Some of the most experienced sports reporters in the Central Valley stood on the sidelines Friday night at Joe Debely Stadium and marveled at the poise of Turlock High freshman quarterback Scout Silva.

There was Ron Agostini, who’s been covering the local sports scene for more than 50 years.

And Will DeBoard, who was a local sports writer for nearly 20 years before becoming assistant commissioner of the Sac-Joaquin Section.

And Mark Tennis, who co-founded Cal-Hi Sports back in 1979.

Then there was yours truly, covering high school football since 1986, thank you very much.

All of us agreed that Silva, who helped lead the Bulldogs to a convincing 33-14 Central California Athletic League victory over rival Downey, is as poised and heady a freshman as we’ve seen in some time.

With games remaining against doormats Modesto (Friday) and Enochs (Nov. 1), Turlock almost assuredly clinched the conference championship for a second consecutive season.

Not bad for a team with a freshman quarterback.

“He definitely has command,” said Tennis, who’s seen just about every big-name player in the Golden State over the past 45 years. “You don’t have to be 6-foot-3 to have command. And he has it.”

Silva is most definitely not 6-3. Listed in the program at 5-9 and 165, he admitted with a wry smile during post-game interviews that he goes about 5-7 and a buck fifty-five. 

“I saw amazing poise tonight,” said Agostini. "The moment was clearly not too big for him. (Head coach) James Peterson said that in their season opener against Rocklin, they noticed it right away. And you saw it tonight, man.”

Silva isn’t without his rough edges. Late in the first half, he was sacked on first and second down, and probably should’ve taken a sack on third down. Instead, he lobbed an ill-advised pass over the middle, as he was falling to the turf, that was nearly picked off.

He looked very much like a freshman on that play.

But later, with just over three minutes left in the game and Turlock facing fourth-and-11 near midfield, Silva dropped back, then took off on a designed quarterback draw. He broke toward the visitors’ sideline, picked up the first down and slid to stay in bounds and keep the clock rolling after the 17-yard pick-up.

He looked very much like a senior on that play.

“I think it was a testimony to his poise that the Turlock coaches had confidence to put it in his hands on fourth-11 from midfield,” said Agostini. “If Downey holds there, the game’s not over. It’s 27-14 with three minutes left.”

And with Knights’ quick-strike offense — they entered the game averaging 45 points per contest — they still would’ve had a shot.

But Turlock rolled the dice. And they did so because of Silva.

As mentioned above, this is my 39th season covering high school football, and I can count on one hand the number of effective freshman quarterbacks that I’ve covered during that span.

You just don’t see it that often for a couple of reasons. First of all, freshmen tend to still be “boys,” while seniors are closer to being “men.” Simply, there are physical limitations that hinder most freshman from playing the position at the high school level.

Second, freshman just don’t have the same amount of experience within the team’s system that upperclassmen possess.

“We got kind of spoiled the last two weeks watching Robert McDaniel,” said Agostini, who was on the sidelines with me for Escalon vs. Hughson on Oct. 4, and against last week for Sonora vs. Hughson.

McDaniel, a 6-2, 195-pound senior, is headed to the University of Arizona on scholarship. He possesses not only a quick release and uncanny accuracy, but he has the confidence of somebody who became the varsity starter midway through his freshman season.

Silva, who turned 16 in September, isn’t a “true” freshman. Technically, he should be a sophomore. But his family made the decision to re-class him. He sat out a year after eighth grade, learning the Turlock High playbook and working with Southern California quarterback guru Danny Hernandez, as well as local QB whisperer Greg Panelli.

It’s obvious the move has paid dividends. 

Silva will only continue to get better. He’ll mature physically, and his confidence will only grow as he becomes more and more familiar with the Turlock offense. 

“He wants to continue playing football at the next level,” said Agostini. “I’ll be interested to see where he goes with this.”

So will fans of Turlock High football.