David Sills and 5 more freshman star quarterbacks

Seemingly, he has it all.

A college scholarship in his back pocket. The starting varsity quarterback spot on one of the nation's fastest-rising teams. Eye-popping statistics against increasingly difficult competition.

But somehow David Sills still remains hungry to be great, even at such a young age.

With undeniable physical gifts and a football IQ of a much older player, Sills has opened a lot of eyes over the last two seasons at Red Lion Christian Academy (Bear, Del.)
 
It seems that his dedication to training and conditioning have really helped him develop from an attention-grabbing seventh grader to a the odds-on favorite for the MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year award.



First-year Red Lion head coach Dwayne Thomas has trained Sills for three years and has been impressed by his dedication to improve.

"I train David three mornings a week, at 5:30 a.m. It's not normal for people to get up that early, go to school, function at a high level academically, and then function the next day," Thomas said. "He is as driven of an athlete as I've ever been around, and I've been coaching for 21 years."

Sills was first introduced the the national stage when he committed to USC in February of 2010 as a seventh grader. People who were skeptical of him then are quickly learning he is worthy of the hype, according to Thomas.

"Obviously, when he committed to USC as a seventh grader, people think it's a joke, it's a gimmick," he said. "Now, you think Lane Kiffin's a genius."

MaxPreps writer Jon Buzby, who covers the Delaware area and has seen Sills play multiple times, has been impressed with his maturation.

"Mechanically, he appears to have skills beyond his years," Buzby said of Sills, who trains with well-known quarterback maven Steve Clarkson. "Physically, he is still growing and maturing, yet still doesn't look like a freshman quarterback when you meet him in person."



The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Sills is physically well-ahead of where even Thomas expected he would be. However, the proof of Sills' improvement is in his performance.

As an eighth grader, Sills completed 108 of 195 passes for 1,355 yards and nine touchdowns. Sills started his 2011 campaign by going 15-for-19 with four touchdowns in a rout of Ohio small-school powerhouse Ursuline.

In Red Lion Christian's second game, Sills finished with 297 yards and four more touchdowns.

With a national schedule that includes games against Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.), Washington (Massillon, Ohio), and University (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Sills has a chance to have one of the greatest freshman seasons of all time at his current pace, given the level of upcoming competition and how impressive solid performances against those opponents would be.

How does Sills compare to some other hyped freshman signal-callers in recent years? Here is a look at five other ninth-grade phenoms at the quarterback position.

Chris Leak
School: Independence (Charlotte, N.C.)
Season: 1999
Given that his older brother C.J. was a national recruit at Independence in 1998, it's no surprise that Chris Leak entered high school with eyes of Charlotte football fans already fixated firmly on him. Colleges had already taken notice too, as Wake Forest, where C.J. played at the time, reportedly made an offer to the younger Leak as an eighth grader. Leak's freshman season, in which Independence went 5-5, was solid if unspectacular, as he tossed for 1,350 yards and 13 touchdowns. The next season, when head coach Tom Knotts arrived, Leak blossomed into one of high school football's most-decorated quarterbacks ever.





The next four frosh stars (Continue reading){PAGEBREAK}Matthew Stafford
School: Highland Park (Dallas)
Coach: Randy Allen
Season: 2002
Matthew Stafford was a highly touted youth league quarterback when he entered high school, but didn't see much action as a ninth grader. He saw a handful of snaps in a playoff win against Sulphur Springs, but that experience seemed to prepare him for a monstrous sophomore campaign in which he threw for 3,182 yards and 38 touchdowns.



The next three frosh stars (Continue reading){PAGEBREAK}Jimmy Clausen
School: Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.)
Coach: Bill Redell
Season: 2003
Though Clausen was hyped entering high school thanks to the success of his older brothers at the quarterback position, he didn't start any games as a freshman. Still, he had a big impact on Oaks Christian that season splitting time with senior Joey Halzle. In the team's section championship game, Bill Redell and his staff made the decision to go with Clausen in the second half of a close game in which Oaks Christian ended up winning.

"I've never seen a freshman quarterback as good as Jimmy Clausen," Redell said.

The next two frosh stars{PAGEBREAK}Matt Barkley
School: Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)
Coach: Bruce Rollinson
Season: 2005
Under different circumstances, Mater Dei head coach Bruce Rollinson would not have considered starting a freshman at any position. However, two quarterbacks transferred from the Santa Ana school after the 2004 school year, opening the door for the much-ballyhooed Barkley. After he had an impressive summer, Barkley was named the starter and held his own. He completed 126 of 220 passes for 1,685 yards and 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions, as Rollinson watched his young quarterback develop slowly, learning from his mistakes and improving.

"We thought the best kid for us would be Matt Barkley, knowing that we'd have to keep this thing under control and try to build his confidence, give him more offense as he continued to get confidence," Rollinson said. "We knew we had a gem, but we had to do it the right way."


The final frosh star{PAGEBREAK}Shane Morris
School: De La Salle Collegiate (Warren, Mich.)
Coach: Paul Verska
Season: 2009
Arguably the top quarterback in the 2013 class, Morris saw action as a freshman down the stretch when the situation at De La Salle Collegiate necessitated it.

"We had two upperclassmen quarterbacks go down due to injury," said assistant coach Rick Coronoa. "He stepped in in the playoffs and threw a touchdown in his first series."



Morris' freshman campaign ended when he struggled in a 12-3 loss to Inkster. He was 12 of 35 on the season with three touchdowns and three interceptions. It wasn't until his sophomore season that he truly developed into an elite quarterback.