Quarterback Jamie Ybarra Jr. proved doubters wrong in his first career U SPORTS start last Saturday. Replacing an injured Des Catellier, Ybarra Jr. threw for 396 yards and two touchdowns against no. 10 ranked UBC.

But behind the shocking performance is the story of a man who has overcome countless obstacles in his life to get to where he is today.

Ybarra Jr. started playing football for St. Vital when he was seven years old, as his step-dad Jayson Dzikowicz had previously played for Winnipeg, Toronto and Ottawa in the CFL and helped instill the love of the game in him. He chose to attend St. Paul's for high school, where he was part of back-to-back ANAVETS Bowl championship teams in 2011 and 2012.

He received a scholarship to play for the University of Alberta after high school, however a coaching change resulted in that possibility not coming to fruition. All of a sudden, Ybarra Jr. was in a situation where he didn't have a place to play for the 2013 season.

Cue current Blue Bombers running back Andrew Harris, who was training at the same place as the St. Paul's gunslinger and was interested in seeing where the promising prospect would be playing that year. When Ybarra Jr. informed him of his situation, Harris quickly texted his former junior football coach, Matt 'Snoop' Blokker at Vancouver Island. Not too long after that, the Winnipeg native was off to the west coast for spring camp with the Raiders.

"I remember finishing my workout and getting home, and as I pulled into my house, my phone rang," Ybarra Jr. recalls. "It was Snoop, saying 'hey Jamie it's coach Snoop on the phone. I coach for the Vancouver Island Raiders and Andrew Harris gave me your information and said I should call you right away.' I was like oh, we're not messing around I guess."

The Raiders had two other quarterbacks that season, and Ybarra Jr. was expected to be the third string. But by week five, he had assumed controls of the offence, finishing the season with 1382 yards and 13 touchdowns en route to a trip to the national final as well as CJFL Rookie of the Year Honours.

"I remember getting up on stage [at the awards banquet] and being like holy, I didn't realize this year would go the way it did," the cool-headed pivot says." It was definitely one of those experiences that I needed to have, especially coming out of high school and living with my parents, to going and doing my own thing."

At the end of the season, Blokker headed off to Calgary to take the head coaching job with their junior team. Ybarra Jr. didn't really have any communications with the coach who filled in, and was still rehabbing a collarbone injury, so he returned home.

It was during this time that he got in contact with his dad, Jamie Ybarra Sr., who was living in California and whom he had met twice prior, once at a basketball tournament in Dallas in grade 11 and once in Winnipeg the following year.

The younger Jamie was looking for a team to play for, and his father — who was a former pro baseball player — had some contacts at the junior college in the states that he went to. Just like that, a month-and-half after returning to Winnipeg, Ybarra Jr. had packed all his belongings up and was off to play for the De Anza Dons in Cupertino, California.

Yet again, he went out there as the third string quarterback, but by week three of the 2014 season, he was starting and at times facing off against players who had already re-committed to NCAA Division 1 schools such as LSU and Ole Miss.

"There were definitely some rough games, and I definitely realized the talent level that American football has to offer, especially places in California where you can train all year round. It was a big step, but obviously it made me better… and the competition level was over the top."

After a year-and-a-half stint with the Winnipeg Rifles, Ybarra Jr. ended up back with Vancouver Island for the 2017 campaign, as Doug Hocking — the defensive coordinator during the pivot's first go-around out west — had taken over head coaching duties and wanted to bring him into the fold.

Things were going according to plan for the well-travelled signal caller, until three days before the start of the regular season, when he experienced a severe shortness of breath while running during warmups. He was unable to inhale and was transported to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a blood clot in his lung — something that doesn't typically occur until much later in life.

"They kept me in the hospital for a day or two, and I was on the pulmonary embolism floor with all my fellow 60-year-olds. They did literally every test you could possibly imagine to figure out what it was or find something that could've potentially caused it, and still to this day, they don't really have any reason for what it could have been. With the assistance and push of myself, it's now been treated as an anomaly."

Ybarra Jr. was on blood thinners for a few months in order to deal with the issue but was slowly weaned off of them. He stayed with the team as a quarterbacks coach and ultimately made it back on the field by week six to help his squad advance to the national final once more.

At the conclusion of the 2017 season and with his CJFL eligibility now up, Ybarra Jr. had no expectations of continuing playing tackle football. He was part of flag and touch teams in order to stay in shape, but that was about it. But when Manitoba's backup pivot Scott Borden Jr. went down with a season-ending injury mere days before the pre-season started, he had his number called once more.

Fast forward to the final game of the Canada West regular season and the opportunistic gunslinger was thrust into the spotlight yet again. He shone, throwing for 396 yards and two scores in a 38-34 OT loss to UBC.

With starter Des Catellier expected to be back for the Bisons road playoff date with Calgary this weekend, Ybarra Jr. will likely be back to holding the clipboard. But regardless as to what happens, he'll be ready if the team needs him.

"If I don't start, I'm not going to be sour with Des or anything," he says calmly. "He's probably one of my closest friends on the team. Whether it's him or whether it's me, I'll be ready to go if the team needs me."