Late June, maybe early July, Aquinas suddenly needed a new starting quarterback for an offense that coach Maurice Jackson claims is one of the most complex in Section V.
Ben Newman, the starter in 2022, decided to transfer and play with East Rochester/Gananda.
The decision was made about a month before practices began to elevate freshman Trent Buttles to the starter’s role, and at the same time potentially weaken the team’s defense.
“I had to hold him back from playing safety,” Jackson said. Buttles had been a defensive starter as an eighth-grader. “He had a lot of work to do.
“What Trent did (in fall 2023) taking the role as late as he did and not play defense like he did before, where he was a starter (with confidence), he had to really be mature. He had to be very, very mature.”
In Jackson’s view, Buttles was very successful.
“I’m not amazed by too much stuff, but what I see from him is crazy,” the former Syracuse University receiver and 1996 Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester co-Player of the Year said.
Buttles had 13 touchdown passes versus one interception as he threw for 1,150 yards. There were also four rushing touchdowns, as he had 159 yards on the ground.
Aquinas finished with a 6-4 record, including one sectional tournament win and the team’s 35-14 loss to McQuaid in the Class AA semifinals. Hilton by a 17-10 score was one the team’s five regular season wins.
“Let’s do it, I’m ready to go,” Buttles said was his reaction to becoming the starting quarterback at Aquinas. “I’ve put in the work for this opportunity
“I’ve had a relationship with coach (Jackson) for years, I felt good with him. I trusted him as a head coach and he trusted me.”
McQuaid was without its starting quarterback when it defeated Aquinas 14-13 in Week 8 of the regular season. But it can be argued that rivalry game at the University of Rochester was among the highlights of the season for Buttles.
Aquinas scored a touchdown on the last play of regulation. On fourth down-and-goal at the McQuaid 9 and nine seconds left in the fourth quarter, Buttles moved away from a sack attempt and completed pass for a touchdown to freshman Thomas Levans III.
McQuaid remained in the lead 14-13, and won the game when Buttles’ pass during a two-point conversion attempt was knocked away and fell incomplete. Buttles was 9 for 14 passing for 157 passing with two touchdowns, including a 56-yard scoring play downfield with freshman receiver Noah Collins-Howard.
There was a better result for Buttles and his Aquinas teammates during the final seconds of the regular season game against Hilton. Buttles, who had to avoid a pass rush, hooked up with Alexis Rosado for a 44-yard touchdown pass with 38 seconds remaining that extended a three-game winning streak for Aquinas.
There were limitations placed on Buttles during his first season as a starting varsity quarterback. It was preferred that Buttles throw passes away instead of run the ball if there were no receivers open, although he is a four-sport athlete at Aquinas (he also plays varsity basketball and is on the track teams).
“Trent is probably one of the best athletes on our team, but I couldn’t run quarterback draws and certain plays in the passing game,” Jackson said. “If Trent goes down, there goes our season.
“I knew he was itching (to just go out and play), but he took it like he was a senior. He didn’t complain about it at all, he didn’t get frustrated with it at all.We can’t live like that this year. This year, I’m going to have to let him go and let him play football like he knows how to play.”
Buttles is one of those players who fans of Section V Football could see and hear a lot more of during the 2024 season:
Terrell “Pooty” Cunningham Jr., Monroe
Cunningham, a freshman, will be the starting quarterback at Monroe in 2024. It was a role Cunningham was in serious contention to reach last preseason. The job went to senior Khaya Moses, who became the Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester Small Schools co-Player of the Year after Monroe advanced to the Class B state semifinals and he threw a Section V record 38 touchdown passes.
“It’s the truth,” Cunningham’s father Terrell Cunningham said. “If I wasn’t the head coach, he would have (been the starter).
“He would’ve started at every school in Class B in Section V last year except Honeoye Falls-Lima.”
Sophomore linebacker Jermaine Montgomery and Elijah Jones, a 6-foot-3 inch freshman who is 230 pounds, also may be on this list in the fall. Both played with the Monroe varsity last season.
Caleb Felski, Pembroke
This junior at Pembroke appears to be the next in line to lead the offense for the Dragons who have two 8-man state regional titles the last two seasons.
A match of two-time 8-man state player of the year Tyson Totten’s production seems unrealistic, as he scored 71 touchdowns and rushed for 4,235 yards in his senior year season. Felski however, had big numbers of his own, as he finished with 20 touchdowns in 13 games and 1,355 rushing yards on 92 carries.
Quante Gillians, Aquinas
His stock in college football is rising after his junior year season. Most of the interest in the 6-foot-4 inch, 240-pound Gillians is as a defensive end. Coaches at Southern Methodist University are believed to view Gillians as a tight end. Gillians tweeted he has offers of a scholarship from Boston College, Pittsburgh and SMU.
