Happy Monday and welcome back to another edition of our prep quarterbacks report, where we track how the top QB recruits in the Class of 2025 are playing and what they’re up to with their seasons.
Note: Missouri commit Matt Zollers and Georgia commit Ryan Montogmery, the nation’s Nos. 7 and 9 quarterbacks, are out for the year with season-ending injuries.
Without further ado, let’s dive in.
Bryce Underwood
School: Belleville (Mich.) High
Committed to: LSU
Ranking: No. 1 overall, No. 1 QB
Underwood and Belleville wrapped up September with another double-digit win, this time beating Franklin 35-6. The Tigers, now 5-0, haven’t scored fewer than 35 points in a game and are beating opponents by an average of 33.2 points.
Underwood had a 36-yard rushing touchdown to kick things off in the first quarter and threw three touchdown passes, including a 38-yarder late in the second quarter. The LSU commit and his Belleville team have made it their mission to avenge a loss in the state championship from a season ago and bring home another title. So far so good for the Tigers, who have only three regular-season games left.
READ OPTION TO THE HOUSE 👀💨
LSU commit Bryce Underwood keeps it for the 36-yard TD run. @BryceUnderwoo16
Belleville (MI) defeated Franklin (MI) 35-6.pic.twitter.com/Bphqi6Uw4j
— MaxPreps (@MaxPreps) September 28, 2024
Tavien St. Clair
School: Bellefontaine (Ohio) High
Committed to: Ohio State
Ranking: No. 6 overall, No. 2 QB
St. Clair, the Ohio State commit, was back in action this week after tweaking his knee a week ago, but Bellefontaine was on the wrong end of a lopsided matchup Friday night against London. In its worst loss since 2011, Bellefontaine fell 51-6, with St. Clair throwing just one touchdown pass — a 31-yarder to wide receiver Braylon Newcomb in the second quarter.
The Chieftains were previously on a three-game winning streak but are now 4-2 on the season. They should have a chance to rebound this week when they host 0-6 Tecumseh.
Keelon Russell
School: Duncanville (Texas) High
Committed to: Alabama
Ranking: No. 11 overall, No. 3 QB
Russell must be pumped after watching Alabama beat Georgia on Saturday night in an instant classic. And how excited must he be to throw passes to star receiver Ryan Williams, who is still 17 years old and would be a senior in high school, like Russell, had he not reclassified?
The Crimson Tide are rolling. And so are Russell and Duncanville.
The Panthers improved to 4-0 with a 63-14 win against Dallas Skyline. Russell, Kalen DeBoer’s first quarterback commit at Alabama, was 27-of-32 passing for 474 yards and five touchdowns, marking the third time in four games he has thrown for at least five scores. For the year, Russell is now 90-of-20 passing for 1,437 yards and 19 touchdowns. Just as impressive: He has yet to throw an interception.
What a start for both him and his future team.
We home https://t.co/7hRPNpeN7N
— Keelon “Dot em” Russell (@Pres1dential) September 28, 2024
Julian Lewis
School: Carrollton (Ga.) High
Committed to: USC
Ranking: No. 15 overall, No. 4 QB
Carrollton did not play over the weekend after opening the season with a perfect 6-0 record. Lewis took the opportunity to head to the West Coast to check out USC’s comeback win over Wisconsin.
A lot of recruits were at the Coliseum to watch USC beat Wisconsin, including 5-star QB Julian Lewis pic.twitter.com/dSTQWW0Mve
— Ryan Dyrud (@RyanDyrudLAFB) September 28, 2024
Lewis is off to quite the start, having completed 101 of 132 attempts for 1,377 yards and 21 touchdowns against three interceptions. The Trojans are beating opponents by an average of 29 points per game, and Lewis’ 76.5 completion rate is a full 10 points higher than his 66.4 mark from a season ago.
This week, Carrollton hosts Westlake, which has plenty of talent despite being just 3-3. The Lions are led by four-star Tennessee wide receiver commit Travis Smith Jr., the nation’s No. 151 prospect and the No. 2 receiver in Georgia, and four-star Georgia offensive tackle commit Juan Gaston, the nation’s No. 158 player.
Deuce Knight
School: George County (Miss.) High
Committed to: Notre Dame
Ranking: No. 29 overall, No. 5 QB
Knight missed his second consecutive game as he continues to heal from a hamstring injury. It was a “game day” decision, George County coach James Ray said in an email.
“I just felt that he wasn’t ready,” Ray wrote.
The Rebels beat Wayne County 20-13 without their star quarterback. Knight will continue to be evaluated this week.
In the meantime, Knight took an official visit to Auburn this weekend, sharing pictures from the game to his Instagram account. The Notre Dame commit has stayed in touch with Auburn and has visited the Tigers multiple times over the last few months. Hugh Freeze’s pursuit isn’t close to over.
