article Who is the best QB in Northern Kentucky football history?

Bob DeMoss - Dayton '45 - Purdue Boilermakers

Bob DeMoss was, to the best of my knowledge, the first D1 quarterback to come out of Northern Kentucky. He was born and raised in Dayton, and played for the Greendevils during their ’41, ’42, ’43, and ’44 football seasons as starting quarterback, kicker and part-time halfback.

His senior year, DeMoss led NKY in touchdown completions and was given honorable mention for the Courier-Journal’s All State Team in an era when football around the Commonwealth of Kentucky was anything but organized on a statewide level.

DeMoss was given a scholarship to Purdue, where he was their starting quarterback for four years. The Boilermakers went 17-19-1 during DeMoss’ time there, including a wins over Iowa State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State during his freshman year.

He was drafted in the second round of the 1949 NFL draft by the New York Bulldogs, and retired after 1 year to take an assistant coaching position at Purdue. He was an assistant coach for the Boilermakers from ’50-’69, and their head coach from ’70-’72, during which time the team had an overall record of 13-18.

Greg Hergott - Beechwood '95 - Kentucky Wildcats/Cincinnati Bearcats

Greg came on the scene at Beechwood High School as it began a run that had previously been unheard of in the state - winning four consecutive state championships. As a freshman, Hergott was a member of the varsity football team, and in fact saw playing time during in the 1A state championship game in 1991...the first of four straight appearances for him. As a sophomore, he started at quarterback for the Tigers. That year he led his team to another 1A state championship, and was voted to the All-NKAC and All-District teams.

In his junior year, in addition to once again starting at quarterback, he also took up a starting position on the defense, playing middle linebacker. At quarterback, he rushed and passed for over 1,000 yards, and at linebacker, he was one of the leading tacklers for the Tigers. He once again led the team to a 1A state championship, and in addition to once again making All-NKAC and All-District, he was also given honorable mention on the All-State team as quarterback.

In Hergott's senior season, Beechwood added their 4th straight 1A state championship. That year, Greg was once again starting at middle linebacker and quarterback. He was the top QB in Kentucky for passing efficiency, averaging 25 yards per completion, passed for 1,927 yards and 14 touchdowns, and rushed for 460 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was voted All-NKAC and ALL-District a for third consecutive year, made the Lexington Herald-Leader's Class Of The Commonwealth, was named Kentucky's Class 1A Roy Kidd Football Player Of The Year, and was a finalist for the Kentucky Mr. Football award.

During his high school career he amassed 3,810 passing yards with 31 touchdowns passing, and had 1,710 rushing yards with 13 touchdowns. He also helped take home 4 football state championship trophies. He signed to play football at the University of Kentucky, where he was red-shirted during his freshman year before transferring to the University of Cincinnati where he played for 4 years.

When previously asked for comment about Hergott, longtime Beechwood assistant Jim Procaccino once quoted saying, "Greg was a football phenom...playing both middle linebacker and quarterback says it all. It can only happen at Beechwood, and he was Beechwood for four years!"

Jared Lorenzen - Highlands '99 - Kentucky Wildcats

Jared took over as the Highlands starting quarterback when the Dale Meuller machine was coming to its stride. In 1997, Jared’s junior year and first year starting behind center, the Bluebirds went 11-2, scoring an average of 41 points per game. Lorenzen passed for 2,759 yards and 37 touchdowns that season, and the Birds scored 532 points to their opponents collective 178 points.

His senior year, 1998, Highlands went 15-0, scoring an average of 53 points per game. Lorenzen passed for 3,393 yards and 45 touchdowns that season, and the Birds scored 801 points to their opponents collective 191 points.

Lorenzen committed to play college football for the Kentucky Wildcats during his senior year, and was also awarded the Kentucky Mr. Football award his senior year.

In college, Lorenzen started as a freshman, totaling 41 starts of the 43 games UK competed in over his four years there. In 2002 he also made the second team of the All-SEC Team. He was drafted by the NY Giants, where he played backup to Eli Manning, and won a Super Bowl ring as a part of the 2008 team.

Drew Barker - Conner '14 - Kentucky Wildcats

There have been 5 players to go on to D1-FBS football careers from Conner since 2000, and Drew Barker may be the best of the group. In his 2011, his sophomore year and first playing quarterback for Conner, the Cougars had a 7-6 record and Barker 1,473 yards and 7 touchdowns passing, while rushing for 1,570 yards and 22 touchdowns.

After raising some eyebrows as a sophomore, Drew's college recruitment began with offers including the University of Louisville prior to the start of his junior year, a year in which he helped improve the Cougars to a 9-3 record in 2012, with Drew amassing 2,072 yards and 22 touchdowns passing, with 1,455 yards and 18 touchdowns rushing. The Louisville Courier-Journal named Barker second team All-State team following his junior season.

In his third and final year quarterbacking for the Cougars, Barker led Conner to an 8-4 record in 2013, passing for 2,697 yards and 33 touchdowns, and rushing for 848 yards and 9 touchdowns. This year Drew became only the 3rd quarterback in KHSAA history to score 40 touchdowns passing and 40 touchdowns rushing. For this he was awarded by being named first team on the Louisville Courier-Journal's All-State team, was a finalist for the Associated Press' Kentucky Mr. Football award, and was named an Army All-American.

On the recruiting trail, Drew was ranked as the #5 quarterback in the nation by Scout.com for his recruiting class, and was invited to the premier Elite 11 Quarterback camp. His list of D1-FBS offers included the likes of Cincinnati, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Louisville, Miami (FL), Mississippi, North Carolina, Purdue, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Western Kentucky. He committed to Kentucky in May of 2013.

