The maturation of a high school quarterback is usually happening on the practice field and on the scout team, especially for most freshman and 
sophomore signal-callers awaiting their turn as varsity quarterback. But, if the QB position is given to a freshman or sophomore, the maturation can be measured with stats accumulated on the playing field, in meaningful games against varsity defenses.
Not every player is afforded the opportunity of developing while waiting to play.
Antjuan McKay has grown up under center for the Bethesda Academy Blazers since his freshman season four years ago, but he’s now preparing for his senior campaign which will conclude a prep career worthy of pausing to appreciate.
As a veteran junior QB for the Blazers in 2019, McKay threw for 1,953 yards and 20 touchdowns while throwing just three interceptions on 98-165 (59 percent) passing. Bethesda finished the year with a record of 10-2 and was a perfect 5-0 inside of SCISA Region 2-A.
“We knew we had a good team and we could go far,” said MckYa in a phone conversation with PSR in late July. “I think we’ll be younger this year, but we still have some playmakers regturing and we haven’t changed our goals for the year.”
The versatile McKay also had 37 tackles and seven interceptions (two returned for TD) as a free safety for the Blazers in 2019. His play has already earned him college offers from schools like Carthage and Concordia of Wisconsin (both Division III), and more offers could be on the way.
He was selected to the Savannah Morning News’ All Greater Savannah 
defensive first team for his numbers at safety while his play under center was rewarded when he was named the SCISA Region 2A Offensive Player of the Year. But his success as a junior wasn’t a guarantee prior to the 2019 season. McKay was the starter for most of his freshman season (2017) as well as all of the 2018 campaign.
In 2017, he threw for two touchdowns and 13 interceptions. In 2018, McKay tossed 11 touchdowns against just four interceptions. With each year, he has made himself, and his team, better.
“I’ve grown tremendously since my freshman year,” McKay said. “My freshman season … well yeah, I can say my entire freshman season was pretty bad. Nothing really went right. But as I got older and played more, I just started getting smarter on the football field.
“I could see things I couldn’t see before.”
McKay will likely play at the collegiate level following his 2020 season with Bethesda, but he’ll try and settle an old argument before heading off to college in the summer of 2021. Playing in SCISA, McKay says he’s heard it all before from Savannah-area peers and coaches. They throw slights at the competition level he faces.
They doubt.
“I hear that kind of stuff all the time. I mean I hear something like that almost every day,” says McKay of the SCISA detractors. “But talent is everywhere, especially in the south. So, I don’t hold that against anybody but I definitely hear that kind of thing and I use it to motivate myself and my teammates.”
Follow McKay on Twitter @No_Limits_Tjuan.
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