Rockford’s Irwin uses his QB skills on the basketball court
Rockford senior Drake Irwin drives to the basket through three defenders on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023 at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. He had a game-high 26 points. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Drake Irwin chucked a pass 80 feet down the court to a sprinting Andrew Landis in mid stride for a fast-break layup.
The Rockford senior, who is the starting quarterback on the football team, looks just as comfortable on the basketball court as he was on the gridiron this fall.
“I thought about playing quarterback right there,” Irwin said. “It was kind of a dime, not a lie. Hitting Andrew in stride was kinda fun.”
Irwin, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound forward, scored 22 of his game-high 26 points in the second half as Rockford rallied to beat Forest Hills Northern 62-54 on Saturday afternoon at Van Andel Arena.
“Him being a quarterback, I’m not surprised he’d make that play,” said Lucas Pitsch, who is a receiver on the football team. “It was a great pass by him.”
Irwin has never been a big scoring threat. So scoring 26 points was kind of a surprise to him as well.
Was this his best game?
“Yes, definitely,” he said. “Maybe the Hudsonville game at our place last year. I had 17 or 18 points coming off the bench.”
Irwin had just four points in the first half on Saturday. He said the massive, bright scoreboard in the background behind the basket affected his shot.
“Looking into the big scoreboard messed with my shot in the first half,” he said. “I had a few threes that rimmed out.”
In the second half, he had 22 points on seven buckets and was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. He also had five rebounds and two assists.
“I knew there would be some first-game jitters,” he said. “I knew we’d have to play good because Northern has some good weapons on their team.”
Sophomore Kyle Brown had a team-high 20 points for Forest Hills Northern, including four 3-pointers. Joey Angok had 14 points and four rebounds.
On the football field, Irwin was named to the Mlive Dream Team and was First-Team All-State after helping Rockford to an 11-1 record. He passed for 2,036 yards and 24 touchdowns.
Pretty good for a kid who barely played as a junior behind starting QB Mac VandenHout.
“I got in about the last two minutes of every blowout game,” Irwin said. “So maybe 15 minutes all year and only like 11 pass attempts.”
He said he only has offers from Calvin University and Hope College. But he’s had visits to Ferris State and Western Michigan.
On Saturday, Irwin was wearing a brace on his knee.
“My body does hurt,” he said of the lingering affects of the football season. “I have a partially torn patellar tendon in my left knee (against Grandville in the playoffs). But I have gotten into basketball shape in the past week and a half.”
It looks like his knee didn’t affect his performance on the basketball court. Now the Rams have another offensive weapon.
For photos from Saturday’s game: Of Rockford click here and of Forest Hills Northern, click here.
Forest Hills Northern’s Kyle Brown dives over Rockford’s Drake Irwin as the fight for a loose ball in the second half of a game on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2023. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
