Zayden Anderson is a quarterback for Seaside High School.

There’s not many quarterbacks in Oregon more imposing than Zayden Anderson.

Standing 6-foot-5 with a strong arm and rushing ability, Anderson looks like a college quarterback. He showed off his skill set last season in his first year as a starter for the Seaside High School Seagulls and got rewarded with a trip to the Les Schwab Bowl in Portland in June.

The Les Schwab Bowl is the state’s premier high school showcase. This is where college recruiters go to scout out future college players. Anderson was one of only six 4A players at the bowl and benefited from a week of training under storied coach Steve Pyne, formerly of Central Catholic. Anderson flashed his talent all week and finished the bowl with a perfect 5-5 through the air and had three touchdown passes.

“I feel like the whole week was really awesome,” Anderson said. “I got to meet new people from all over the state and just stay in a dorm for the whole week and bond with them. Having the experience to share with others was great.”

Anderson has aspirations to play in college, so performing well at the Les Schwab Bowl put him on the map with college scouts before his high school senior season begins.

“I talked to Pacific University, George Fox, Lewis and Clark, those were the only ones I talked to at the Les Schwab Bowl,” Anderson said. “My dream schools since I was a freshman are Utah and Eastern Washington, I’ve been interested in them my whole life.”

Anderson’s journey to Seaside featured a few stops along the way.

He grew up outside Idaho Falls in Idaho in a town called Rigby, and moved to Warrenton when he was 8 years old. He attended school in Warrenton until he decided to transfer last year to Seaside. Anderson credits both current and former Seaside players, as well as athletic director and head football coach Aaron Tanabe, for him ending up at Seaside.

Though it was difficult to leave his childhood friends and school behind, Anderson made the best decision for himself. That decision saw him quarterback the Seagulls to a fourth-place finish in the playoffs last season. Seaside enters as one of the preseason state favorites this year.

“I just talked with a bunch of former and current teammates like Izzy Jantes and Jake White about this decision and I figured out that I wanted to do it,” Anderson said. “I talked to coach Tanabe and ever since it’s been the right fit, everyone’s awesome to me and it’s just a great feeling at Seaside.

“It was hard to leave Warrenton cause those are the guys I grew up playing football with since third grade.”

In order to master his skills, Anderson has spent time working with Fa’alaeo Poyer and traveling to Portland for quarterback training. He’s also worked closely with Tanabe while at Seaside to master the playbook and become more comfortable as a leader.

“Zayden has all the physical skills, but we’re always working on above the neck,” Tanabe said. “So much of playing quarterback is mental, where you need to go with the ball, figuring out coverages and finding the best matchups is something that everyone — even coaches — can continue to grow in. That’s the part of his game he will continue to grow in.

“I thought he was a leader last year for us,” Tanabe said. “Which is unique for someone’s first year in our program, but he emerged as one of our leaders and we’re excited to see him continuing to grow.”

Though Anderson has personal goals, he’s focused on the team goal, which is win a state championship.

“It’s me and the seniors’ last year. We have a really good supporting cast and I feel like this is the year to win it,” he said.