High school football: Top 10 quarterback-wide receiver tandems

Over the past five years, we've seen some big-time quarterback-wide receiver duos at the high school level. Lake Travis' (Austin, Texas) Hudson Card and Garrett Wilson, Marietta's (Ga.) Harrison Bailey and Arik Gilbert, Mater Dei's (Santa Ana, Calif.) JT Daniels and Amon-Ra St. Brown, North Shore's (Houston) Dematrius Davis and Shadrach Banks, and St. John Bosco's (Bellflower, Calif.) DJ Uiagalelei and Kris Hutston are just some of the pairs that have made a splash at the prep ranks and beyond.

The next crop of quarterback/wide receiver combos on the same trajectory of these past greats are just as exciting and will be on display in what we hope is a normal football season in the fall.

Expect to see a handful of these teams featured in our Preseason MaxPreps Top 25 high school football rankings that will be released later this summer.

Top 10 Quarterback-Wide Receiver tandems

The pair showed how dangerous they can be after a dominant six-game spring campaign. Battle, a freshman, stepped in at quarterback when Tyler Macon enrolled early at Missouri and accounted for nearly 1,800 yards of total offense and 19 touchdowns. Burden, the top-rated wide receiver on 247Sports composite rankings and five-star Oklahoma commit, had 33 receptions for 734 yards and seven touchdowns. He also played in the fall for Cardinal Ritter College Prep (St. Louis) and was selected to the Junior All-American first team.

They check in as the top-two prospects in California from the Class of 2023 and led the Griffins to a 6-0 spring season. Nelson threw for 1,513 yards and 23 touchdowns while completing over 73 percent of his passes and Lemon hauled in 43 receptions for 756 yards and nine touchdowns. The five-star athlete also had four interceptions on defense.

Duffy and Tate both transferred to the defending national champs and will be a big-time combo next fall. The four-star quarterback threw for over 5,500 yards and 66 touchdowns during his two years at Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley, Calif.). Tate is a Top 50 prospect overall in the Class of 2023 and was a midseason call-up on the Marist (Chicago) varsity team during his freshman year and had 28 receptions for 444 yards and five touchdowns.

Brown became the fourth quarterback in Mater Dei history to start as a freshman this spring and he threw for nearly 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns while completing nearly 70 percent of his passes in six games. Williams is the ninth-rated receiver in the Class of 2022 on 247Sports composite rankings and expect a huge senior campaign for the four-star playmaker next fall.

This duo led the Warriors to a second consecutive 7A state championship and finished No. 6 in the final MaxPreps Top 25 rankings. Harrell, in his first year as the starting quarterback, threw for over 3,500 yards and 42 touchdowns while Peppins hauled in 74 receptions for nearly 1,200 yards and a team-high 14 touchdowns.

The second Trinity League duo on the list has been making big plays for the last two years playing against some of the best competition in the country. Fifita committed to Arizona and McMillan checks in as the second-rated player in California and fourth-rated wide receiver from the Class of 2022, according to 247Sports.

Klubnik took over as the full-time starter before last fall and helped lead the Chaps to their second consecutive state title and a spot at No. 3 in the final MaxPreps Top 25 rankings. The four-star Clemson commit was selected to the Junior All-America first team after throwing for 3,495 yards and 35 touchdowns while adding nearly 600 yards rushing and 15 more scores. Greathouse was named to our Sophomore All-America first team after hauling in 69 receptions for 1,145 yards and 13 touchdowns. He became the first freshman to start in Westlake history in 2019.

Ewers is the top-rated prospect overall in the Class of the 2022 and the five-star Ohio State commit helped the Dragons to a runner-up finish in Texas' largest classification last fall. He threw for 2,442 yards and 28 touchdowns in eight games while adding 133 yards rushing and three more scores. Samson finished his junior season with 74 receptions for 1,293 yards and 15 touchdowns. They both recently committed to play in the 2022 All-American Bowl.

Hunter had one of the best single-seasons in Georgia high school football history and was named our National Junior Player of the Year. The five-star Florida State commit had 137 receptions for 1,746 yards and 24 touchdowns while racking up 51 tackles and eight interceptions on defense for the AAAAAAA runner-up. Horn threw for over 3,900 yards and 41 touchdowns and checks in as the No. 7 pro style quarterback in the Class of 2022. The four-star gunslinger committed to Missouri in late February.