MIAMI GARDENS – Palm Beach County is on the map.
We can correct that right now with a statement from Palm Beach Gardens linebackers coach Rayfield Dixon. His Twitter post says it all.
For the first time in Palm Beach County history, we have produced three college quarterback who earned MVP honors from their respective bowl games.
Here is the list below.
• North Carolina Central junior quarterback, Belle Glade native and Glades Central alum Davius Richard: 15-of-20 passing, 175 yards, 1 touchdown pass, no interceptions to upset Jackson State in overtime, 41-34, in the Celebration Bowl on Dec. 17, 2022; Celebration Bowl MVP
•Florida State junior quarterback, West Palm Beach native, and Benjamin alum Jordan Travis: 27-of-38 passing, 418 passing yards, two touchdowns, one interception to beat Oklahoma in 35-32 win at the Cheez-It Bowl on Dec. 29, 2022; Cheez-It Bowl MVP
•Tennessee senior quarterback, Pahokee native, and Olympia (Orlando, Fla.) alum Joe Milton III: 19-of-28 passing, 251 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions to beat Clemson in 31-14 win at the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30, 2022; Orange Bowl MVP
Richard spoke on this momentous occasion for our area.
“It’s amazing and a blessing,” the HBCU national championship quarterback said. “It’s really a chance to shine light to Palm Beach County. To show that what people already know, it’s talent down here.”
Trumarion Moreland, who was recently tapped as the new Palm Beach Lakes head coach, hails from Belle Glade and is a Palm Beach Lakes High School alum. As a former offensive coordinator with experience coaching quarterbacks on the high school level – the most recent example is St. Andrew’s 2022 quarterback, Lou Groza Player of the Year nominee, and Stetson signee Jacob Cashion – Moreland holds a lot of weight in Palm Beach County with his level of intrinsic and extrinsic knowledge of the all-important position and the game itself.
Moreland on this history-making moment in Palm Beach County:
“The county is putting on this bowl season,” Moreland said. “I just think the county gets overlooked because a lot of our talent have played out the county over these past five years or so.”
We have another prominent individual who weighed in on this landmark accomplishment.
Benjamin track and field head coach Barrett Saunders, who led his boys and girls teams to their first state title in school history this past spring, was at his alma mater when Travis blessed the Buccaneers with his high level of football talent and overall IQ.
Saunders on what Palm Beach County has produced in this bowl season:
“Palm Beach County isn’t known as a quarterback hotbed,” Saunders said. “However, I am not surprised our quarterbacks are doing well on the next level. For example, Jordan was one of the best athletes I have ever been around when he was at Benjamin. He also had all of the passing tools to be great. He wasn’t rated high by the recruiting services, but I knew once he got comfortable in the offense up there at FSU that he would do well. Hopefully the success of the Palm Beach County college quarterbacks this year in bowl games brings more attention and scholarship offers for our high school quarterbacks who definitely deserve more attention than they get. I am proud of those college quarterbacks for showing the kind of talent that can be found in Palm Beach and wish them continued success both on and off the field.”
We have at least three other college quarterbacks who have made their respective marks on the college football scene this season.
Here is the list below.
•Tulane junior quarterback, Boca Raton native, and Deerfield Beach alum Michael Pratt: Led Green Wave to AAC (American Athletic Conference) title and New Year’s Six Bowl (Cotton Bowl vs. USC; Monday, Jan. 2) by going 20-of-33 passing for 394 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception; 2,776 passing yards, 25 touchdowns, 5 interceptions in 12 games so far this season
•James Madison senior quarterback, West Palm Beach native, and Dwyer alum Toddy Centeio: Led Dukes to 8-2 record in first Sun Belt Conference season; finished year with 2,697 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions in 10 games played
•Arkansas State senior quarterback, graduate transfer from Florida State, South Bay native, and Glades Central alum James Blackman: 2,471 pass yards, 14 touchdowns, 3 interceptions in 11 games for the Red Wolves
To make this clear, Pratt could be the fourth Palm Beach County quarterback to win Bowl MVP honors. It can happen at the Cotton Bowl tomorrow (Jan. 2).
As for Centeio and Blackman, their respective teams ended their seasons in late November.
Moreland on this special group of six area standout quarterbacks:
“From the list of guys this past year, two of them played their high school ball outside the county (Joe and Pratt),” Moreland said. “And the same goes for other talented guys that are playing at the next level. It’s definitely worth highlighting the talent we produce in our county.”
PHOTO CREDITS: Chuck Bethel, Christian Proscia, NCCU Athletics, Tulane Athletics, James Madison Athletics, and Arkansas State Athletics
