New starting quarterbacks prepping for 2021 season
The new crop of starting quarterbacks in Oakland County are using the summer to hone their craft in anticipation of breakout 2021 campaigns under center.
Walled Lake Western junior Drew Viotto has as much hype surrounding his debut as a starter as any field general in recent memory from the county’s prep ranks. The 6-4, 215-pound Canadian signal caller has been surgical in offseason drills and showcases for the past 18 months and already boasts scholarship offers from Syracuse, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan. The Viotto family is from Ontario.
“I would guess Drew has as good an arm as any quarterback in the state, he can make every throw,” Western head coach Kory Cioroch said. “He’s a thinking man’s quarterback. He’s cerebral and really just eats, drinks and sleeps football. There’s a reason everyone thinks he’s about to go and set the world on fire. He’s the real deal through and through.”
Viotto should be the next great
under center in an impressive Western legacy at the position.
“Drew fits right in, he’ll be up there with the best has ever come through this program,” Cioroch said.
Farmington junior Dominic Pesci comes from rich quarterback stock and the Falcons’ faithful are expecting big things from the 6-6 gunslinger-in-the-making. Pesci’s dad and uncle quarterbacked teams at Farmington Hills Harrison during the historic John Herrington era.
The local sophomore quarterback class is filled with talented dual-threats, like West Bloomfield’s Reqez Nance, Birmingham Groves’ Cayden Hardy, North Farmington’s Ryan Shelby and Waterford Mott’s Kalieb Osborne. Nance saw spot snaps on West Bloomfield’s 2021 state title squad as a fab frosh.
Shelby transferred from West Bloomfield to North Farmington and will be coached by Herrington, now a position coach crosstown with the Raiders following Harrison closing in 2018. Hardy and Osborne are intriguing athletes with high upsides. Osborne is a star on the basketball court as well. Junior Diego Rocha will share time with Osborne and both will play in the secondary on defense.
Winning at Wayne State
Southfield A&T took home the annual June 7-on-7 league championship hosted by Wayne State at the Warriors’ Adams Field. Sophomore quarterback Isaiah Marshall was threading needles all month in the league, showing why he’s the No. 1 signal caller in the state’s Class of ’24. Aaron Marshall, Isaiah’s uncle, is the Warriors new head coach.
Tweet of the Week
“There is a direct correlation between who you are as a person and who you are as an athlete,” Orchard Lake St. Mary’s boys basketball coach Todd Covert