FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – When Jake Allen arrives at the University of Florida this summer, he will be – in a sense – a ninth-year freshman.

Allen, a 6-3, 210-pound senior at Fort Lauderdale’s St. Thomas Aquinas, has been trained to be a big-time college quarterback by ex-Gator QB Eric Kresser, who was a backup on Florida teams that won SEC titles in 1993, ’94 and ’95.

Kresser, who now runs a passing academy, teaches his students much more than the art of throwing a tight spiral.

RELATED: Jake Allen throws 5 TD passes, leads Aquinas to state title

He drills them on pre-snap reads. He makes sure their drop-back steps coincide with the routes they want to throw. And Kresser even does mock interviews with his quarterbacks, videotaping them and rehearsing so that they know what to say to the media.

Tonight at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium, Allen will take everything he has learned and use it for his final state title game as two-time defending champion Aquinas (11-2) takes on Tampa Plant (13-0) in the Class 7A marquee matchup at 8 p.m.

Plant, despite its unbeaten record, is unranked nationally by USA Today. Aquinas, meanwhile, is ranked No. 8 due to its tough schedule, which includes a 25-24 three-overtime loss to Las Vegas power Bishop Gorman, which finished its season 15-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation.

The Raiders also lost their opener 27-23 to Miami’s Booker T. Washington, which was a reigning four-time Class 4A state champ at the time. Allen threw an interception in the final minute when his Raiders were just 1 yard from victory.

There were extenuating circumstances – more on that in a minute – but Allen took criticism from everywhere, Aquinas fans, Aquinas haters … even teammates.

“It was brutal,” Allen said earlier this week. “I deleted Twitter for a couple of months. It was negative energy that I didn’t want to have. There are a lot of haters out there.”

Just prior to his crucial interception, Allen had passed to star wide receiver Trevon Grimes, a 5-star Ohio State commit who was tackled at the 1-yard line – some thought he scored.

Aquinas was out of timeouts, and the clock was ticking with less than 30 seconds left. To stop the clock, Aquinas wanted to spike the ball. But the coaches changed their minds, and the plan was to throw into the end zone for the game-winner.

Unfortunately, Allen’s teammates didn’t get that signal and just stood there, expecting a spike. BTW blitzed Allen, who couldn’t afford to take a sack because time would run out.

Allen threw the ball up, and it was picked in the end zone.

“It was hard,” Allen said when asked how his teammates reacted. “Some turned their backs and some didn’t.

“It wasn’t fun. I’m not going to lie. Whenever you are partially to blame for a loss, it’s not fun.

“Most (teammates) were there to help me. And I thank them for that.”

Allen, a four-star recruit on espn.com and three-star on 247Sports, recovered nicely from those two losses, guiding Aquinas to eight consecutive wins. He has completed 62.5 percent of his passes this season for 1,934 yards and 25 touchdowns with just six interceptions.

But those two painful losses have shaped him. Just as much as the training sessions with Kresser taught Allen, so did the bitter taste of defeat.

The result is a young quarterback who will arrive in Gainesville battle-tested, ready to compete for the starting job and solve the Gators’ quarterback quandry.

In other words, thanks haters.

“The adversity I have faced this year,” Allen said, “down the road, I will thank them for that.”

BORN TO BALL

Allen got his athletic ability from his father, Tim, who was a 6-4, 225-pound tight end at Boston University. Before that, Tim was a highly ranked youth tennis player in Massachusetts, but he switched to football because he preferred team sports.

And although Tim didn’t do much in his brief career at Boston – a series of concussions cut his career short – he came away with a positive feeling.

“I love what football teaches,” said Tim, who eventually graduated from Florida Atlantic University.

Those lessons have been passed along to Jake, the second of Tim and Leslie’s five children. (Their oldest child, and only daughter, Alexis, is dating Gators senior defensive lineman Joey Ivie.)

Jake started out as a baseball pitcher, and even though Tim didn’t want him stressing his young arm with a curveball, Jake went to YouTube and learned the pitch on his own.

“He had a great 12-to-6 curve,” Tim said.

Jake was also physical, headstrong and inquisitive, attributes that are still present today.

As a boy, Leslie would take Jake to the park so he could jump on the monkey bars and “get all that energy out of him.”

One day, when he was 11, he threw a bad pitch, and it looked like he was about to cry on the mound. His mother, watching from the stands, yelled out: “It’s OK, Jake!”

Allen didn’t care for that interference and yelled back, “Be quiet, Mom!”

In other words, I’ve got this … and indeed he did.

Allen was always the type to ask endless questions. Why is that? How come? Why not this?

It was exhausting, Leslie said.

But in the fifth grade, Allen found Kresser, who had been working with Kevin Anderson, who is Leslie’s godson. Anderson just finished his career as the starting quarterback at Fordham, putting up big numbers.

With Allen, Kresser found a special talent.

“Jake was serious about training at an early age,” said Kresser, who was coached by Steve Spurrier in college and by Ken Anderson of the Cincinnati Bengals during a three-year NFL stint.

“I give Tim credit, too. When he saw what I was doing with Kevin (Anderson), he wanted Jake to start early.”

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Courtesy of Tim Allen: Former Gators QB Eric Kresser, right, has helped develop Jake Allen, center. Father Tim, left, played tight end in college.

KEY DECISIONS

Jake, who turns 19 in April, was young for his grade while in middle school.

