Another quarterback that has stood out this season is Tate Rice Tate Rice 6'2" | 170 lbs | QB Casey County | 2024 State KY . He has had an outstanding 2023 season so far, completing 92/128 passes for 1,440 yards, 21 touchdowns, and five interceptions. Rice has a great feel for pressure, showing the ability to maneuver around the pocket and escape when needed while keeping his eyes down the field to make throws on the run. He also has shown good ball placement, showing the ability to put the ball where only his intended receiver has a chance to catch it. Rice has also shown the ability to tuck the ball and make plays in the run game when needed, running the ball 31 times for 285 yards and five touchdowns so far. Tate doesn’t currently hold any offers but he deserves some attention from college coaches as he definitely has the talent to play quarterback somewhere at the next level.

Tate Rice Tate Rice 6'2" | 170 lbs | QB Casey County | 2024 State KY is another quarterback that stood out to me this past week. Rice led his team to a blowout win over Leslie County, completing 18/25 passes for 309 yards and five touchdowns. Tate showed a great ability to escape the pocket while keeping his eyes down the field to make throws on the run. He also showed impressive accuracy, putting the ball where only his intended receiver had a chance to catch it. Rice also showed the ability to make plays with his legs, running the ball four times for 46 yards and a touchdown. Tate doesn’t currently hold any offers but he deserves some attention from college coaches as he has the talent to play quarterback somewhere at the next level.

While Rice’s pedigree is well known and his career as a four-year starter for the Tigers makes him one of the state’s most accomplished signal callers, he nevertheless achieved a milestone last Friday with his first 300-yard passing game since his freshman season and setting a new mark for most total yards in a single game for his career. In a 50-12 win over rival Leslie County, he completed 18 of 25 pass attempts for 309 yards and 5 touchdowns while also rushing 4 times for 46 yards and another touchdown. Currently boasting a 74.8 completion percentage on 73 of 98 passing for 1,214 yards and 19 touchdowns, Rice’s total offensive production now exceeds 285 yards and almost 5 touchdowns per game. The #2-ranked passer in Kentucky Class AAA at this season’s mid-point, his Tigers are now 5-0 for the first time since 2006.

If you happen to find yourself within driving distance of a Clay County Tigers football game this fall and have an appreciation for some wide-open, never-dull, sling-it-around high school offenses, you might enjoy watching Rice and his teammates play. This four-year starter enters his senior season with over 5,500 career passing yards, and if last week’s 58-34 win over Pineville is any indication, he intends for his final year to be his most exciting. In addition to completing 15 of 21 passes for 256 yards and 4 touchdowns, he also averaged over 20 yards per carry and rushed for another score when pulling the ball down to escape pressures or execute designed runs.  While the Tigers continue to develop on the defensive side of the ball, they likely will need score points consistently–and sometimes in bunches–but thankfully, Rice and his offensive compatriots appear up to the task.

Rice returns for his senior season after a truly impressive 2022 campaign in which he was an integral part of the Tigers’ noteworthy resurgence and finished as the #2 passer in Kentucky Class AAAA. Starting all 11 games, he completed 154 of 241 pass attempts for 2,417 yards and 36 touchdowns while also carrying the ball 30 additional times for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns.  He never appears uncertain or rattled even when facing adversity, and he typically seems to diagnose defensive coverages pre-snap, often delivering the ball on underneath/intermediate routes almost instantaneously after receiving the ball. Equally impressive is his ability to thrown accurately on the move, and on sprint out passes or moving pockets, he exhibits no hesitation to pull the ball down and run versus soft perimeters. Entering his final season as a four-year starter, many are excited by the prospects of an exciting, successful end to one of the more impressive and accomplished SEKY quarterback careers in recent memory.