High school football: Area is loaded with high-profile quarterbacks for 2023

Aug. 13—It's a hot summer day across Northeast Ohio. There are probably a lot of things Mikey Maloney would rather be doing — but on this day he is putting in work.

Meeting up with teammates at Riverside High School, the defending winner of the News-Herald's Tony Fisher Award starts working out and pumping iron under the watchful eye of Riverside strength and conditioning coach Brian Doberdruk.

This, Maloney tells himself, is no time to let up.

Not after the junior season he just had.

Maloney spent the 2022 season tormenting opposing defenses for nearly 3,000 of total offense and 43 touchdowns between his throwing and running. But he wants more.

"Something like that just happens with hard work," Maloney said. "I put in the work in the offseason. I don't necessarily have goals to top what I did last year. I have some things I keep to myself, obviously. But stuff like that comes with success of the team."

Maloney, who threw for 2,289 yards and 28 touchdowns to go with 677 yards on the ground with 15 additional scores, isn't alone when it comes to being a marquee quarterback from the area putting in offseason work to prepare for the 2023 season.

In fact, there are eight other News-Herald area quarterbacks who threw for more than 1,000 yards last past season. Some of them even added significant rushing yardage as well.

The glut of returning quarterbacks sets the bar for what could be the most impressive season in News-Herald history from a quarterbacking standpoint.

Here's a look at the list, in alphabetical order, including their accomplishments last season and what they potentially bring to the table this season.

Scotty Fox, Mentor, Junior

He was a third-team All-Ohio pick last season in Division I and he's back for more.

Fox threw for 3,134 yards and 30 touchdowns. He got better as the year went on and has had a marvelous camp this month.

"I put on a little more weight to try and get stronger and faster," Fox said. "I want to be the best leader I can possibly be and lead the offense to as many points as possible."

Fox has an entirely new receiving corps this season aside from returner Austin Van Huss. Newcomers Dylan Sierputowski and Justen Hodge have been impressive early in camp.

Fox said it's time to be a leader more so than in previous years when he looked up to the upperclassmen.

"We have a young team but that doesn't change anything," said 6-foot-2, 210-pound Fox, who has 12 Division I college offers. "We're ready to attack it."

Lucas Kaltenbach, Kenston, Junior

While this is Kaltenbach's first year at the helm of the Bombers' offense, he has previous starting experience at Benedictine, where he threw for 1,433 yards and nine touchdowns last season before transferring back to his home school last winter.

At 6-foot-4, 220, Kaltenbach isn't in the same mold as prevous Kenston quarterbacks Nico Georgiou and Jon Tomcufcic. But he has a rocket for an arm and a physical frame to run if needed.

"The challenge is winning the team over and learning a brand new playbook," Kaltenbach said. "It's a new chemistry with the receivers, teammates and coaches. It feels a little bit like being a freshman all over again."

Kaltenbach has a strong skill set around him, including returning receivers Jimmy Richmond and Tymir Cardona, along with All-Ohio running back Sean Patrick.

"Even though I was at Benedictine, some of my best friends are here at Kenston," he said. "I think we're going to be a team that other teams don't want to take lightly."

Jake Kavcic, Gilmour, Senior

Kavcic is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the area, having thrown for 1,958 yards and 31 touchdowns last year to go with 374 yards rushing and four scores a year ago.

This is the third year for him starting at quarterback. He also started his freshman year at defensive back for the Lancers.

"It's been great," he said of his career at Gilmour. "I feel the most fun part is how much I've grown as a passer. I've always been able to run. I've improved a lot passing."

He's not the only Kavcic with 1,000-yard passing to his name. When Jake was injured his sophomore year, his twin Andy stepped in at quarterback and threw for more than 1,000 yards. Now Andy is among the skill set around Jake, along with Shawn Dillard, Nick Iliano, Matt Lambert and Lars Broberg.

Kavcic has offers from Wheeling (W.Va.) and Otterbein. He's looking forward to one more year with the Lancers and with his twin.

