With first down and 80 yards to go in a tight, fourth-quarter high school football game, many prognosticators would argue whom from the state of Michigan they'd want under center.

All fine choices, indeed, but there's only one player in the state who can threaten Mill Coleman's career passing yards record for the state (7,464) this season, and he isn't one of the above listed quarterbacks.

That's Jason Fracassa, who has started his first three years at Sterling Heights Stevenson and already owns every passing record at the school.

With four more inches of height, he'd be in every "best QB in the state" conversation. With 80-yards to go in a tight game, I wouldn't hesitate to have the 5-9, 170-pound senior with a state title at stake.

I'm a believer.

I saw him bring back his team against Romeo in a regular season game. I heard he put a scare into Lake Orion in the playoffs after being down, 35-7. Stevenson lost 38-36.

"The kids believe in him," said Stevenson coach Rick Bye. "When they're in the huddle, they look at Jason and they know he can get it done. The ability is in the heart, not the height. He sees it. We don't talk about it and I don't even know if he has an opinion about it, but I think his dad watches the stories and his grandfather. Maybe you put a chip on your shoulder and say 'I'll fix 'em, I'll show them,' that kind of thing."

Fracassa notices.

"There's nothing I can do about my height," said Fracassa. "Reading about the other guys just makes me that more determined to go out there and win. It makes me want to compete."

Fracassa and Coleman, the ex-Farmington Hills Harrison star, are about the same height and they've known each other since Fracassa started attending Coleman's camps.

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"He's a great guy and a great person to be around," said Fracassa. "He has taught me a lot."

Going into his final season, Fracassa has thrown for 6,182 yards, 390 completions and 53 TDs, all school records. He also has school records for passing yards in a game (431), TD passes in a game (6), completions in a game (23), completions in a season (210) and TD passes in a season (34).

"He's a tremendous baseball player," Bye said of the school's starting shortstop. "He's a great decision-maker on the baseball field and football field. He has great ability. I think he batted around .500. Height is important in baseball, but they want better and better players all the time."

It's conceivable that Fracassa could lead his team to a state title, break Coleman's career passing record and not be named first-team All-State.

Stevenson is loaded:

• Big Carl Davis, a 6-5, 300-pound offensive/defensive lineman, is being recruited nationally.

• D.J. Mershman is one of Fracassa's best friends at wide receiver and should be a Division I college player.

• Marcus Beaurem is dangerous and explosive wide out.

• Charlie Walker is thought highly as a linebacker and tight end.

• Justice Wright is a home-run hitter in the backfield.

"Everyone is coming back more hungry than last year,'' said Fracassa. "We have a lot to prove. We want to prove to everybody that we can win it this time. I have the best offensive coordinator in the state (Ken Fiott) and after four years, going to film sessions with him every weekend and it has just gotten a lot easier. Hopefully, this year I can get it to work to perfection.

"Starting as a freshman was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I had just come out of middle school and the game speed and the people around me were bigger and faster. My teammates helped me through, but still it was hard. By the end of my sophomore year where I started getting more comfortable and I was playing with kids more my age. They brought up some sophomores to the varsity and that made it easier. I had more people who had my back. Initially it was harder to get everybody to believe in me, but I showed that I could do it and I got more respect as a sophomore."