s up to 1,931 yards passing and 333 yards rushing. He’s also sat out the majority of second halves this season, as Central York has continued the kind of dominance it showed last year, despite losing a handful of skill players that helped them reach the PIAA 6A state championship in 2020.
As you would expect, Pribula is a major reason why they haven’t missed a beat.
“Mentally, he’s at a whole different level right now,” said Central York head coach Gerry Yonchiuk. “Beau really improved at that aspect last year, especially in terms of understanding defenses. Now, he comes off the field and is seeing things that I really believe many college quarterbacks don’t see. He makes very few mistakes mentally.
“In the past four or five weeks, he has about a ninety percent completion percentage. The only incompletion he had this past week was a touchdown that unfortunately was dropped by our top receiver. So, his accuracy has been lights out this year. Also this was the first week where we started running the jet sweep where he pitches it in front of him. We haven’t ran that all season, so while it did pad his stats for this one game, that hasn’t been the case at all this season until now. He’s up to 27 touchdowns and four picks. Two of those interceptions were tipped balls, and the other two were him just throwing it up at the end of the half to see if we can make a play. So, he really doesn’t have any picks that are truly his fault.”
Two weeks ago against Northeastern, Pribula completed all nine of his pass attempts for 322 yards passing and six touchdowns before being pulled from the game. Those stats grabbed the attention of many Penn State fans, but he’s been on a tear since the end of September. Against Spring Grove, Pribula completed 18 for 22 attempts for 307 yards and four touchdowns. The week prior versus South Western, he completed 13 of 17 attempts for 308 yards and three touchdowns. Against Dover, he completed all 10 pass attempts for 261 yards and four touchdowns before being taken out.
That’s an 87 percent completion rate.
“It’s hard to explain how much he’s taken his game to a different level. He just takes over games when he needs to now,” Yonchiuk said. “He’s seeing the field so well now. Also, his competitive fire burns as much or more than ever, which says so much about him. I mean, he was the 6A Player of the Year last year in Pennsylvania and he’s hungrier now than ever before. He’s just taken everything to a whole new level. He’s extremely confident in his ability, and that’s inwardly more than outwardly, which makes him just an excellent leader and mentor.
“When he comes to the sidelines, I’m picking his mind about everything because he’s seeing things so well and I know he’s going to be spot on. It’s so refreshing as a coach to have that because I recognize it’s not normal. This isn’t a once in every 10 years kind of player. This is a once in a lifetime kind of player for any coach.”
Against Dallastown this past weekend, Pribula was asked to do more with his legs than with his arm, and he impressed there, too, averaging over 12 yards per carry.
“His leadership ability, his athletic ability, his speed, it’s all there,” Yonchiuk said. “If you take a wheel and cut it into those intangibles, it’s all there. People talk about Beau’s arm strength as if it’s a negative. Let me tell you: his arm has gotten a whole lot stronger since last year. Our offense doesn’t always allow him to really showcase it, but it really has. Also, he's a legit 4.5 kid. He ran a 4.6 for [Penn State] as a freshman. He's very athletic. He hang cleans 315 pounds, too. I mean, you don't see many quarterbacks doing that."
Pribula's best pass of the night came in the second quarter when he threw a beautiful 23-yard fade pass in the corner of the end zone to give his team a 14-6 lead. Yonchiuk said that in addition to the throw, Pribula deserves credit for the play call, too, as he spotted a weakness using the sideline HUDL system after the previous drive.
“That fade pass speaks to what Beau is all about,” Yonchiuk said. “Beau came over, started looking at the film and immediately noticed how close the defensive back was playing when we ran a hitch. He was saying, ‘coach, we have to double-move him. Let’s fake him.’ It’s like we’re connected sometimes. That’s how bright he is. He saw it right away. Of course, he then threw a ball that was absolutely perfect then. You couldn’t have put that in a better spot. We didn’t need him to make a lot of difficult throws in this game, but whenever we’ve asked him to do that this season, he’s been excellent for us.”
Now a senior, Yonchiuk said that Pribula has stepped up as a more vocal leader, too.
“He’s always been a great leader for us, but now he’s like a coach on the field for us," he said. "Perfect example: we’re at practice watching something and he ends up coaching our secondary on things that he sees as a quarterback so they know why they shouldn’t do something. He’s not trying to hammer them or anything like that, but he’s so demanding and determined to maximize this season. I’ve had some great leaders over the years. This is year 38 for me. I’ve coached all over and I’ve never had anyone like Beau. He’s just so ahead in all of that stuff.
“But his ability to step in, explain why someone’s not getting the job done, but also do it in a way that he’s respected is beyond his age. It’s just not normal in this day and era. It’s so cool to see that.”
Since becoming the starting quarterback in 2019, Pribula has led Central York to a 28-3 record. They're currently 9-0 and on pace to be the No. 1 seed in the District III playoffs, although they do have arguably their toughest opponent of the season this Friday in York Penn, who's led by running back Jaheim White. Last season, Central York defeated William Penn in the District III championship game, 48-21.
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