BYU football: Jake Heaps and Jake Locker will square off on Saturday

PROVO — This is a tale of two Jakes.

One Jake, Washington quarterback Jake Locker, is beginning his final season of college football. The other Jake, BYU quarterback Jake Heaps, is set to make his collegiate debut. Conveniently, it will all happen at the same venue, LaVell Edwards Stadium, and at the same time, Saturday, when the Cougars and Huskies collide in the 2010 season-opener.

Locker is a four-year starter and a Heisman Trophy candidate. Heaps is the backup to Riley Nelson, as part of BYU's two-quarterback system, and is expected to play extensively against the Huskies. Locker is a polished senior who is expected to be a top NFL draft pick. Heaps is a prep All-American who has yet to take a snap in a college game.

Still, Locker and Heaps have much more in common than just their first names. They are two of the best high school quarterbacks ever produced by the state of Washington and both have dealt with high expectations. Locker led Ferndale High to a 37-4 record and a state title in three years as a starting quarterback. Heaps guided Skyline High to a 40-2 record in three years as a starter and captured three state titles.

Steve Gervais knows, and has coached, both of them.

Gervais coached Heaps when he was a sophomore at Skyline. After that season, Gervais left Skyline to become an assistant at Washington, where he helped coach Locker.

The irony that Heaps is starting his BYU career against his hometown team, Washington — and Locker — is not lost on Gervais, who is now the athletic director at Bishop Blanchet High in the Seattle area.

"I've got the front page of the Seattle Times from 2007 when Jake Heaps started his first game as a sophomore at Skyline and Jake Locker started his first game at Syracuse as a (true freshman) at Washington," Gervais said. "That day there were full-color photos of both of them — one on the top half, one on the bottom half. The fact they're going to be playing against each other, I think it's a very cool thing. I'm very close to both of them. They do know each other pretty well. They've worked out together and spent time together."

Growing up only miles away from the University of Washington campus, Heaps was a big Huskies fan. The Heaps family had purple and gold memorabilia throughout the house and attended Washington games.

BYU was the first school to offer Heaps, who is LDS, a scholarship — during his sophomore year. Not long after that, Washington made him an offer. Over time, many more offers poured in. Ultimately, Heaps chose BYU.

While the decision was celebrated in Provo and throughout Cougar Nation, the mood in the Seattle was decidedly different.