PORT TOWNSEND — Kindness fostered kindness early on in the high school career of Port Townsend senior Noa Apker-Montoya, one of the best all-around athletes the Redhawks have seen in recent decades.
Apker-Montoya recalled being a drivers-license-less freshman on the varsity football team aided by frequent rides to team events from upperclassmen Jackson Foster.
“Jackson used to pick me up for workouts, pick me up for practices, all the time,” Apker-Montoya said. “We are both car guys and we bonded over that. He had a Camaro, so when I could drive, I got a Camaro.”
A naturally outgoing personality, Apker-Montoya quickly made his mark on Port Townsend athletics, intercepting a school-record 13 passes as a freshman. He also made the Redhawks varsity basketball and baseball teams that season.
Eventually, the left-handed Apker-Montoya would become a three-year starter at quarterback, throwing for nearly 2,000 yards and 23 touchdowns while also rushing for just under 2,000 yards and 24 more scores while intercepting 25 passes at safety on defense. Oh, and he also was an all-league punter and placekicker for Port Townsend.
His basketball career was just as successful as he eclipsed the 1,000-point career scoring mark this past season while averaging 22.6 points per game, the highest individual scoring total on the entire North Olympic Peninsula.
And he also played baseball and golf for the Redhawks, showing a particular aptitude and appetite for golf early this season before coronavirus altered the sporting landscape.
But Apker-Montoya will be remembered more for the way he involved others, his Port Townsend coaches said.
As one of the few upperclassmen on a Redhawks football team that saw freshmen make up half of the team’s 35-player roster last fall, Apker-Montoya didn’t get hung up on age or grade level.
“The way he interacted with the younger kids was amazing,” Port Townsend football coach Patrick Gaffney said. “He was super respectful and helpful to them. Just the person he is, he can run, jump and throw. He can do it all. But his biggest asset is the way he treats people. He never points the finger at anybody else. I’ve seen him throw perfectly thrown footballs that hit a guy right on the hands and he pops up and says, ‘That’s me, that’s on me.’ Or bad snaps from center. He would take responsibility for mistakes that weren’t his to begin with.
“We are going to miss him, I know that.”
Apker-Montoya said showing respect and kindness to others and making friends is an important skill to possess.
“I enjoy making friends with people,” Apker-Montoya said. It goes a long ways. The reality is high school is high school and you really have no idea where anybody is going to end up. You never know where they are going to go and it’s nice to know you have made friends and you know their story.”
Apker-Montoya also displayed physical and mental toughness throughout his career.
“I have Dyslexia and I had it really bad my freshman year,” Apker-Montoya said. “I had trouble picking up the plays and I didn’t want to trouble them [the older players] by asking questions. I was new to everything and they had run the same plays since they were freshmen, so I didn’t want to slow them down. When you are a freshman you don’t want to be annoying, so I just tried to figure it out myself.”
Attending Jefferson Community School with its lower teacher-to-student ratio helped turn things around.
“They helped me out through tutoring,” Apker-Montoya said. “There’s only 15 kids, so there is lots of opportunity for one-on-one time. I grew out of it and had a lot of help with it. I mix up a letter every now and then, but it’s not a big problem anymore.”
Apker-Montoya also underwent four surgical procedures on his back during his career.
“I had one the day of a basketball game against Chimacum and played that same day,” he said. “There was no way I missing that one. It was a lower back muscle spasm thing and I was so active that it just kept happening.”
With his high school athletic career likely shelved by the pandemic, Apker-Montoya is wrapping up his school work, enjoying the opportunity to interact with his classmates through online programs while also making decisions about the next step in his life, heading off to college.
“It’s the first time in four years I’m not doing a sport, and it’s nice that it’s not 7 or 8 o’clock at night when I get home to work on homework or on college stuff,” Apker-Montoya said.
He’s got a career path picked out in law enforcement, but he hopes to get the opportunity to try out as a walk-on in college.
“I enrolled at Boise State University and have had some contact with their football coaches,” Apker-Montoya said. “Before the coronavirus happened there was a walk-on tryout that was I interested in attending that got cancelled.
“I’d like to become a police officer. Mike Evans, the former PT Chief of Police, I grew up with him and he was my baseball coach. And Brian Tracer [a former Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy, turned paramedic]. I grew up going to their houses. “I’ve always loved law enforcement. And business, I want to minor in that. I grew up loving cars, working on cars and want to work for a dealership in school.”
Port Townsend basketball coach Tom Webster coached Apker-Montoya for all four years of his career.
“He has meant so much to me and our athletic programs,” Webster said. “I am very proud of what he has been able to accomplish and how he has progressed on and off the fields and courts.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-406-0674 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
