Can he throw a football the length of the field?

It seems so. Everyone has seen the spirals soar from his right hand down the field, 40 yards, 50 yards - and it seems as if he hardly cocked his arm, flicked his wrist and let loose.

Everyone has seen him put the short passes right on the receiver's numbers, elude the pressure from opposing defensive lines or tacklers trying to haul him down to the turf. Hey, he doesn't wear No. 13 without reason.

There's nothing bad about Brandon Howard, the wonderfully talented senior quarterback for the once-beaten King Philip High Warriors, who resume their quest for the Hockomock League championship Friday against North Attleboro.

Howard can, seemingly, throw a baseball through a wall - hey, he's broken enough windows in the family house in Norfolk as attestment. His fastballs from the pitching mound top off in the high 80's (mph), such that he has received more than a sniff from college and pro baseball scouts. One wonders just what he would do with a javelin in his hands? The 200-foot mark would be a coin toss it would seem.

But, it is with a football in his hands that the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Howard has earned his reputation, having thrown for over 1,000 yards and led all MIAA Division 2 quarterbacks last season with 17 touchdown tosses; now this season, he has thrown for seven TD's and rushed for four more.

And to think, he was an offensive and defensive lineman through his Pop Warner football days, that he was a two-way end through his first two seasons as a King Philip Warrior; that in just his second season as a signal-caller he has had colleges from coast to coast expressing an interest in having him on campus.

"You know I've never really tried that, to see how far I can throw the football," said Howard over the weekend, whether or not the pigskin could fly from his hand from goal line to goal line. "On a good day, I can probably throw it 60 yards. It kind of comes natural and I've been (weight) lifting for a while, I've been lucky - I probably have the best arm in the family."

And those roots have been firmly implanted by Team Howard, the last in the line of nine children, one of four boys who have suited up as KP Warriors, including another QB, Troy, being a quarterback in Wrentham and at Iona; along with tight end Brett and Tab, a running back. And that's not to forget the female Team Howard members, all well respected KP and collegiate athletes, Mallory, Maura, Siobhan, Courtney and Shannon.

"We'd make the kids roll up their napkins and see if they could toss them in the trash can," chuckled the patriarch of Team Howard, Tom Howard. There's a soft toss (softball and baseball) hitting machine in the back yard, a basketball backboard, a quasi tennis court, lacrosse nets.

A lot of pickup games, a lot of patrolling sidelines and sitting in the stands to watch siblings compete, a lot of inspiration from older brothers and sisters, a lot of words of instruction from coaches through the years have all shaped Howard, not to mention serving as a ball boy at Patriots' training camp last year, where he might have learned more in five weeks than in any of the football camps he has attended.

"We did the Franklin passing camp, every Tuesday and Thursday night, the past two years and that has really helped me get my timing down with the receivers," said Howard. "You get to know how fast your receivers are, where they'll be. I try to put the ball in the best place possible, as long as they can catch it."

Because the KP Warriors have a quartet of running backs, Howard doesn't have to throw the football 20-30 times a game to advance the offense down the field. Last year, KP went unbeaten through its first six games and won nine overall, Howard completing 56 percent of his passes for 1,127 yards (with just two interceptions).

This year, KP went unbeaten through its first five games, putting 185 points on the scoreboard, allowing just 13 points. Unfortunately for Howard and KP, the Warriors dropped a pair of potential TD tosses in a six-point loss at Fairhaven last week. KP coach Brian Lee and former Walpole High and current Washington Redskin QB Todd Collins have ably accelerated Howard's progress as a QB and performance on the field. The footwork, the release points, the reading defenses, the film work - to become much better than average just doesn't happen - along with the unselfish time that assistant coach John Sarianides has given in his learning curve.

"When I first started playing quarterback, I didn't know the fundamentals," said Howard. "I had to work on my five and three-step drops," who got a few snaps from center as a jayvee QB as a KP freshman and lumbers around in size-14 football shoes. "It takes a lot of reps, a lot of going through drills to be a good quarterback."

Because of Howard's potential, schools like Boston College and UMass-Amherst, like Duke, like Brown and Princeton all want him in their uniform. But so too do baseball programs. He played with the Norfolk American Legion team, played in the Bay State Games, was a member of the Frozen Ropes New England championship team as a 13-year old.

"I've been kind of hoping for it (college scholarship)," said Howard, uncommitted about where or at what level he might play at in the upcoming years. "It's exciting to talk to the coaching staff members, sometimes you can tell right away when you meet them if you'll fit."

Howard is just hoping to fit the ball into running back's and receiver's hands this final month of the 2009 season. "We're just trying to get them both together, we have a lot of formations, I like spreading the ball out," said Howard of KP's yards of advancement, victories taken and respect earned.

"For me, football is No. 1, I live for it," said No. 9 of Team Howard. "Baseball is close, but I love stepping out onto the football field on a Friday night."

PETER GOBIS can be reached at 508-236-0375 or at pgobis@thesunchronicle.com.