Is This South Carolina’s Best Crop Of Quarterbacks?
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This fall, some 23 ranked quarterbacks from Prep Red Zone’s Class of 2021 will have officially moved on. Some to college ball, others with football in their rearview. No more Andre Goodman Andre Goodman 6'1" | 180 lbs | QB…
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Continue ReadingThis fall, some 23 ranked quarterbacks from Prep Red Zone’s Class of 2021 will have officially moved on. Some to college ball, others with football in their rearview.
No more Andre Goodman Andre Goodman 6'1" | 180 lbs | QB Greenville | 2021 State SC or Undre Lindsay Undre Lindsay 6'3" | 200 lbs | QB Gaffney | 2021 State SC or Ahmad Green Ahmad Green 5'10" | 175 lbs | QB May River | 2021 State SC .
And, yet, the position is going to hold plenty of sway when it comes a debate: Is this the best crop of quarterbacks South Carolina has ever seen?
We already know the list of current signal callers are good. They have state championships and college offers in their back pockets. Some have even already made their college intentions public. But this isn’t just about post-high school options.
They’re planning on lighting it up all fall.
And stoke the fire to this debate.
CLASS OF 2022
In many ways, Ridge View’s Andre Washington Andre Washington 6'4" | 200 lbs | QB Ridge View | 2022 State SC is the poster child for this hard-climbing group of quarterbacks. He isn’t the top-ranked player at the position for the Class of 2022 – that distinction is currently held by Chester’s Zan Dunham Zan Dunham 6'2" | 215 lbs | ATH Chester | 2022 State SC , a talented player with college options on both side of the line.
But in Washington, the Blazers have an experienced quarterback who showed serious promise as a sophomore, navigated an odd junior season and now has plenty of eyes on him as a senior.
Now add in the likes of Dunham, Spring Valley dual-threat DeQuandre Smith DeQuandre Smith 6'2" | 210 lbs | QB Spring Valley | 2022 State SC and Ryan Burger Ryan Burger 6'3" | 175 lbs | QB Myrtle Beach | 2022 State SC , the three quarterbacks ranked ahead of Washington, or Westside’s (and Marshall commit) Peter Zamora Peter Zamora 6'0" | 200 lbs | QB Westside | 2022 State SC and all-everything Trent Pearman Trent Pearman 6'2" | 180 lbs | QB Daniel | 2022 State SC and his video-game numbers at Daniel, and you’ve got yourself roughly one-third of the ranked quarterbacks.
Yes, for just that class.
CLASS OF 2023
If you want to label 2022 as a quantity-driving class of quarterbacks, then you might as well throw the quality tag on 2023.
It is here that you have new rivals Raheim Jeter Raheim Jeter 6'3" | 220 lbs | QB Spartanburg | 2023 State SC (Spartanburg) and Grayson Loftis Grayson Loftis 6'2" | 175 lbs | QB Gaffney | 2023 State SC (Gaffney). There’s also Zolten Osborne Zolten Osborne 6'2" | 205 lbs | QB Fort Dorchester | 2023 State SC at Fort Dorchester, who will have chances to prove himself against some really good competition during the non-region slate in August and September.
Nation Ford’s Carson Black Carson Black 6'3" | 190 lbs | QB Nation Ford | 2023 State SC was an offseason workout monster.
And two small-school players – Pee Dee Academy’s Hudson Spivey Hudson Spivey 6'4" | 230 lbs | QB Pee Dee Academy | 2023 State SC and Southside Christian’s Ja’Corey Martin Ja’Corey Martin 6'1" | 170 lbs | QB Southside Christian | 2023 State SC (pictured) – are all inside the top-35, too.
Yes, top-end quarterbacks tend to get everyone’s attention earlier, but they’ve already earned every bit of it.
CLASS OF 2024
The rising sophomore class rankings aren’t very deep. We admit that freely. Very few freshman were under the varsity lights last fall, as the reduced offseason workouts and shortened seasons limited their opportunities to develop.
Still, five quarterbacks found their way onto their teams’ respective fields.
Catawba Ridge’s Jadyn Davis Jadyn Davis 6'1" | 185 lbs | QB Providence Day | 2024 State NC , the top overall player for the class, never turned off those 2020 lights, camping all around the country with the blue bloods of the college game.
Chapin’s Jayden Bradford Jayden Bradford 6'1" | 170 lbs | DB Osceola | 2023 FL was a little more reserved. However, his No. 5 overall ranking and just enough tools around him to let him develop comfortably have most observers believing we’re about to see something special.
Tack on Braxton Scott Braxton Scott 6'0" | 170 lbs | QB James Island Charter | 2024 State SC at James Island, Rock Hill’s Matthew Wilson Matthew Wilson 6'1" | 200 lbs | QB Rock Hill | 2024 State SC and Socastee’s Rocco Wojcik Rocco Wojcik 5'11" | 165 lbs | QB Socastee | 2024 State SC , and the five already ranked quarterbacks give that class a jump start.