Barker spent the 2014 season at UK as a redshirt freshman. The following season, 2015, he saw action in 5 games, including the final two starts of the year over 2012 Highlands High School graduate Pat Towles. Drew's first start was a 58-10 win over Charlotte, and his second was in the season finale against Louisville, which ended in a 38-24 loss to the Cardinals. Barker missed 9 of Kentucky's games in 2016 after suffering a back injury in their third game of the season. Currently in his junior season at UK, Barker is playing backup quarterback to Stephen Johnson as he continues to try to recover from his injury, and has only seen action in 1 game thus far, playing in a 27-16 win over Eastern Kentucky.

AJ Mayer - Covington Catholic '18 - Miami Redhawks

Between 2012 and 2015 (AJ's sophomore year and first year starting at QB) Covington Catholic's offense averaged 31 touchdowns per game. That average includes a total of 10 games against Harrison County, Pendleton County, Rowan County, Holmes, Greenup County, Grant County, and Anderson County teams totaling 524 points for the Colonels.

In the 2016 and 2017 season, (AJ's junior and senior years) Covington Catholic's offense has averaged 39 points per game. That average includes a total of 2 games against Grant County and Fairdale totaling 119 points for the Colonels.

When you insert a well-coached, matured, experienced AJ Mayer into the scenario, even with markedly more challenging schedules, Cov Cath increases their totals on the scoreboard week in and week out. I would assert that AJ adds at least 2 touchdowns per game through his presence behind center.

AJ had 4 offers from D1-FBS football programs in Akron, Ball State, Miami (OH), and Ohio U. He committed to Miami in April '17.

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So, there are a handful of synopses on some of the Northern Kentucky high school quarterbacks who have continued (or will be continuing) their careers in Division 1-FBS collegiate football programs.

So, let me ask my original question from the thread title again: Who is the best QB in Northern Kentucky football history?

For the sake of discussion, I'm going to limit consideration only to quarterbacks who received FBS Division 1 scholarships. We're looking for players who went on to play for the big boys. Here are the NKY quarterbacks I could come up with who would qualify for the discussion. If there are any others I forgot, feel free to mention them and I'll edit them into this post. Remember D1-FBS only.

Bob DeMoss - Dayton '45 - Purdue Boilermakers

Tom Rohrer - Highlands '53 - Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Roger Walz - Highlands '62 - Cincinnati Bearcats/Kentucky Wildcats

Tim Racke - Highlands '69 - Purdue Boilermakers

Mike Shoemaker - Newport '70 - Cincinnati Bearcats

Adam McCormack - Covington Catholic '92 - Morehead State Eagles/Miami Redhawks

Greg Hergott - Beechwood '95 - Kentucky Wildcats/Cincinnati Bearcats

Jared Lorenzen - Highlands '99 - Kentucky Wildcats

Gino Guidugli - Highlands '01 - Cincinnati Bearcats

Nick West - Conner '09 - Cincinnati Bearcats

Jerry Arlinghaus - Holy Cross '12 - Louisville Cardinals

Pat Towles - Highlands '12 - Kentucky Wildcats/Boston College Eagles

Zeke Pike - Dixie Heights '12 - Auburn Tigers/Louisville Cardinals

Drew Barker - Conner '14 - Kentucky Wildcats

Beau Hoge - Highlands '15 - Brigham Young Cougars

Tanner Morgan - Ryle '17 - Minnesota Golden Gophers

AJ Mayer - Covington Catholic '18 - Miami Redhawks

Towles

Gino...

Towles

Gino...

Any reasons to support either of these over all the others?

Any reasons to support either of these over all the others?

Any of the others have their name in the Ring of Honor at their college program???

Any of the others have their name in the Ring of Honor at their college program???

GG is a hell of a quarterback and a good college coach, and I don't mean to detract from that at all, but when they UC announced the creation of the Ring of Honor on '06, they needed more than 1 person to represent the football program since the mid-1980's. Ruffin barely made it for the 90's, and Gino was the obvious candidate to help fill in the 2000's era along with Ruffin.

GG made an NFL practice squad for 1 year and then played like a decade of arena ball.

Lorenzen > Guidugli

Jared Lorenzen....HANDS DOWN!!!

Jared Lorenzen

GG is a hell of a quarterback and a good college coach, and I don't mean to detract from that at all, but when they UC announced the creation of the Ring of Honor on '06, they needed more than 1 person to represent the football program since the mid-1980's. Ruffin barely made it for the 90's, and Gino was the obvious candidate to help fill in the 2000's era along with Ruffin.

 

GG made an NFL practice squad for 1 year and then played like a decade of arena ball.

 

Lorenzen > Guidugli

11,453 yards and 78 TDs passing in his Cincinnati career. 128.8 QB rating. Only QB in UC history that was better was Greg Cook. Just filled in the era? Don't play yourself...

Sorry but if he didn’t screw up Zeke Pike would have been one of the best qbs to make it out of KY. NFL body and arm .... mindset whole different story.

I believe it was likely the Lorenzen followed by Gino. A bit of a toss up after those two.

Have no data to support, but I played against Roger Walz and just remember him as awesome. In those days we were playing with balls that looked like basketballs with points on each end, but he could throw it and run with the best. The Bluebirds roster (included the Burt brothers, Ullman and numerous other college standouts) so they didn't have to pass it much. They ran a hurry-up offense that was the envy of Ky all controlled on the field by Walz (who was coached by the great Homer Rice). That was high school football at its best. Man I hated those CakeEaters.

Tanner Morgan from Ryle class of 2017 is at Minnesota. He had tremendous numbers and should be on this list.

JLo or Gino and it’s not even close after that....

Any reasons to support either of these over all the others?

Towels 7432 yards passing, 72 touchdowns, 1700 yards rushing 37 touchdowns; 3 state championships, starting record of 39-1.