QB Country Week in Review 11/12: Top Performers

 In College QB News, Featured News, High School QB News, Latest News

Championships, comebacks and record-setting performances highlight our week in review. Here are some of last week’s top performers across QB Country:

Kaleb Barker (Troy)
Kaleb threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns, leading Troy to a 49-28 victory over Georgia Southern. He currently leads the Sun Belt Conference in multiple passing categories (yards per game, touchdowns, efficiency and completions), ranks seventh in the country among FBS quarterbacks in total passing yards (2806) and ranks tied for ninth in touchdown passes (24). He also ranks among the top 25 quarterbacks in completion percentage and total efficiency. The Georgia Southern game marked his fifth 300-yard performance of the season. 

A Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year nominee, Kaleb has drawn the attention of NFL scouts, who have begun to target him as a sleeper pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He also knows how to handle a press conference:

John Rhys Plumlee (Ole Miss)
John Rhys is re-writing the record books at Ole Miss. He broke two rushing records in the Rebels’ 41-3 victory over New Mexico State last weekend including total rushing yards (777) and total rushing touchdowns (7) by a freshman. For the game, John Rhys Plumlee rushed for 177 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns and went 11-for-17 for 124 yards through the air. Counting his four touchdown passes, his 11 touchdowns through the first ten games of the season is also a school record for a freshman. He was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week.

Said John Rhys after the game:

“It’s never easy, but it’s a lot more fun when everything is rolling your way and you’ve got good momentum. It’s a lot more fun that way.”

“It sounds like a me record, but it’s really not. It’s a whole offense, a whole team award.”

Chance Lovertich (Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College)
Chance was the difference in MGCCC’s 23-19 comeback victory over Northwest CC in the MACJC championship last weekend. He completed 26-of-37 passes for 214 yards and two scores and rushed for 34 more, including a bruising 19 yard carry late in the second half that set up the Bulldogs for their final go-ahead score.

With the victory, MGCC heads to the NJCAA championship game to play for a national JUCO title on December 5 against Lackawanna. The Bulldogs’ record stands at 11-0. Chance’s record as the starting quarterback at the #1 ranked JUCO in the country is now 17-0 (and 56-1 since high school). This week he was also named All-MACJC First Team QB and Offensive Back MVP making plays like this:

Said Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright of his quarterback’s performance:

“He took it to another level. There’s not enough superlatives in the English language to talk about his play in the course of two years here, let alone today. There were a couple of times today in the third quarter where we didn’t look real good and he put the team on his back and got a couple of critical plays.”

Kason Lincke (Mobile Christian, AL)
Kason threw four touchdown passes to lead Mobile Christian to a 49-36 playoff victory last weekend. He finished 7/9 for 137 yards and added 51 yards on the ground. The leader of a potent offense, Kason and the Leopards have scored 40 or more points five times this season and are averaging better than 30 points per game. Said Kason of his role in the team’s offensive attack:

“Our playmakers are so difficult to stop, it makes my job easy; just get the ball to them.”

For Kason’s highlights, click here. 

Clete Cooper (East Hall, GA)
Clete capped a strong sophomore campaign, completing 23-of-37 throws for 387 yards and four touchdowns in a 40-31 East Hall victory. Cooper finished the season ranked 7th in Georgia in passing yards, second in completion percentage (72%) and first in total completions. His performance earned high praise from East Hall coach Michael Perry (who has coached a number of talented quarterbacks, including Deshaun Watson) earlier this season:

“For him being so young with this completion percentage, I’ve never had one at this point be that good.”

Gabe Wright (Eagle’s Landing Christian, GA)
Gabe completed 8-of-10 passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 66 more in a 69-0 victory. His performance earned him a spot on the GPB Top Performers list (Georgia’s top weekly players). On the season he is averaging more than 19 yards per completion, throwing for 20 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He is ranked among Georgia’s top 50 quarterbacks in total yards and passing yards. Gabe has led Eagle’s Landing into the MaxPreps National Small School Top 25 rankings (currently ranked #18). To view his highlights, click here. 

Kyle Lowe (Lausanne, TN)
It was the Kyle Lowe show in Lausanne’s 19-17 comeback playoff victory last weekend. Kyle rushed for 208 yards on 25 carries, scoring on touchdown runs of 74, 65, and 9 yards — including the game-winner with 51 seconds left — to secure the win. The performance earned him a spot on the Memphis Commercial Appeal Weekly Top Performers list. He was also recently named All-District First Team in the Memphis region. For the year, Kyle has passed for nearly 1,000 yards and rushed for 550 more, accounting for 23 touchdowns (13 passing). Only a sophomore, he already holds multiple FBS offers. To view Kyle’s highlights, click here. 

Lawson Pratt (American Christian Academy, AL)
Lawson’s strong senior season continued as he went 10/13 with 231 yards and five TDs in a 50-0 ACA victory to open the playoffs. A Samford commit, Lawson has more than 2700 yards passing on the season to go along with 40 touchdowns. In describing his team’s success, ACA coach Chris Smelley shared that Lawson is key:

“It all starts with us offensively and senior quarterback Lawson Pratt. He’s been starting for three years and I think the game has really slowed down for him and his decision making process. coach Chris Smelley.