Milton Academy's Qur'an McNeill is evading pressure as starting freshman quarterback
MILTON − Starting high school freshman quarterbacks are under a lot of pressure, especially in the Independent School League, which is packed with future Division 1 collegiate players.
So when Milton Academy’s Qur’an McNeill was under duress Saturday against Thayer Academy, he evaded it. The 6-3 Boston native scrambled on broken plays twice and ran it in for touchdowns himself in the first half.
McNeill finished with four total touchdowns (2 rushing, 2 passing) in a 27-20 win.
On his first touchdown, he escaped defenders who were draped all over him and ran 6 yards to deliver the first points of the game. His second touchdown was more improvisation. McNeill dropped the snap out of the shotgun before scrambling for a 4-yard touchdown to put the Mustangs up 14-8 before halftime.
“He’s outstanding. We've just got to get him some protection,” said Milton Academy head coach Michael Mason. “We got to slow things up. Long way to go, but we got some talent. Q’s a great talent. We’ll be fine.”
McNeill is already a Div. 1-level player himself, with an offer from Boston College. His 10-inch hands (7.6 is the average for adult males, according to healthline.com) helped him get a firm grasp of the ball despite the foggy and wet field Saturday.
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Last week, the Mustangs lost in overtime to Lawrence, 27-26.
McNeill is replacing Jake Holtschlag, who is now playing at Georgetown, at QB. He’s seeing how tough each win is to get.
“The ISL-7 is definitely a hard league,” said McNeill. “There’s good talent everywhere. There’s not a lot of kids who are just slacking behind. If you don’t take advantage of when they do slack behind, you’re not going to win games in this league.”
McNeill’s two throwing TDs were to fellow freshman Kash Kelly from Florence, Massachusetts. McNeill said Kelly and senior Matthew Childs, of Medway, have helped him adjust to the offense smoothly.
“Kash Kelly, that’s my boy,” said McNeill. “He just keeps me going, keeps me positive, makes sure I’m not getting into my head."
"And definitely Matt Childs, I look at him like my older brother,” he said.
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Milton Academy led 27-8 in the third quarter but had to hold off a comeback bid from the Tigers.
Thayer quarterback Arnaud Dugas, who is from Canada, connected with Brockton natives Malachi McClean and Angel Perez-Gonzalez for touchdowns in the second half. Weston resident Nate Austin-Johnstone had a 44-yard touchdown run.
“It wasn’t our greatest win, but I’m happy we got our first win on the board,” said McNeill. “We showed a lot of character.”
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Milton Academy football holds off Thayer Academy, 27-20
