SportzFarm All-Star Tournament Quarterback Spotlight
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The SportzFarm All-Star tournament was held over Easter Weekend and featured six teams in the eighth-grade (class of 2028) bracket. While the bulk of the talent was from New Jersey (North, Central and South) and New York (the five boroughs…
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Continue ReadingThe SportzFarm All-Star tournament was held over Easter Weekend and featured six teams in the eighth-grade (class of 2028) bracket. While the bulk of the talent was from New Jersey (North, Central and South) and New York (the five boroughs and Long Island), there was also talent from Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Here are the quarterbacks that stood out to me.
The weather on Friday of the All-Star tournament was less than ideal and even Brett Favre’s arm would have struggled to throw the ball through the driving rain and crazy wing gusts. Nonetheless, the dual-threat ability of Brito shined through the tough weather. After spending his pre-high school career with the Harlem Jets, he did a solid job leading the NYC Elite eighth-grade team. When he had time (and a dry football) during warmups, the potential was on display. More recently, he was selected as the Future Star Player Award by the Harlem Jets. Stay tuned here.
While the Strong Island Power United (SIPU) program had a pair of talented skill position players that significantly lightened the load in Tyler Grayson Tyler Grayson ATH NY (ATH) and Lamier Lamorissiere Lamier Lamorissiere 5’7″ | 160 lbs | RB NY (RB/LB), signal caller Jacob Gaetner Jacob Gaetner 6’0″ | 160 lbs | QB West Babylon | 2028 NY still caught my eye. It’s no secret the weather wasn’t ideal and for that, he wasn’t asked to put the rock in the air much, but he still checks some boxes. First and foremost being size at 6-foot and 160-pounds. The eighth-grader played JV for West Babylon this past season and physically looks the part. He has to put in the work to develop his skills, but the multi-sport athlete has the potential.
One of the biggest surprises out of the weekend for me, was SportzFarm quarterback Jaden Hill Jaden Hill 6’1″ | 190 lbs | QB NJ . This past winter I released a 2028 New Jersey list and had Hill listed, but he was listed as a quarterback to keep an eye on…rather than being on the actual list. While his game still isn’t anywhere near complete, he is significantly more talented than I originally had him pegged for. Additionally, he’s in much better shape than I thought, listed at 6-foot-1 and 190-pounds with a a 74″ wingspan (6-foot-2). The former Matawan quarterback led SportzFarm to the tournament title and certainly looked/looks the par. I left the event impressed with his ability. So much so, that he will be on the updated version of the 2028 New Jersey Watchlist.
Highlights
To say that the first day of the tournament was a rough one for quarterbacks across the board, would be putting it lightly. Driving rain and strong wind gusts at times made it nearly impossible to throw, but Handle IV managed to throw a couple nice passes. He was also praised by coaches and teammates for his leadership skills following a tough triple OT loss to the NYC Elite team. The South Jersey Vikings quarterback out of Brigatine, New Jersey was also an All-Star in his local league.
Highlights
The common theme in every write-up here with the quarterbacks, is just how tough the weather was. I had never seen Berrios play in person until this event and I really wish the weather would have cooperated better. Taking one look at him, it’s obvious he’s an athlete and has a lot of ability. By all accounts, he’s an even more impressive baseball player than he is football player. Based on the film I had seen leading up to the SportzFarm tournament, I had him listed as an Athlete; However, I think he will settle in at quarterback. He has the arm, the leadership skills and the moxy to lead a team–which is exactly what he did for the Born Winners squad.