Top quarterback recruits shine under the Friday night lights

Dozens of the nation’s top quarterback recruits are back in action this weekend, and they are again putting up eye-popping numbers for their high school programs.

Despite a number of games in the Southeast being affected by weather, passers from coast-to-coast have been lighting up the scoreboard and stuffing the stat sheet. And that includes a couple of five-stars in the Rivals Industry Rankings showing exactly why they’re considered to be the nation’s best.

Below are some of the performances from around the country:

Keisean Henderson – Legacy School of Sport Sciences (Texas)

Result: 53-49 loss to Port Arthur Memorial (Texas)

Houston five-star QB commit Keisean Henderson lit up the scoreboard on Friday night in a loss to Memorial Port Arthur. Henderson threw five touchdown passes — including an 80-yarder in the second quarter — and ran for another. But ultimately he and Legacy School of Sports Sciences couldn’t overcome Port Arthur’s equally dynamic offense. For the game, Henderson finished 30 of 38 for 517 yards and rushed for 116 more.

Luke Fahey – Mission Viejo (Calif.)

Result: 53-14 win over Folsom (Calif.)

Going head-to-head with five-star passer and BYU commit Ryder Lyons, it was Ohio State commit Luke Fahey who had the upper hand on Friday night. The future Buckeyes completed 22 of 33 attempts for 322 yards and five touchdowns as Mission Viejo routed Folsom (Calif.) 53-14. The 41-point loss for the Bulldogs is the worst for the program since 2006.

Jake Fette – Del Valle (Texas)

Result: 40-30 win over Franklin (Texas)

Jake Fette did everything he could to lead Del Valle to win over Franklin on Friday night, as the Arizona State commit amassed 349 passing yards and 100 rushing yards. His final two runs were touchdowns of 1 and 77 yards — the first marking the seventh lead change and the second sealing the win with 3:30 remaining.

Brady Smigiel – Newbury Park (Calif.)

Result: 56-35 loss to Pacifica (Calif.)

A herculean effort from Brady Smigiel wasn’t enough to help Newbury Park overcome Pacifica on Friday night. The Michigan-bound signal-caller still completed 26 of his 34 attempts for 318 yards and five touchdowns, accounting for all of the Panthers’ points.

Jonas Williams – Lincoln Way-East (Ill.)

Result: 41-0 win over Kankakee (Ill.)

Lincoln-Way East and star quarterback Jonas Williams didn’t need long to get going Friday against Kankakee. The USC commit only played one half, but completed 16 of his 22 passes as the Griffons jumped out o a 41-0 lead at the break and never looked back.

Jett Thomalla – Millard South (Neb.)

Result: 65-0 win over Millard West (Neb.)

Jett Thomalla and his Millard North squad have been absolutely rolling to start the season. After a 49-7 blowout over Arbor View (Nev.) last week, the Patriots topped that in Week 2 against rival Millard West. Thomalla completed 11 of his 16 attempts while racking up 226 yards and four touchdowns, including one on the ground. North went on to win 65-0.

Matt Ponatoski – Archbishop Moeller (Ohio)

Result: 24-21 win over Trinity (Ky.)

In a showdown between one of Ohio’s top teams and one of Kentucky’s best, quarterback Matt Ponatoski shined. The Kentucky commit led Archbishop Moeller (Ohio) to a 24-21 come-from-behind win after trailing Trinity (Ky.) 14-3 at the break. Ponatoski finished with 201 passing yards and three touchdowns while competing 23 of 28 passes.

Other notable quarterback performances around the country

American Heritage (Fla.) quarterback and Texas commit Dia Bell threw three touchdown passes and made a number of key plays with his legs, but it wasn’t enough for the Patriots to overcome Chaminade-Madonna (Fla.) in a 28-24 loss. Bell was sacked six times, but Heritage led in the final minutes and had a chance to put the game away. But the Lions stopped them on fourth down at their own two-yard line, then drove 98 yards for the eventual game-winning score.

After an incredible five-touchdown game last week, the aforementioned Ryder Lyons struggled against a talented Mission Viejo defense. The BYU five-star commit completed 21 of 32 attempts for 177 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

This story will be updated with more top quarterback performances from around the nation.