Northwestern State University of Louisana

2023 Season: Made his NSU debut as the Demons' starting quarterback at UL Lafayette on Sept. 2, connecting with Scooter Adams on a 47-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

Prior to NSU: Lettered two seasons at Idaho State after beginning his career at the University of Wyoming … appeared in three games in 2022, throwing for 335 yards and three scores … threw for 375 yards and two touchdowns before suffering an injury in the 2021 fall season … named the 2021 spring Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year and second-team All-Big Sky after throwing for 1,843 yards and accounting for 12 touchdowns in six games … started his career at Wyoming, appearing in 17 games (nine starts) across two seasons … led the Cowboys to fourth-quarter comebacks against Wofford and Air Force in 2018, earning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week honors after the win against Air Force … threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 22 yards and two scores against the Falcons … earned Academic All-Mountain West honors in 2018.

High School: Two-year letterman for coach Dan Carmazzi's Falcons … was a three-star recruit as rated by Rivals.com, Scout.com and 247Sports.com … named first-team All-Metro by the Sacramento Bee as a senior after completing 60.7 percent of his passes for 2,926 yards and 25 touchdowns … added 378 rushing yards and six touchdowns … helped lead Christian Brothers to the Sac-Joaquin sectional championship game … graduated with a 3.75 GPA.

Personal: Born Sept. 5, 1998 ... son of Tiffani and Jeff Vander Waal ... has a brother, Ryan ... general studies major ... hopes to play in the NFL or work in college footbal in some capacity ... life's ambition is to leave everything better than he found it and have a positive impact on those around him.