Rivals QB Challenge: Postcard from camp
BALTIMORE -- Jake Allen won the inaugural
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Rivals Quarterback Challenge Finals on Sunday,
slinging his way to the Accurate Arm award with a stellar performance at M&T
Bank Stadium.
The three-star pro-style quarterback from Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas
Aquinas edged out fellow 2017 prospect Chase Brice in a tiebreaker
championship that resembled a game of horse, except the competitors had to
get the other to spell out Q-B-C to win the event. Allen nailed a variety
of throws and Brice matched him before eventually falling 3-1 in the overtime
period as the other 12 participants cheered them on.
third, fourth and fifth, respectively, topping off an event that saw 320
quarterbacks compete across four regional stops and the final round.
"It was fun being able to see where you stand with the quarterbacks," Allen
said. "That was big. I believe I can hang with all these guys. The format is
different, but I had a blast. It's not the easiest thing, but it's really fun.
Coming out I was a bit nervous but I got the jitters out and did well.
"It's different because you don't have receivers with you -- you have to throw
to stationary targets. You can't mess up and you don't have a receiver to bail
you out. You have to make that throw, and that's a great challenge."
Brice, a four-star prospect from Loganville (Ga.) Grayson, also had a great
showing. He found his rhythm on intermediate throws about midway through the day and that
carried him into the championship round. Mike Farrell, the national recruiting
director for Rivals.com, was impressed by the tenacity of the final two
competitors.
"Allen is a great winner for the first time," Farrell said. "He's a kid that I
think is going to get a ton of offers. Obviously he is playing for a great
program and that's going to raise his profile.
"Chase Brice was a guy we saw in Atlanta and was very, very good. It was great
to watch the playoff because Chase make three or four throws to save a letter
and showed a lot of ability under pressure. It shows he has ice water in his
veins.
Four-star dual-threat quarterback Tate Martell, a member of the 2017
Rivals100 watch list and the reigning Nevada Player of the Year, didn't crack
the top five on the scorecard, but he showcased excellent footwork and the
accompanying arm strength with an event-best heave of 65 yards. Farrell
acknowledged Martell, who recently added scholarship offers from
"He's just a ball of energy and takes everything to the next level," Farrell
said.
The event featured the four automatic qualifiers that punched their tickets to
the finals at their respective events: Brice (Atlanta), Clifford (Cincinnati),
Rondle Johnson (Dallas) and Connor Neville (Los Angeles).
(Arizona) and Wallace (Vanderbilt) were the committed prospects in
attendance.
"I thought the interesting part was that we added some stations for the finals
that we didn't have at the regionals and that tested them a little bit,"
quarterback coach Peter Vaas said. "That goes to show that coaching, repetition
and practice help. That idea behind this is that a quarterback is more than just
throwing a ball. He has to think which means he has to process information and
depending on the information he gets it changes his drop or it changes where he
throws the ball."
