DRAPER — Long before he took over as starting quarterback at Juan Diego, Brian May felt confident he could do the job.

In fact, his confidence in his own abilities at running the Soaring Eagle offense was so high May fully expected to unseat three-year starter Cory Lever going into his junior season.

Obviously that scenario didn't happen. But once May finally earned his long-sought offensive promotion coming into this season, he was prepared to do whatever it took to hold onto it.

"He's been itching to get out there and play over the last three years," Juan Diego coach John Colosimo said. "He wasn't going to let this chance get away from him this year. He's been stellar at quarterback for us."

May plays as if he's been running the offense ever since his freshman year. His poise and grasp of Juan Diego's veer attack is reflected in just how few mistakes May has made while taking the majority of the snaps and leading the Soaring Eagle to an unblemished record and a spot in Friday's 3A state title game versus Hurricane.

In 13 games, the senior has thrown for 1,192 yards and 14 touchdowns while completing nearly 50 percent of his passes. In the same span, he has tossed only one interception.

When it comes to running the ball. May gives the team yet another option in a talented backfield. He has rushed for 463 yards and six touchdowns on 126 carries.

Such numbers aren't an accident or simply a result of good luck. May has worked hard to incorporate what he learned last fall while starting on the defensive side of the ball into each drive on offense.

In most situations, he feels like he can read what a defense is trying to do because he understands things from a defensive perspective, too.

"I never really held the clipboard because I played defense all last year," May said. "Being the starter (now), it feels like I have control of the game."

As a starter, he also inspires confidence in his teammates. From the moment May started taking snaps with the first-team offense, they have never felt any reason to doubt his ability or willingness to get the job done.

They know if they need to conjure up yards or points in a hurry, May will find ways to make it happen.

"It wasn't hard to put our trust in him and have faith in him," senior lineman Taylor Berg said. "He's been in the system four years, learning the option, and he's had a lot of success with it so far. He hasn't let us down yet, so there's no reason to lose trust now."

Colosimo likes May's natural understanding of how to react and adjust to in-game situations. He said his senior quarterback instinctively knows when to pitch the ball out, when to keep it, when to hand it off and when to wind up for a deep pass.

From May's perspective, getting good results on offense becomes a simpler task when you have a team with a defense that allows only 5.3 points per game to cover your back.

"Our defense is the whole reason we can run this offense," May said.

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E-mail: jcoon@desnews.com