By: J. Daniel Pearson
For Positively Osceola
While a King is thought of as the chief authority over a country and its people, a King will also be the chief authority over the St. Cloud football team’s offense for a fifth consecutive year in 2023.
Logan King, a strong-armed junior, will begin his third season as starting quarterback of the St. Cloud Bulldogs – a position he inherited from his brother Garhett– a three-year starter from 2018-20.
Logan, 6-2, 215, is coming off a sophomore season where he threw for 1922 yards and 18 touchdowns in leading St. Cloud to a 7-3 mark. As a big kid, he grew up playing the offensive and defensive line in youth football, but after watching his brother Garrett play quarterback for the Bulldogs it made him want to change positions.
“Because I was bigger than most players my age, the coaches just stuck me on the line in Pop Warner football. I always wanted to be like Garhett, so when he started playing quarterback, I wanted to play quarterback.”
The similarities between the two careers have mirrored each other to date.
Garhett became a starter as a sophomore, throwing for 1078 yards and leading St. Cloud to a 4-6 record. Logan shared time early in the 2021 season as a freshman before then head coach Bryan Smart moved him into the starting line-up permanently. He threw for 800 yards as St. Cloud finished 4-6.
Both quarterbacks excelled in their second year at the helm. Garhett directed St. Cloud to a 6-4 mark, throwing for 1954 yards; while Logan threw for 1922 yards as the Bulldogs finished one game better at 7-3. Garhett had one more touchdown pass (19 to 18) and a slightly higher completion percentage (58-51).
As a senior in 2020, Garhett completed 102 of 157 passes (65%) for 1510 yards, 11 scores and five interceptions. He finished his career ranked in the top five in school history for passing yards 4542 and passing touchdowns (46). St. Cloud’s 7-3 record that season under Garhett, matched the 7-3 record compiled by Logan last season. With two years of eligibility left, Logan has 2675 passing yards and 21 touchdowns – keeping pace to possibly passing his brother in both categories.
Whether he exceeds his brother’s totals is not a concern for Logan, who gives his brother all the credit for putting him in position to be a standout quarterback at such a young age. “He has been my inspiration, my biggest supporter and an incredible mentor,” Logan said. “When I was younger, I wanted to be him and when I became a quarterback he was always there to help me with my game. Really, all my successes to date are because of him.”
The similarities do not end with statistics, as both players shared the number 10 and both are unquestionably team leaders. But they also differ in that regard. “Garhett was fiery as all get out, when he didn’t like the way things were going in practice or a game, he let everyone know about it,” Smart said of his former signal caller. “Logan doesn’t say a lot on the field and he definitely leads by example,” Bulldogs coach Mike Short said. “Like most high school kids, he likes to have a good time, but he also understands a time and place for everything. On the rare occasion when he does bark on the field, the other players will pay attention though.”
As for the future, Short is excited about the possibilities of having Logan at the helm for the next two seasons. “For a relatively young player, he throws a great deep ball, really as well as any player I have coached” Short said. “In fact, he throws deep balls with more accuracy that short swing passes.”
For his part, Logan sees continued room for improvement in his game. “I need to work on my footwork and my reads,” he said. “The goal is to always get better and if I can do that, it will make our team better.”
As with most athletes, playing at the next level is also a goal. King says some schools have begun reaching out to him, but nothing more than that so far. That’s something Short corrects. “He’s a humble kid and doesn’t brag, but for someone that hasn’t started his junior season, I think there has been a lot of interest in Logan. He’s been invited to some select camps and if he has another good year, there will be increased attention on him.”
