Class A & 8 Man Underclassman Stats and Analysis: QB’s

The Iowa High School season is underway and a majority of teams are four weeks in, whereas some teams have had to take a week or two off because of COVID-19 concerns. I am taking a look at the statistics provided by ia.varsitybound.com and watched film on the highest producing underclassman signal callers, running backs, and receivers and broken them down. Here are the QB’s that have impressed so far this season:   Junior QB, Cade Walkingstick, Akron-Westfield High School (A) - 6’1, 201 lbs. Stat line: 720 passing yards, 7:8 TD/INT Ratio, 50% completion percentage, 97.3 passer rating, 35 rushing attempts, 147 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD, 4.2 yards per carry Breakdown: Akron-Westfield has struggled, but Walkingstick has been impressive so far this season. Though I’d like to see his ratio to be different and a little more efficient, I think that he has to force down field throws. With that being said, his down the field throws are good and accurate. He reads the defense well going through his progressions and uses his short, compact throwing motion to delivers balls across the field. He has good arm strength with it and has shown the capability to throw it well off of his back foot. Walkingstick has shown the capabilities to be a good QB at the High School level and the way he progresses could take him to another level. Junior QB, Nathan Russell, Nodaway Valley High School (A) - 5’11, 164 lbs. Stat line: 703 passing yards, 8:5 TD/INT Ratio, 46.7% completion percentage, 89.8 passer rating Breakdown: Nathan Russell is also a QB showing good potential on a struggling offense right now. Russell has a quick release and is good off of play action passes. He finds his open receiver and knows where to put the ball where only his receiver is able to catch it. He can push it down field with nice touch and can sling it accurately. I would like to see his completion percentage bump up a little bit, but I will credit that to trying to make plays for his offense. Junior QB, Jaxon Johnson, Tri-Center High School (A) - 6’2, 235 lbs. Stat line: 921 passing yards, 9:11 TD/INT Ratio, 50.4% completion percentage, 108.6 passer rating Breakdown: Jaxon Johnson is kind of a risk taker, which can work out well or not so well. Johnson has a strong arm with good power behind his throws and confidence when standing in the pocket to deliver a good throw. He fits it into tight windows for his receivers, but obviously can go the other way as well. Johnson delivers well on the run, and sets up quickly when on the sprint-out to deliver when his receiver is open. He has good touch on the deep ball and doesn’t shy away from throwing it over the middle of the field. If Johnson could clean up his decision making a little bit, he could be a solid contributor at the QB in the state. Junior QB, Matthew Benedict, Sidney High School (A) - 5’11, 135 lbs. Stat line: 446 passing yards, 5:2 TD/INT Ratio, 61.4% completion percentage, 106.5 passer rating Breakdown: Benedict is an efficient passer, who uses his throwing opportunities to her advantage. He has good feet that allow him to escape pressure in the pocket and has good pre-throw footwork in the pocket to set him up for a good delivery. He throws a nice ball while on the run and is accurate with it as well. The one important thing is that Benedict is good about keeping his feet going pre-throw so he’s ready to allude pressure if needed, but also able to plant them and make a good throw as well. Filling out his frame would go a little ways for Benedict right now, and would allow him to take a step up with his game. Junior QB, [player_tooltip player_id="23965" first="Eddie" last="Burgess"], Montezuma High School (8-Man) - 6’4, 215 lbs. Stat line: 1154 passing yards, 16:2 TD/INT Ratio, 61.5% completion percentage, 154.7 passer rating, 62 rushing attempts, 490 rushing yards, 11 rushing TD’s, 7.9 yards per carry Breakdown: [player_tooltip player_id="23965" first="Eddie" last="Burgess"] has probably one of the most impressive stat lines in the state in all classes as of now, and definitely the most impressive in 8-man football. He does it with both his leg and his arm posing as a dual-threat QB with good size and frame. He’s an athletic QB who can use his athleticism to get him into good spots on the field. He likes to push the down the field with good accuracy, good touch, and a quick release. Burgess is good about leading his receivers into open areas and anticipates where they’re going to be open out of their breaks. If Burgess continues his run of form and putting up video game numbers Montezuma