Super 11: Fletcher QB Marcelis Tate finds winning combinations with coach, receiver

Marcelis Tate was barely old enough to start kindergarten when Ciatrick Fason took notice.

The athletic gifts were promising. The work ethic was even better.

"He's always been a kid that put the work in," said Fason, now Tate's head coach at Fletcher.

A decade later, Tate's work is paying off. Now the starting quarterback entering his senior year at Fletcher, he joins the Times-Union's Super 11 list, the annual preseason selection of Northeast Florida's top-rated recruits in high school football.

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An all-around quarterback who carried the Fletcher offense to the top spot in Florida High School Athletic Association District 1-3M last year, Tate has been committed since June 2022 to college football at USF.

In his third year as the Senators' starter, Tate becomes the 20th Super 11 selection from Fletcher since the Times-Union began its annual list in 1980. He's not done yet.

"We're trying to make a beeline for the playoffs," Tate said.

CRANKING UP THE EFFORT

For some Jacksonville players, their connection to their head coach extends only through spring practice. For Tate, it extends through much of his life.

Tate's ties to his current coach go all the way back to around age 5 when he played with Fason's Star Ready Athletic Association, learning football in events held at Fletcher's Jack Taylor Stadium as well as at Parker's Joe Hodge Stadium. Even in those early years, his effort drew the attention of Fason, a Fletcher legend who still holds Duval County's career rushing record of 7,479 yards between 1998 and 2001.

Although Tate said he played a bit of defensive back in Pop Warner, quarterback was always his spot from the start. There, he hoped to emulate another Florida quarterback who made it big at the next level, Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson.

"The way he could use both his arm and his legs was special," Tate said.

Tate earned the starting quarterback job as a sophomore in what was then a run-first offense for the Senators, then took a big-time step in confidence from his sophomore year to his junior year.

After throwing sparingly in 2021 with fewer than 10 attempts per game, Tate passed for 1,771 yards in his junior year and blossomed into a significant rushing threat. He rushed for 709 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022, only a year after limited production (102 yards, 1.5 yards per carry) in the ground game.

"I think it's going to be cranked up even more this year, because of the work he put in during offseason," Fason said.

WINNING CONNECTION

At Fletcher, Tate hasn't had to do the work alone.

Although Tate and wide receiver Anthony Vaglienti said they hadn't met prior to high school, they've formed an instant connection in the passing game.

"It's been really good. We go to the park, throw all the time," Vaglienti said. "He's one of my best friends and we hang out outside of football, too."

A sure-handed target, Vaglienti caught 44 passes for 738 yards and eight touchdowns to emerge as one of the most productive receivers in the Gateway Conference and a perfect complement for Tate.

"I'm just trying to do as much as I can to help the team win this year, then I'm looking forward to playing in Florida [in college] and staying close to home," Tate said.

In District 1-3M, competing against Englewood, First Coast and Parker, Fletcher is eyeing a chance to improve on last year's 8-3 mark — maybe even pushing to play past Thanksgiving.

"Having the veterans we have, those guys are ready to do it," Fason said. "I could see us making a final four run."

QB Marcelis Tate

School: Fletcher

Height/weight: 6-4, 190

Recruiting status: Committed to USF.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Marcelis Tate, Fletcher: Northeast Florida's 2023 football Super 11