Brad Steward wanted to push Blake Kreutz to succeed this season.

The Ventura High football coach started the process by putting his quarterback in a position where success was hard to come by.

As Ventura began its summer 7-on-7 season, Steward made it difficult for Kreutz — who passed for 1,905 yards as a junior — to operate with the kind of efficiency indicated by last year's 53 percent completion rate. The idea was to underline to the quarterback that he shouldn't be too comfortable with his 2006 success, because there was plenty of room for improvement.

"I initially gave Blake a lot of real difficult throws," says Steward, "because I wanted to put pressure on him and make him think he needs to be better. So I gave him difficult throws to start with.

"He got frustrated at first, and then I shared with him what I was doing."

And so, from that point, Steward simplified things.

"He started to experience some success, and then we just kept upping the degree of difficulty on the throws. And I felt like he stepped up to the challenge. Each time we made it more difficult for him, he got better."

Getting better, and facing the demands of the position, has been part of Kreutz's makeup since he became a quarterback his freshman year.

"What drew me to the position," he says, "is that it's probably the toughest position, and I like challenges."

What makes it tough, of course, is the degree to which it places mental and physical demands on an athlete. And once Kreutz had been a quarterback for a while, he knew he had to improve his decision-making.

"Bad decisions really get blown up out here," he says. "People really notice when you make a bad decision. The more good decisions you make, the easier it gets."

It's with that in mind that Steward says the mental aspect of the position is "the most important factor in a quarterback.

"The position requires making decisions, and split-second decisions, and understanding what point in the game we're at when we make those decisions.

"And Blake is a gifted, intelligent young man. He makes good decisions. It's nice to have a 4.0 (grade-point average) kid playing quarterback for you. And he's very talented athletically besides."

A year of experience can only help the decision-making, particularly since that year was pretty successful: Kreutz completed 169 of 317 passes, with 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, with a high game of 323 yards (on 26-of-41 passing) against Dos Pueblos.

"I think it will really be helpful," says Kreutz. "I know what defenses they'll be running. I know what pressure the line will be bringing, how many blitzes they're going to have. I'll be reviewing game film from last year, to sharpen up on it."

Kreutz is one of those players who looks at as much film as some Hollywood reviewers. A year ago, he said probably watched each game at least five times. He has a complete set of last year's games at home, and figures he'll be watching them again before this season's contests.

"I get a lot from them," he says. "Their schemes on defense, and what I should have done better on offense."

Kreutz and Steward also believe the quarterback will be better equipped to handle the leadership demands of the position, not just because of his experience, but simply because he's a senior, with all that means for his standing as a team.

"A lot of times your seniors are the dominant guys," says Steward, "and here he comes in as a junior quarterback. It's hard for him to be the dominant guy in the huddle, just because you have seniors there. Now, being the senior quarterback, he's really blossoming in his leadership."

Says Kreutz, "Last year, I did the best I could being a junior. But now that I'm a senior, I can really tell people what they need to be doing and correct their mistakes. So it's a lot easier. They listen to me more, which is nice."

An increased leadership role is one of the things Steward asked from Kreutz going into the season, along with increasing his arm strength, and having a better understanding of the various kinds of throws he needs to make.

"Sometimes you have to throw a dart," says Steward, "and sometimes it takes a short-arc ball to get over the under coverage but in front of the deep coverage. And then sometimes you've got to go over the top, when your wide receiver is behind everybody."

Kreutz took it all in — "He's always been a jewel to coach," says Steward — and applied it while getting much-needed work with his receiving corps.

"We have a couple of guys returning," Kreutz says, "and a lot of new guys coming up to fill the position. So just getting timing down with them and getting a lot of reps was pretty helpful."

So, too, is his ability to accept the pressure that comes with the title of quarterback.

"You realize there's a little more pressure on you," he says, "but once you hit the field, it's really the same for any player. Your mind is just in that state of playing football."