June 23, 2012

Jim Baxter
SCVarsity.com Publisher

The 2nd annual QB1 Quarterback Challenge showcased some of the top quarterbacks from the state of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia and the competition was fierce. When it was all over, it was East Henderson (NC) quarterback Seth Owen who captured the QB1 Title, but it was not without hard work.

"The competition was pretty great," said Owen after the event. "I really didn't know what to expect because I've never actually been in a quarterback 'competition' but it was pretty cool to compete with the guys from all oved."

From the onset of the Challenge, Owen demonstrated strong prowess in the passing are, scoring good marks in stationary and sprint out event, as well as the red zone corner throws. It was his time in the 40 that set him apart from other contenders where he finished 3rd overall in the event, allowing him to separate from the pack.

OVERALL EVENT WINNERS:

STRONG SENIORS:

Irmo High School's Grant Davitt pushed Owen hard in the competition, finishing second in the senior class and second overall, as well. Davitt edged Owen in the 40 by 2 hundreths (.02) of a second, and challenged him in each of the other events.

"Both of those guys were outstanding," said QB1 founder Jim Baxter. "We talked about them for most of the day throughout the camp being the among the best there. Both very strong in skills and very athletic."

While there was a five point separation between Owen an Davitte, the 3rd and 4th spots were much closer to the 2nd spot. A total of just three points separated No. 2 - 5, with Columbia High School's Anthony Brown capturing 3rd, Darvia Debose of Darlington finishing fourth, and Brookwood's (Ga) Zach Moon finishing 5th.

For the second year in a row, a Columbia High School quarterback won the Long Toss event, with Brown heaving the ball 61 yards. Last year, former Columbia quarterback Ky Tyler (Texas Tech) tossed it 65 yards.

JUNIOR CLASS COMPETITIVE:

After catching a scoring error, it was actually Gaffney's Luke Lancaster who captured the junior class championship. Lugoff-Elgin's Shon Belton finished second in the junior class. Devin Kilgore of Cane Bay was impressive in the skills, as was Chapin's Matt Charpia.

The 2014 Class is loaded with talent; Stratford's Jacob Park was unable to attend this year's event because of a commitment to a passing league tournament with his team, but Park will have competition in that class. 2012 QB1 competitor Luke Lancaster of Gaffney is a player who shows a lot of promise and potential and he is going to be a strong challenge for Park and Byrnes quarterback Shuler Bentley in their quest to become the state's top ranked signal caller from the 2014 Class.

IMPRESSIVE SOPHOMORES SHOWCASE TALENT:

Last year, Boiling Springs' Daniel Thompson ran away with the freshman class honors and he repeated that feat as a sophomore, with the closest competitor 16 points away from him. Thompson won every event except the Red Zone Corner routes, where none of the 2015 Class players got a hit.

The freshman class was thin but the players whom were on hand were very talented. Only four points separated the top two finishers, with Gilbert's Nicholas Hendrix edging out Boiling Springs' Drew Johnson for the top spot. In the individual event standings, Hendrix captured top honors in three events, sharing in two of them, while Johnson captured top spots in two events, sharing in one. Pickens' Elijah Turner was at the top of three events, as well, sharing in two of those events.

Davis Cousar of the Anderson Cavaliers, a home school team from the Anderson/Greenville area, won the Long Toss for the freshman class.