Sophomore QB Mitchell one to watch

Five-star defensive end Josh Sweat was one of the most dominant high school football players in the country. Was ...

Sadly, Sweat's high school career ended during Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith's third game of the season when he suffered a serious injury to his knee. You would think a team would suffer greatly after losing its best player. That didn't happen with Oscar Smith, and the main reason is sophomore quarterback Shon Mitchell.

"I feel like this year there is more of a leadership role that I had to take on," said the 5-foot-10, 170-pound Mitchell. "Some guys left and went to college, so I felt like I had to step up and lead the team."

Being a leader is something that comes naturally to Mitchell according to Oscar Smith head coach Richard Morgan.

"I think he has taken on more of a leadership role, but it's not because of pressure and it's not about him being vocal," Morgan said. "He realizes and everyone on this team realizes that were down a great player, and everyone has to step up and do more. He says to himself it's his job as the quarterback to lead by example, and everyone will follow that. Shon has played really well over the past few weeks, and I think his teammates have seen that and realize they need to step their game up as well. That's what you really need out of the leader."

Mitchell's ability to step into that leadership role has kept 5-1 Oscar Smith on track for the year. The offense has averaged more than 50 points, and the defense has allowed just 14 points since losing its best player, and much of that can be attributed to Mitchell.

"It's gotten a lot easier after that first year because I was really getting my feet wet," Mitchell said. "Everything came quick to me and in the offseason I did get bigger and stronger. The ball was jumping off my hand faster."

Mitchell knows he has plenty to improve upon before he gets under center for a college team.

"I have a long way to go to be able to compete on the next level," Mitchell said. "I need to work on my reads. Everything is coming quicker and quicker to me but there are still some mental mistakes I need to fix."

His coach is confident he will progress and remind everyone of a Super Bowl winning quarterback from Virginia.

"His understanding of what's going on on the field is pretty remarkable," explained Morgan. "He's a student of the game and so he's going to progress mentally. By the time he's a senior he will have seen everything, done everything and know how to react anything. As far as his mental makeup and his physical makeup he reminds me of Russell Wilson. Russell is just 5-foot-10 and tearing it up in the NFL."

Wilson graduated from Richmond (Va.) Collegiate and went on to star at N.C. State and Wisconsin. Mitchell already has one scholarship offer and plenty more are sure to come.

"I was a freshman when I got that offer from Virginia Tech so I'm all new to the recruiting process," he said. "It felt really good to kind of get that monkey off my back and know that I'll have at least one college to go to. I can't be any happier that it came from Virginia Tech."

Mitchell remains focused on his responsibilities at Oscar Smith, but knows a good bit about the Hokies.

"Right now I'm just worried about Oscar Smith, trying to make us better and get another state championship ring," Mitchell said. "I feel like after the season I'll definitely try to get in touch with [quarterbacks] coach [Scot] Loefller and try to build a relationship. I watched the East Carolina and Ohio State games. I was very impressed with them.

"Before, Virginia Tech was more of a running team and I can kind of see, with the new offensive coordinator coming in a few years ago, they're really spreading the ball around and trying to incorporate the pass more," he said. "You can see that it is more of a spread look."

A few schools have already hosted Mitchell during camps but there is one school from which Mitchell is really looking forward to hearing.

"I've been to some college camps where I get a tour afterward," said Mitchell. "I went to Clemson, Virginia Tech, Tennessee and N.C. State. I think the facilities are always great compared to the high school facilities. I like seeing how many guys a school has put into the NFL.

"I've always liked Stanford," he said. "It's kind of far out there, but I've looked up to guys like Elway, Plunkett, Andrew Luck and those guys. Stanford has great quarterback tradition. I like schools like Notre Dame and schools with good quarterback tradition."

Mitchell has already thrown for about 1,500 yards and scored about 20 touchdowns this year.