will be a contender for the championship. Junior QB, Cory Bantam, Woodbine High School (8-Man) - 6’3, 195 lbs. Stat line: 612 passing yards, 11:3 TD/INT Ratio, 59.4% completion percentage, 133.9 passer rating, 46 rushing attempts, 181 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD’s, 3.9 yards per carry Breakdown: Woodbine has a good receiver in Lane Pryor, and solid record thanks to their QB play with Cory Bantam. Bantam is a patient QB in the pocket, who lets the play progress through routes and defensive reads. His footwork before throwing the ball is good which allows him to deliver with balance and body control. In 8-man football it’s consistent to have defensive pass rush in your face as a QB, and Bantam is good about delivering when under duress standing tall in the pocket. He also has the ability to run the ball on a designed run or when rolling out of the pocket into space. Woodbine and Bantam could be another team that’s a player for the end of season game, and Bantam will help them make a case to contend. Junior QB, Leo Dodd, Janesville High School (8-Man) - 5’11, 160 lbs. Stat line: 552 passing yards, 8:2 TD/INT Ratio, 63% completion percentage, 163.8 passer rating, 34 rushing attempts, 189 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD’s, 5.6 yards per carry Breakdown: Noticing a pattern here in that good QB play equals good team outcomes in 8-man football in the state of Iowa. Leo Dodd is the next one on the list of underclassmen who has excelled thus far this season. An efficient passer who makes good decisions in the run game and in the pass game. He also makes plays with his feet showing good speed to escape the pressure and make plays in the run game. Dodd is a good passer on the move, and is good about throwing the ball when he gets downhill and towards his target. He is also comfortable moving within the pocket feeling where pressure is coming from and making the move to dodge it. Dodd is a solid QB, who, with continued success will lead his team further into the season. Sophomore QB, Jacob Maurer, BGM High School (8-Man) - 5’8, 145 lbs. Stat line: 594 passing yards, 5:1 TD/INT Ratio, 60.2% completion percentage, 111.1 passer rating, 90 rushing attempts, 568 rushing yards, 6 rushing TD’s, 6.3 yards per carry Breakdown: The jack of all trades, Jacob Maurer is part QB, part RB for his BGM squad. Maurer plays a wildcat QB and has done so with much success. He is obviously a good runner of the ball and who follows his blocks and uses quick bursts of speed to exploit the defense. As a QB he lives with short to intermediate routes that completes passes efficiently. Doesn’t push the ball down the field much, but he does give his WR’s a chance to make a play in the open field the way he gets the ball out quickly. Maurer may project better at a RB position than QB, but he is showing very well wearing both hats early on this season. Junior QB, Conor Gruver, Easton Valley High School (8-Man) - 6’0, 160 lbs. Stat line: 554 passing yards, 9:3 TD/INT Ratio, 56.2% completion percentage, 119.9 passer rating, 10 rushing attempts, 53 rushing yards, 5.3 yards per carry Breakdown: Easton Valley has started the season off well early-on, and that is due in large part to their QB play. Conor Gruver has shown he can lead his team to success, by throwing the ball on time and accurately to his receivers, spreading the wealth to many different receivers. The pass is setup well by a good running game which sets up the play action pass for Gruver to find open receivers and space. He is patient with the football and has nice touch over the middle of the field laying balls into his receivers hands. Gruver has a good frame to play QB and with continued growth he could be a good QB in the state of all classes. Junior QB, Gavin Smith, Audubon High School (8-Man) - 6’0, 172 lbs. Stat line: 477 passing yards, 11:0 TD/INT Ratio, 78.3%, 252.5 passer rating, 45 rushing attempts, 567 rushing yards, 12 rushing TD’s, 12.6 yards per carry Breakdown: Gavin Smith is an obvious dual-threat QB who excels at running the ball but also doesn’t lack in the passing department. Smith is an athlete who has good breakaway speed in the run game, and can use that speed to allude the defense and extend plays in the pass game. Smith is good at reading the defense and shows good touch on his passes at all three levels. He excels off the play action pass as well and helps find open space for his receivers to work into. Smith is a cerebral QB who understands where the ball needs to go in the offense. Smith is impressive and his stat line supports that, and Audubon will hope for continued success led by his play.