Kresser suggested that Jake be held back a year in eighth grade. Leslie was against the idea at first. But in the end, the decision was made, putting Jake among the older half of kids in his grade, therefore giving him an advantage athletically but also in maturity.

The plan worked, and from there, Allen took charge of his career. He enrolled at Boca Raton High as a freshman. But even though he felt ready for varsity ball, the coach at the time was philosophically opposed to playing freshman, Kresser said.

So Allen transferred to a private school, Fort Lauderdale’s Cardinal Gibbons, for his sophomore season. At Gibbons, Allen played varsity but split time with an older quarterback.

That wasn’t good enough.

Allen, on his own, decided to transfer to Aquinas, a program that at that time had won eight state titles. This, Allen thought, was a program that cared about winning, and they were going to play the best quarterback regardless of age or other factors.

“I always believed in Jake, but I didn’t know what the coaches would do,” Kresser said. “But Jake said, ‘I know who I am. I will go to the best school in the area and beat everybody out.’ He did exactly what he said he would.”

As a junior, Allen led Aquinas to a 13-1 record and a state title. There was an early-season stumble, falling 6-3 to Deerfield Beach, before he rallied the Raiders to a closing run of eight consecutive wins.

That’s pretty similar to the script this season, assuming Aquinas walks off that field in Orlando as state champs and heads straight to Disney World.

“It would feel special,” Allen said of ending his prep career with a second straight state title, silencing – for now at least – his critics.

“When we lost those two games, everyone left us. No media guys were coming to our practices anymore. But if we win on Friday, it’s going to feel like telling everyone, ‘Look at us. We’re state champs!'”

THE NEXT CHAPTER

Allen grew up as a football fan but not exclusively tied to any school. His mother attended Florida State, but that influence was canceled out by Kresser, who sang the Gators’ praises.

As always, Allen, who has a 3.5 grade-point average and aspires to be a coach or broadcaster after his playing days are over, took the studious approach to college football.

Instead of waiting to be recruited, Allen recruited schools of his choosing.

“What I did my sophomore year was I followed a ton of coaches and OCs,” said Allen, referring to offensive coordinators who ran schemes he felt would fit his pocket-passer style. “I sent out my highlight tapes.”

Allen wasn’t interested in Florida at first – not with coach Will Muschamp running an offense designed for dual-threat QBs.

But when the story broke on Dec. 4, 2014 that Florida had hired Jim McElwain as coach, Allen took notice.

Prior to that, Allen had been interested in schools such as Stanford and Miami, but once McElwain came in and brought on offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, Allen was intrigued.

Nussmeier had held the same position at Washington, Alabama and Michigan. This was a big-time coordinator whose offensive style, in Allen’s opinion at least, fits him perfectly.

And once Allen committed to Florida, Leslie fully committed to the Gators as well – she gave up hundreds of items of FSU shirts, hats, coffee mugs, etc.

Still, Allen didn’t get that Florida offer easily. In fact, it didn’t come until his second or third visit to Gainesville.

“With most big-time programs, before they offer a quarterback a scholarship, they want to see two things,” Kresser said. “They want to see you throw the ball in person – they are not going to base it on video.

“Secondly, they want to sit him down and do chalk talk; put him on the whiteboard and drill him with questions. (Nussmeier) put him through the ringer. ‘What play is good against this coverage? What is your pre-snap read?’

“Jake told me it was all the stuff he and I had done. He said he nailed it, and he walked out of that office with an offer.

“It was one of the proudest moments of my coaching career.”

IS HE READY NOW?

That’s the million-dollar question. Or, given how much money there is in big-time college football, it’s the multi-million dollar question.

Florida’s quarterback situation hasn’t been stellar, really, since Tim Tebow. And among the QBs expected to return for next season, rising junior Luke Del Rio is the only one with college-game experience. He made six starts, completed just 56.7 percent of his passes and had an equal amount of TD passes and picks, 8-8.

The Gators are likely hoping that two freshmen who are redshirting this season – Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask – can be the long-term answer. Allen figures to get a shot, too.

Here’s the problem for Allen, however: Aquinas doesn’t let its students graduate early.

“It would take an act of God,” Tim said.

Failing that Hail Mary, Allen could enter fall practice significantly behind Del Rio, Franks and Trask, and the Gators could also sign a junior-college player or someone else to add to the competition.

Allen, though, has seen the trend of true freshman quarterbacks playing right away in the SEC, and that’s encouraging.

“It’s crazy the type of league it’s becoming,” Allen said. “If you’re ready, you’re playing. Coaches don’t care (about) senior, freshman – they are going to play the best player. It’s cool to see that.”

Allen said he’s grown up studying three quarterbacks he referred to as “class acts” – Tebow, Tom Brady and Andrew Luck.

Tebow, in 2007, was the most recent Gators Heisman winner. If not the Heisman, Allen at least aspires to be the next great Gators quarterback.

“I’d like to hope I can be that guy,” Allen said. “(Gators QBs) have been struggling a little bit. Del Rio and (senior Austin) Appleby did what they could do this year.

“(The Gators) need a guy to come in and take charge. I think Luke could be that guy. I think everyone (on the roster) is capable of being that guy.”

Asked what Gators fans can expect of him, Allen did not hesitate to respond.

“They can expect a guy to come in and take control of the team – I can lead guys,” Allen said. “I can read a defense. I know where to go with the football.

“If I have to make plays with my feet, I believe I can do that. But I like to stay in the pocket and deliver some throws. I believe I fit Coach Mac (McElwain) and what he wants to run.”