"I don't know if it could get much better," he said of the chemistry and experience with his brother. "We've been doing this since we were like 3 years old. Having someone like Andy to pay with and throw to is a big confidence-booster."

Mikey Maloney, Riverside, Senior

It's been a fine line this offseason for Maloney, building strength while also maintaining his flexibility and speed.

Maloney, not surprisingly, has been dynamic in both of Riverside's scrimmages this preseason. He has a fine skill set around him, too, which could help him top last year's numbers of 2,289 yards passing and 677 yards rushing.

Running back Jason Mackey as well as receivers Brady McKnight, Dez Kirks and Ethan Ross — among others — make the Beavers a dangerous offense with multi-facted Maloney running the show.

"Brady and Jason are two of my top guys," Maloney said. 'We have a great skill set. Everybody is back from last year but one guy (Jake Elly). We're just looking to go 1-0 every week. Our focus is just to keep getting better."

Miles Miller, Berkshire, Senior

One of the toughest games of can-you-top-that belongs to Miller.

At 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, Miller had a season for the ages last fall when he threw for 1,445 yards with 13 TDs and rushed for another 1,138 yards with 16 scores. He also had 27 tackles and six interceptions on defense.

"I just want to stay focused all year and trust in my coaches in what they tell me to do throughout the week to continue what I did — we did — last year," Miller said. "Is there a target on me now? Probably. But I've just got to play my game every Friday night. I don't care if teams know I've got the all every play. I'm going to stick to my game and play hard every night."

While Miller considers himself "an athlete that plays quarterback," he does like to be multi-dimensional.

"I prefer to run the ball, honestly," he said. "But when I get to air it out, thats so much fun."

Walter Moses, Perry, Junior

Moses has a breakout season last year when he threw for 2,212 yards and 26 touchdowns while completing an uncanny 72 percent of his passes. For his efforts, he was named third-team All-Ohio in Division V.

Moses has offers from UConn and Akron, a list that could — and should — increase with another big season this fall.

"Hopefully I'll be better," the 6-foot-3, 175-pounder said. "I worked a lot and hopefully I've gotten faster. I think I've gotten better with my progressions. When I was younger, it was like, 'Hey, I'm set on this guy (to throw to).' I think I've developed going through reads."

Moses, who has a strong skill set around him such as Brayden Richards, Jayden Studio and Luke Sivon, said personal and team development are his focuses, not as much college opportunities right now.

"That's motivation to keep working harder," he said.

Frankie Trinetti, Lake Catholic, Junior

Trinetti had a stellar sophomore campaign, in which he threw for 1,805 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Imagine what he would have done had he not missed nearly two full games with a concussion.

Trinetti is back stronger than he was last year as a 10th-grader, and has another year of tutelage under his belt from Lake Catholic alum (and former Iowa Hawkeye and Kansas City Chief) Ricky Stanzi.

"I'm so ready," Trinetti said. "(The concussion) was scary. My head was pounding. I'm glad I was able to come back to finish the season."

Lake has a deeper-than-normal skill set this year, including 6-foot-6 Cross Nimmo in the passing game.

"I think I can do better than last year," Trinetti said. "I think we'll be a balanced team. Josh Styles is back there, Cross Nimmo, D.J. (Sears), Ace (Peterlin)... we can do a lot."

Others to keep an eye on are Mayfield's Rocco Monastero, who threw for 1,582 yards and 18 touchdowns last season, and Kirtland's Jake LaVerde, who threw for 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns in his 16 games as the Hornets' freshman QB.

A few others who nearly hit the 1,000-yard mark last season and could (should) do it this year are West Geauga's Finn Keenan (948 last year), University's Jackson Boland (923 last year) and VASJ's Kylan Steuball (770 last year).

Hawken's Lucas Brandt threw for 1,102 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior last season, but had offseason surgery and is likely to miss a good portion of the season according to coach Mark Iammarino. His absence opens the door for sophomore Donovan Moorhead.