South Gwinnett junior QB Xavier ‘Deuce’ Butler has been impactful midway through the season. The Comets are 3-1 on the year and competed well against the top 10-ranked Valdosta Wildcats in Week 5 losing 27-14.
In large part, South Gwinnett’s emergence this year rests on the shoulders of Butler, who has been dynamic during the 2024 season. A great example was the touchdown against Valdosta, where the pocket collapsed, and the Wildcat defenders were in position for imminent impact. Butler slipped by those tacklers getting into the 2nd level of the defense before making another shifty cut that split 4 more Wildcats before diving into the endzone.
Over half the defense had a shot at Butler, but they could barely lay a finger on him. His elusive nature and lightning quickness make Butler a unique athlete to gameplan against.
“My junior season has been going well. I have 845 total yards, 482 passing, and 363 rushing with 9 total touchdowns. 6 rushing 3 passing,” Butler said about the season so far.
South Gwinnett is on the bubble of our 6A rankings, which says a lot about the progress they have made over the last year. They went 5-5 and 1-4 in region play, but going into this season we were optimistic, feeling South Gwinnett would be an underdog team in 6A.
“My individual goal is to have 2,000 total yards and 20 total touchdowns, but my team goal is to make the playoffs and win the region,” he said.
With 845 yards of offense, Butler and the Comets figure to be a tough out during playoff time in November, so you have to like Butler’s ability to achieve those goals. Amazingly 3-4 months ago, the South Gwinnett starting QB was still in question whether he would be ‘the guy.’ Butler talked about where he improved to earn that starting job.
“I feel like I’ve improved on my consistency, confidence, and grit the most in the last year,” he said.
On the recruiting front, Butler hasn’t heard from any schools yet and has no visits planned. With some of the best acceleration of any athlete in the class of ’26, we expect his recruitment momentum to pickup soon.
Region play starts this week against Rockdale County, and with reclassification, they still see familiar opponents like Grayson and Newton. But this South Gwinnett team is different, and credit largely goes to the junior QB, Deuce Butler, who is serving up exciting plays each Friday night.
For more recruiting news on Butler, and players across the state, follow @RecruitGeorgia on Twitter/X to hear the latest.