Husan Longstreet
School: Centennial (Calif.) High
Committed to: Texas A&M
Ranking: No. 33 overall, No. 6 QB
Longstreet and Centennial were off Friday ahead of an away game at Roosevelt this week. The Huskies are on a three-game winning streak and most recently beat Liberty High out of Arizona 63-39. Longstreet will need to continue to work on his accuracy, but he has been a true dual threat this season.
The Texas A&M commit is 47-of-78 passing for 698 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions. He has rushed 30 times for 303 yards (10.1 per carry) with four touchdowns.
George MacIntyre
School: Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy
Committed to: Tennessee
Ranking: No. 60 overall, No. 8 QB
It was a defensive battle between Brentwood Academy and Baylor School on Friday, with Baylor eking out a 7-6 win over MacIntyre and the Eagles. MacIntyre was 17-of-32 passing for 189 yards, per The Tennessean, on a night when the Eagles failed to score a touchdown.
Friday marked the second consecutive loss for Brentwood Academy, which played McCallie, the defending state champs, a week ago and drew top-ranked Baylor this week. Brentwood Academy, which went just 2-10 a season ago, is now 3-3. The Eagles have a chance to bounce back this week against winless Innovation Academy.
Madden Iamaleava
School: Long Beach Poly (Calif.) High
Committed to: UCLA
Ranking: No. 126 overall, No. 10 QB
Another week has passed with Madden Iamaleava on the sidelines. The UCLA commit played in the season opener while at Warren High School on Aug. 23 but has since transferred to Long Beach Poly and has yet to play in a game. Long Beach Poly has been rolling with 2026 quarterback Deuce Jefferson, who scored five touchdowns Friday night in a come-from-behind win against Lakewood.
Per the Los Angeles Times, Iamaleava’s paperwork for a transfer waiver has been submitted as he and wide receiver Jace Brown await answers. It’ll be fascinating to see whether Iamaleava gets cleared — and what he might eventually look like after a month-and-counting of no game action.
Bryce Baker
School: East Forsyth (N.C.) High
Committed to: North Carolina
Ranking: No. 128 overall, No. 11 QB
The North Carolina Tar Heels might be a mess, but Baker and his East Forsyth team continue to dominate. The Eagles are 5-0 after a 55-0 win over Davie on Thursday. East Forsyth hasn’t scored fewer than 44 points in a game all season and is averaging 54.6 points per game.
Against Davie, Baker had an easy night, completing just 5 of 8 attempts for 107 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed five times for 58 yards and another score on the ground.
For the season, Baker is 84-of-108 passing for 1,395 yards and 15 touchdowns with one interception. He has also rushed 22 times for 110 yards and four touchdowns.
UNC is in total disarray after the Tar Heels blew a 20-0 lead against rival Duke on Saturday en route to a 21-20 loss. This came one week after JMU hung 70 points on North Carolina. Coach Mack Brown and his assistants will need to do some serious damage control with recruits — none more important in the 2025 class than Baker.
KJ Lacey
School: Saraland (Ala.) High
Committed to: Texas
Ranking: No. 138 overall, No. 12 QB
Lacey’s Saraland team was off this week, which gave him an extra week to heal up from a reported MCL injury from Sept. 13, per Rivals. Saraland is 5-0 and hosts 0-5 Baldwin County this week. Keep an eye on Lacey, the Texas commit, as he continues to recover. He told Rivals he expected to miss “a couple of weeks.”
GO DEEPER
From unknown QB to Elite 11 standout: Meet emerging prospect Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele
Bonus
Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele of Hawaii is one of the most fascinating quarterback recruits in the country and was also one of the most underrated heading into the 2024 season. But schools are now on to Sagapolutele, who announced this week that Oregon is his latest offer.
Since June, Sagapolutele has climbed from No. 39 to No. 24 in the national quarterback rankings. He is committed to Cal and is off to quite the start at James Campbell High School in Honolulu. Per ScoringLive in Hawaii, Sagapolutele is 79-of-107 passing for 1,316 yards with 20 touchdowns and just one interception. He has thrown at least four touchdown passes in every game.
🎯 Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, James Campbell (HI)@JaronKeawe pic.twitter.com/U8F7X53ra6
— Elite11 (@Elite11) June 5, 2024
Can Oregon flip him? The Ducks do have one thing going for them: Dillon Gabriel, Oregon’s starter, is also from Hawaii and could help them recruit Sagapolutele, who showed out at the Elite 11 Finals in June.
“He’s got more of the stature that people traditionally like at the position,” Elite 11 director Brian Stumpf said earlier this year. “He’s all of 6-3 and in between 215 and 220 depending on the day and what he had for breakfast and all that sort of stuff. So he’s a big, strong kid. Really effortless just as a passer. Left-handed guys, I think traditionally when you talk about quarterbacks, don’t necessarily have the arm strength maybe that people covet at the position. But his ball finishes, it’s a really effortless release for him.”
(Photo of Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele courtesy of Elite 11)
