2023 Midseason Stock Risers: QBs
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We have now completed the first half of the 2023 season and there have been plenty of athletes that have seen their stock rise through the first five weeks of the season. Here are some quarterbacks that have really stood…
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Continue ReadingWe have now completed the first half of the 2023 season and there have been plenty of athletes that have seen their stock rise through the first five weeks of the season. Here are some quarterbacks that have really stood out during the first half of the 2023 season!
Parkersburg quarterback David Parsons David Parsons 6’3″ | 205 lbs | QB Parkersburg | 2024 State WV has had a tremendous start to his senior campaign and has been a mainstay on our weekly standouts this season. Through the first five games of his season, Parsons has thrown for 1,325 yards and 18 touchdowns. In two of those games he was only needed in the first half or his stats would be even better. He went the first four games without throwing a single interception and is completing nearly 70% of his passes. The big 6’3 225 senior has also added 143 yards and three more touchdowns with his legs. Parsons has thrown for at least 300 yards in the three games that he played all four quarters and is proving to be one of the top quarterbacks in the state this season.
Nitro’s new QB1 is Josh Moody Josh Moody 6’2″ | 195 lbs | QB Nitro | 2025 State WV and the junior gunslinger is off to a scorching hot start to his junior campaign with the Wildcats. Moody already broke legendary Nitro QB J.R. House’s single-game passing touchdown record earlier this season with 11 TD passes in one game. Moody is currently the passing yards and touchdowns leader in the state through the first five weeks of the 2023 season. He has thrown for 1,703 yards and 25 touchdowns while averaging 340 passing yards per game and just two interceptions on 132 attempts. Moody has good size for the position at 6’2 195 and will be one of if not the top quarterback coming out of the 2025 class.
Highlights
Matt Frye Matt Frye 6’1″ | 185 lbs | QB Scott | 2024 State WV and the high-flying Scott Skyhawks offense have been putting up monster offensive numbers all season. The 6’1 180 senior had 1,272 passing yards and 14 touchdown passes through the first four games of the season and although full game stats aren’t currently available from his 5th game, he had another 6 touchdowns in the game bringing his total to 24 on the season passing and rushing. Frye is a great commander of the Scott spread offense and he’s been orchestrating a high-powered and explosive offense all season. Frye and the Skyhawks are now 5-0 on the year and averaging 48 points per game through the first five games.
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Parkersburg South senior Turner Garretson Turner Garretson 6’0″ | 225 lbs | LB Parkersburg South | 2024 State WV is currently in our 2024 rankings as a linebacker but he’s also the new QB1 this season and having a great start to his final high school season. Garretson was pressed into quarterback duties after the returning starter transferred away and the 6’0 225 senior has answered the call in a big way. Garretson has thrown for 1,038 yards and 16 passing touchdowns while also rushing for 333 yards and two more touchdowns. His play on defense where he may be best should also be commended as he has totaled 45 tackles and hardly comes off the field each week.
The third-leading passing yards leader in Class AA has played just four games through the first five weeks of the year and has already eclipsed the 1,000-yard passing mark. That would be Clay County junior quarterback Noah Collins Noah Collins 6’1″ | 175 lbs | QB Clay County | 2025 State WV . Collins has thrown for 1,213 yards and 14 touchdowns while averaging 303 yards per game. He’s also added 247 yards rushing and two more touchdowns with his legs. Collins has been efficient this season thus far with just three interceptions and has completed over 70% of his passes the past two games while starting to get into a groove.
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The most efficient quarterback in West Virginia through the first five weeks of the 2023 season is Tucker County’s Ethan Rosenau Ethan Rosenau 6’2″ | 190 lbs | QB Tucker County | 2024 State WV . The senior quarterback has completed an incredible 75% of his passes including a perfect 12/12 in the first game of the season against Pocahontas County. Rosenau has three games total of 3 or fewer incompletions in the game and his “worst” performance was a 12 of 23 night in a big win over a talented East Hardy squad. Rosenau has thrown for 891 yards and 16 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions with three of them coming against a previously undefeated Eastern (OH) team last week. Rosenau and the Mountain Lions are a perfect 5-0 on the season and the senior quarterback is a big reason why.
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Chance Barker Chance Barker 6’3″ | 175 lbs | QB Princeton | 2026 State WV has exploded onto the scene in his first year starting on the varsity team. The Princeton sophomore quarterback takes over this season for the prolific Grant Cochran who is now at WVU and the young Barker has not missed a beat in the Tigers’ dynamic offense. Barker has thrown for 1,140 yards and 15 touchdowns through the first five weeks which is currently Top 10 in the state for passing yards. The 6’1 170 sophomore has some great weapons around him with Dominick Collins Dominick Collins 5’9″ | 165 lbs | WR Princeton | 2024 State WV and Marquel Lowe Marquel Lowe 5’11” | 185 lbs | RB Princeton | 2025 State WV , but Barker has proved to be the next great Princeton quarterback to come out of southern WV.
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New Mingo Central head coach David Jones has the Miners humming this season after a few years of being down and his quarterback Chris Ross Chris Ross 6’2″ | 190 lbs | QB Mingo Central | 2024 State WV is a big factor in their success. Ross has completed 53 of 81 passes through five games for 811 yards and 10 touchdowns. Ross has played limited snaps in a couple of games due to blowouts but he has led them to some big wins over previously unbeaten Man and 2022 state champion Independence. He’s also done some damage with his legs rushing for 221 yards and four more touchdowns. Chris Ross Chris Ross 6’2″ | 190 lbs | QB Mingo Central | 2024 State WV and the Mingo Central Miners have a huge test this week against fellow undefeated Matt Frye Matt Frye 6’1″ | 185 lbs | QB Scott | 2024 State WV and the Scott Skyhawks in what should be a classic shootout.
Highlights
Another new QB1 this season for the always-potent Wheeling Park offense is junior Aiden Davis Aiden Davis 5’11” | 170 lbs | QB Wheeling Park | 2025 OH . Davis is coming off a fantastic sophomore basketball season and steps into the varsity quarterback role for his junior year on the football field. I just got to watch Davis in person last week against Ohio perennial power Steubenville and the junior playmaker went for 320 yards passing and a touchdown and was impressed with his playmaking ability. He’s a dynamic athlete at the quarterback position and has a tremendous family pedigree to make a great quarterback. His father and uncle were All-Ohio quarterbacks who went on to play D1 football and saw some time at various professional levels. His older brother Javon won a state championship in Ohio and currently starting for Wheeling University. Through just four games, Davis has thrown for 960 yards and 10 touchdowns on a very efficient 72% completion percentage.
Although only the first four-game stats are available right now, Fairmont Senior’s Brody Whitehair Brody Whitehair 6’1″ | 190 lbs | QB Fairmont Senior | 2025 State WV has made quick work in the Polar Bear offense this season. In the first four games, the junior gunslinger has thrown for 955 yards and 13 touchdowns. Whitehair and the Polar Bears had a big win in week five over Class AAA University which would put him well over 1,000 yards once the stats are available. Whitehair entered the 2023 season as already one of the top quarterbacks in Class AA and in the state and has easily backed up that claim through the first five games and still one more season of high school to go. Whitehair and Fairmont Senior are now 4-1 on the year and appear to be on track for another state championship game appearance.