Class 3A Top QB Performances of Week 5

Returning to Class 3A this week, we have hit the midpoint of the 2024 high school football season, and teams and athletes are about to have to switch to another gear to prove that they have the drive and tenacity to power their teams into the second half of the season and maintain their strong starts from the beginning of the year. This week, we take a look at 7 of the top QB performances from week 5 in Class 3A, including familiar names that have thrived across the start of the year and will look to continue doing so over the next 4 games.    After losing a close shootout last week, [player_tooltip player_id='1204540' first='Jaxson' last='McIntire'] helped Clear Lake rebound and win a blowout game over Webster City. McIntire finished the game just 7 of 10, but finished with 218 yards and 4 touchdowns while adding 67 rushing yards on 9 carries. Clear Lake thrived on the run game on Friday night, but despite McIntire's smaller sample size in passes, he absolutely thrived on the air, connecting on two touchdown throws of 60+ yards in the win. McIntire has 17 touchdown to just 1 pick across 5 games, and the sophomore will look to continue dominating into the next half of the 2024 season.     EJ Miller has made strides as a passer in his senior season with Independence, and he had another spectacular performance in week 5 against Central DeWitt. Miller finished the game 13 of 18 for 228 yards and 3 touchdowns, and he added 53 rushing yards on just 5 carries. Miller has a great arm, with great accuracy throwing to the back shoulder of the WR in 1-on-1 situations, and that really showed as he tore apart Central DeWitt's secondary on Friday night. Miller is making quick development at the perfect time, and he's delivering as one of the best QBs in Class 3A right now.     After going 3-6 last season, Carroll has already started the 2024 season 4-1, and much of their resurgence has been thanks to the leadership of senior QB Carter Essick. In a blowout win on Friday against MOC-Floyd Valley, Essick finished the game 7 of 11 for 194 yards and 4 touchdowns while adding 33 rushing yards on 11 carries. Essick was excellent in finding the seams in the defense to hit his receivers in stride, and he also showed great vision and accuracy throwing on the run against the Dutchmen. Essick is another surging senior standout that is blossoming at the perfect time as he's looking to bring his team to one of their best seasons in years.     After a somewhat-disappointing 5-5 season in 2023, Humboldt has rebounded with a 4-1 start to the 2024 season, and senior Coen Matson has enjoyed a brilliant start to his senior season. Against Hampton-Dumont-CAL in week 5, Matson finished 13 of 16 for 173 yards and 2 touchdowns. Matson has really been airing the ball out this season, finding great seams down the sideline and hitting his receivers in stride. He found his WR down the left sideline on Friday, who took it for a 62 yard touchdown. Matson looks to help bring Humboldt back into form this season as a real contender in Class 3A.     Grant Hocker's numbers continue to grow as he's been having a ridiculously good senior season. Taking on South Tama in week 5, Hocker finished 9 of 13 in the game, accumulating 172 yards and 4 touchdowns passing. Hocker had a smaller size of work passing, but he was so efficient on his throws, hitting beautiful throws all night, with his best being a 24 yard touchdown to [player_tooltip player_id='1241538' first='Grady' last='Wetjen'] in which he unloaded a perfect ball with a high arc down the field. Hocker increases his total to 24 touchdown passes through 5 games, and he will look to maintain his position as the overall passing touchdowns leader in Iowa this year.     Nevada enjoyed their most dominant win of the season in week 5 in a 55-0 shutout over Perry, and [player_tooltip player_id='1406631' first='Connor' last='King'] was pulled during the game in the midst of the Cubs' steamrolling win, but not before once again delivering big on his limited snaps. King went 8 of 10 for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns during the win. King unleashed a 44 yard touchdown to junior [player_tooltip player_id='1671558' first='Lucas' last='Brown'] in the win in which Brown was all alone thanks to a blown coverage, and the velocity on King's pass was brilliant. King is a confident leader for the Cubs as they look to continue their momentum heading into the second half of the year.     On homecoming night, Mount Vernon completely throttled Mount Pleasant 59-0, and Kellen Haverback enjoyed his best performance so far in his junior season. Haverback finished the game 7 of 10 for 109 yards and 3 touchdowns while adding 2 rushing touchdowns. Haverback looked poised and confident on Friday night, making great strides in his accuracy and reads after some up-and-down performances through the first 4 weeks. Haverback will look to build upon this performance and maintain Mount Vernon's momentum into the second half of the season.

Returning to Class 3A this week, we have hit the midpoint of the 2024 high school football season, and teams and athletes are about to have to switch to another gear to prove that they have the drive and tenacity to power their teams into the second half of the season and maintain their strong starts from the beginning of the year. This week, we take a look at 7 of the top QB performances from week 5 in Class 3A, including familiar names that have thrived across the start of the year and will look to continue doing so over the next 4 games.