Iron Man: Provo’s Orchard shines as a three-sport star
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- Provo quarterback Gehrig Orchard (2) gets ready to throw the ball during a Region 8 football game against Uintah on Friday, Oct 10, 2025.
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- Provo quarterback Gehrig Orchard (center) accepts a letterman jacket during a time out of a Region 8 football game against Uintah on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025.
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- Provo quarterback Gehrig Orchard gets ready to take the field in a Region 8 football game against Uintah on Friday, Oct 10, 2025.
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- Provo quarterback Gehrig Orchard warms up before the start of a Region 8 football game against Uintah on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025.
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- Provo quarterback Gehrig Orchard watches the action from the sideline during a Region 8 football game against Uintah on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025.
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- Provo quarterback Gehrig Orchard looks the sideline for the play call during a Region 8 football game against Uintah on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025.
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- Provo quarterback Gehrig Orchard (2) gets ready to throw the ball during a Region 8 football game against Uintah on Friday, Oct 10, 2025.
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- Provo quarterback Gehrig Orchard (2) talks to an injured teammate before the start of a Region 8 football game against Uintah on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025.
There are mornings where Gehrig Orchard — multiple gym bags slung over his shoulder — has to pause to remember whether he is headed to the field or the court.
Orchard is a senior at Provo High School and somewhat of a unicorn in the prep ranks: A three-sport varsity athlete. While many of his peers specialize and focus on just one sport, Orchard has taken on the challenge of playing three.
It’s no wonder he’s named after former major league baseball legend Lou Gehrig, who was known as the “Iron Horse.”
It’s October, and that means the 6-foot-2, 165-pound Orchard is playing quarterback for Kirk Chambers and the Provo football team. In about a month, Orchard will trade in his helmet and shoulder pads for shorts and sneakers, stepping into the lineup for Chris Collinsworth and the Bulldogs basketball team. And sometime around mid-March, Orchard will don a glove and cap to pitch for Lance Moore and the Provo baseball team.
During the offseason, Orchard is competing in all three sports at passing leagues, basketball camps and baseball tournaments.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Oh, my summer is packed,” Orchard said. “I love it, though. I love it so much. It’s a lot, to be honest. I have to make sure my schedule is good and make sure I have my stuff in my baseball bag, my football bag and my basketball bag. I grew up playing all three sports and I really loved all three. I didn’t think I could cut a sport, so I just stuck with it.”
Not only does Orchard play three sports, he’s a starter and a major contributor in all three. In the spring, Orchard pitched and played shortstop for the Bulldogs, posting a 4-3 record with 77 strikeouts and driving in 14 runs. In basketball, Orchard was the second-leading scorer for Provo at 10 points per game, making 27 3-pointers, grabbing 83 rebounds and gifting 43 assists.
It’s football where Orchard shines the brightest. As a junior, he passed for 2,757 yards and 27 touchdowns with ten interceptions. After going 8-3, the Bulldogs graduated most of their offensive line and All-State running back Oliver MacKay, so they started a bit slowly in 2025.
Provo opened the season 1-4, with close losses to Crimson Cliffs (27-24), Springville (21-14) and Morgan (30-24 in overtime). But the Bulldogs have won their past four games and have been downright explosive on offense.
“As a team, we kind of look at the losses as a good thing,” Orchard said. “It’s adversity and we’ve learned from our mistakes. All of those games were super close and we think that what we’ve learned is going to take us far. We’re going to do great things.”
In a 61-24 win against Timpanogos on Sept, 26, Orchard was 24 of 30 for 440 yards and seven touchdowns. Last Friday against Uintah, Orchard completed 13 of 17 passes for 316 yards and six touchdowns in just over a half of football in a 64-2 rout. In nine games, Orchard has thrown for 2,134 yards and 22 touchdowns with ten interceptions.
The man who might know him best is Garrett Deucher, who is not only Provo’s offensive coordinator but the father of Orchard’s girlfriend, Tessa.
“We talk football here and at practice but we don’t talk football when he comes over,” Garrett Deucher said. “As a quarterback, Gehrig is super competitive. He wants to excel, so he’s super driven and he works really, really hard. Most kids want to take breaks. But he’ll go from here to the gym, or during basketball, to the batting cage. He knows and understands where he wants to be.”
Because of his size and the popularity of the transfer portal, it might be difficult for Orchard to get a scholarship offer to play football at the next level. But Deucher believes his quarterback can make it work.
“He may not have some of the measurables, but he’s really productive,” Deucher said. “He makes plays. We’ve adjusted the offense to take advantage of his skill set, because he’s got a really live arm and he’s a good decision maker.”
Chambers understands he has to share Orchard with Collinsworth and Moore, though it’s easy to imagine the three coaches sitting down to play cards or setting up the horseshoe pit to determine where the talented athlete might go on a given summer afternoon.
“When you’re QB1, you’ve got to be QB1,” Chambers said. “I’ve never had to ask him to be there because he’s always there for us. But he’s also been to whatever basketball he can be to and to whatever baseball he’s committed to playing in the summer. He’s running from one thing to the next. I really don’t know how he does it, but man, it’s paying dividends and I’m excited to see what his career will be like after high school.
“He’s very talented. You look at him and you think, ‘How can he make it through football, go play basketball and then make it through baseball?’ He’s just lean and mean and tough. It’s mental toughness and physical toughness. He works really hard and he’s a leader. What a great example for other multi-sport athletes.”
Provo (5-4 overall, 4-0 Region 8) is currently No. 7 in 4A RPI and concludes the regular season on Wednesday at Mountain View.
“I like in this offense how the coaches trust me to make a read or make a throw,” Orchard said. “We throw a lot, which you love as a quarterback. The goal is to get to Rice Eccles (Stadium) and go win a state championship. That’s the ultimate goal, to just leave it all out on the field and know that we did.”
