Defensive lineman is Storm’s co-leader in interceptions

His four interceptions this season has made defensive lineman Nate Brauer a bit of a folk hero at Skyview. But the senior considers himself just another player in an improved defensive line. (Steven Lane/The Columbian)

Steven Lane/The Columbian Skyview Storm defensive lineman Nate Brauer shares the team lead in interceptions this season with four, including one last week.

Nate Brauer looks like a football player, an in-the-trenches, push-you-around football player.

He stands 6-foot-1, weighs 245 pounds, and has muscles that prove he enjoys the weight room at Skyview High School.

He does not, however, look like a “skill-position” player, you know, one with good hands and speedy moves.

Perhaps that is why he plays on the line, a starter on the defensive line all season.

So we should expect that he is a good tackler, that he can get off a block in a hurry, and close a running lane.

We should not, however, expect that he is tied for the team lead in interceptions.

Brauer, with four picks in 2008, is just one of the reasons Skyview has advanced to the opening round of the Class 4A state playoffs. The Storm host Rogers of Puyallup at 7 p.m. Saturday at Kiggins Bowl.

The quirky statistic notwithstanding, it has been a memorable season for Brauer and the Storm. After a third-place finish in the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League last year and a loss in the state preliminary round to finish 5-5, the Storm have gone 8-2 this year with a co-league title and a No. 1 seed to the playoffs.

“It’s awesome. All my years of football, I’ve never been on a real winning team,” said Brauer, a senior who moved to Skyview from Hudson’s Bay between his sophomore and junior years. “To actually win a league title senior year is a great feeling. Winning our first playoff game, that’s tight, too. Really cool.”

That was last week, when Skyview beat South Kitsap 23-21 in the state preliminary round. The Skyview defense had three interceptions in the second half of that game, with Brauer nabbing one of those errant passes.

“It’s kind of a shock,” Brauer said of all the interceptions. “I wasn’t really expecting this.”

Brauer said defensive secondary coach Julian Williams gives him a hard time because linemen should not have more picks than his defensive backs. Not all of them, though. Junior defensive back Christian Rector also has four interceptions for the Storm.

It is not as if Brauer is running back 20 yards into coverage.

On three of his interceptions, Brauer did exactly what he was supposed to do, head coach Steve Kizer said.

His first came against Hockinson in Week 3, when he sniffed out a screen play.

“My guy let me go, and that was kind of fishy,” Brauer said.

Instead of rushing after the quarterback, he paused, searching for the intended receiver.

“I saw the quarterback lob the ball up. It was within my reach. I jumped up and grabbed it,” he said. “It was crazy.”

It was only the beginning. He got another against Hudson’s Bay, and then he put an exclamation mark in Skyview’s win over Heritage in the final game of the regular season to tie for the league championship.

Heritage beat Skyview 55-28 in 2007. This year, it went the other way, with the Storm prevailing 55-15.

“It was awesome, especially after last year, to come back and crush them, put a hurt on them. It felt really good,” Brauer said.

That game was on a Thursday and, at the time, the Storm had no idea they would make the playoffs, even tied for first place. The next night, Evergreen had a chance to make it a three-way tie for first, and only two could advance. Skyview was preparing for a three-way playoff the next week, while hoping that Evergreen would lose.

“I never, ever rooted more for Mountain View than that night,” Brauer said, noting that he and a bunch of teammates went to McKenzie Stadium to cheer on the Thunder against the Plainsmen.

And wouldn’t you know it, but a defensive lineman making an interception ended up with the biggest impact of the game, of the GSHL season. Jack Tudela’s interception and 90-yard interception return for a touchdown won the game for Mountain View, giving the Storm the league’s No. 1 seed.

“We all went crazy,” Brauer said.

The Storm celebrated that top seed by winning the state-preliminary game, with Brauer getting one more pick.

“I just got hungry for the ball, and I grabbed it,” he said of interception No. 4.

The interceptions have kind of turned Brauer into a folk hero for defensive linemen.

But he knows he is just one of the guys on the line, just another member of a team that has improved throughout the year.

Going into the season, the Storm had a lot of seniors, but not a lot of players with starting varsity experience. After losing to Union in Week 1, the Storm have won eight of their past nine games.

Brauer said he and his linemates are doing their part.

“Over time, we’ve really bonded,” he said. “We just get stuff done and plug up holes.”

Kizer agreed.

“From when we played Union until now, it’s a night-and-day difference,” Kizer said.

The improvement, the wins, the playoff games, those are the most important things to Brauer and his teammates.

The interceptions just add to the fun.