As Northwestern’s Deven Bollinger sat in class on Thursday, little did he know that he had been named to the all-state football team at the quarterback position.

In fact, it wasn’t until later in the evening — when his teammate Conner Snyder congratulated him via a text message — that Bollinger had any inkling about the honor. Bollinger then took to Twitter to confirm the news that he had garnered the biggest honor of his high school career.

Bollinger, a Class 4A selection at quarterback, was the only Times News area player named on either the 2A, 4A or 6A teams that were released on Thursday. The remaining three teams will be announced today.

“Coach Snyder talked to me after the season and said that some of the league and district stuff is senior oriented, but he said to possibly look forward to something outside of the league,” said Bollinger. “Personally, I wasn’t expecting it and it surprised me today. I’m just happy, it’s a good award to have.”

Bollinger threw for 1,998 yards on the season and 30 touchdowns against just three interceptions. He helped the team with his legs as well, finishing second on the team in rushing with 881 yards and another 16 rushing touchdowns. During his junior season, Bollinger took over the top spot on the school’s all-time list for passing yardage in a career.

“I thought he had a chance at the all-state team because of his numbers, and when I looked around at the 4A quarterbacks, I thought Deven was certainly in the running,” said coach Josh Snyder. “You never know how these things will go.

“I’m really excited for Deven because he was so important to our success this season, and he put in the work during the offseason, and then just took off when the season started.”

Both Bollinger and Snyder stressed that the honor was only possible due to the other players on the team who made Bollinger’s job a little easier this season. They both credited the offensive line and the skill position players who helped Bollinger put up the numbers that he did.

Bollinger will have the opportunity to become a two-time all-state quarterback, and is already working on his skills for the 2019 season.

“That’s the goal,” said Bollinger of a repeat. “I’m already back working in the gym and throwing the ball, so it’s a goal.

“The bigger goals for next year are the team awards for a league championship, a district championship and even go beyond that.”