“He’s got the things a Division I program needs,” Aquinas coach Maurice Jackson said. “He passes the eye test with his size and how he can move. He’s nasty, mean on the field. He has the agility with the size.
“Setting the edge kept him from rushing the quarterback as much. He is doing his job, which coaches love.”
Miron Gurman, Spencerport
Spencerport’s Gurman was selected to the Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester Large Schools Second Team by coaches in Section V, so his profile already is on the rise. And as a 6-foot-5 inch, 250-pound tight end/defensive end, it is difficult to overlook him.
College coaches at Connecticut, Rutgers, West Virginia, Nevada, Buffalo and others have made different degrees of contact with Gurman.
Kaleb Matthews, Brighton
The Brighton junior outside linebacker is part of a pack of Bruins who will be third-year varsity members as seniors. Matthews and sophomore linebacker Matthew Heininger, the team’s top two tacklers last season, may now be on the radar of coaches at Buffalo, Albany and Connecticut.
“I would expect them to blow up the camp circuit,” Brighton coach Stephen Lian said. “They are going to be our main guys this year.”
Junior receiver/defensive back Wes Sturrup had at least one touchdown receiving, rushing and kickoff returns last season. Look for the number of carries for sophomore Amari Snowden, who is also an outside linebacker, to go up even among a large group of running backs back with the team.
Jake McMahon, Hilton
The Hilton offensive guard/defensive tackle is a 5-foot-11 inch, 255-pound junior. He was named to the 2023 Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester Large Schools Second Team.
“As a defensive tackle he’s excellent,’ Hilton coach Rich Lipani said. “He’s very, very strong, athletic and built low to the ground.
“He uses his low base and leverage to defeat double teams and hold his ground against double teams pretty well. That’s big for us.”
Allen Nesmith, McQuaid
Next season will be this junior’s first as a starter at McQuaid.
Nesmith, who was listed as 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds, took on new assignments and a position as a running back and outside linebacker. The former defensive back impressed, especially on the offensive side of the ball when it came to carries with confidence. He also ran routes as a receiver.
Kelvin Shepard, East High/World of Inquiry
This is a familiar name, as he was East High/World of Inquiry’s leading receiver as a freshman. Shepard later went to California, then returned and was with the Eagles during the team’s drive to the Class A state semifinals last season. East High/World of Inquiry may have a capable senior receiver/running back this fall.
Da’Mari Green, a junior, is expected to play the same positions. Look for Green and Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester Large Schools linebacker Jeremiah Tucker to play larger roles in the team’s offense. Tucker probably will be an H-back, which is similar to a tight end. .
Avery Watterson, Oakfield-Alabama/Elba
Oakfield-Alabama/Elba’s offense was headed for trouble when Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester Small School Team member Bodie Hyde was sidelined for the fall by an injury in Week 2.
“It would’ve been tough to overcome if it happened before the season but it happened in the middle of September,” Oakfield-Alabama/Elba coach Tyler Winter said. “We had to go on the fly with a lot of stuff.”
Enter Avery Watterson, a junior listed at 5 feet, 11 inches and 165 pounds.
“He finished a nine-game season with a touch under 1,000 yards (rushing),” Oakfield-Alabama/Elba coach Tyler Winter said. “He’s a yards after contact guy, in every way.”
Watterson should also be a more confident player, one who knows he can be the go-to-guy who produces even though defenses track him.
“Avery is going to be our guy,” Winter said. “He’s going to shoulder a lot of the load.”
Taivon Wilson, University Prep
University Prep coach Isiah Young is excited that he will welcome not one, but two quarterbacks back for next season. There is junior Tavion Byrd, and then there is the team’s other quarterback.
That would be 5-foot-10 inch, 195-pound outside linebacker Taivon Wilson, the leader of UPrep’s defense. He made 102 tackles last fall, 50 solo and 7 1/2 behind the line of scrimmage. There also were occasions when Wilson moved to strong safety.
“You see him on tape moving a defensive lineman to the right spots,” Young said.
Drevariis Yeomas, Victor
This junior at Victor was part of a one-two punch at running back last season and gained a team-high 634 yards with nine touchdowns.
His workload in the team’s backfield may go up this fall, but perhaps not too much given his impact after a position switch on defense. An injury led Yeomas, listed at 5 feet, 11 inches and 185 pounds, to move from defensive end to middle linebacker.
“He kind of transformed our defense when we moved him there,” Victor coach Geoff Mandile said. “It took him a little while to learn, it was a new position, but he’s a great athlete, bought in and did a great job.”
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Section V football: 12 potential breakout players to watch in 2024
