Last weekend Hunter Costlow led his top ranked Jones County team over Northside Warner Robins by the tune of 56-33, shocking a lot pundits across the state in the process. The outcome will grab anyone’s attention. A 5-A team beating up on last year’s 6-A runner-up is no easy task, but when you have a senior quarterback like Costlow, he can open up any defense, even one of the best in 6-A like Northside’s.

It was one of those nights for the quick-witted quarterback. He caught on fire completing 28 of 38 passes for 420 yards and 6 touchdowns. His top two targets Maleek Wooten, a junior, and Jontavis Robertson, a senior, both went over 150 yards receiving on the night, but perhaps the most noteworthy stat was Costlow exceeding 4000 career passing yards.

Jones County is shooting up most rankings across the state, it’s hard to ignore their tremendous start to the year. Costlow has been a big reason to their early success, he currently leads the state with 930 yards passing, tied for the state lead with 11 touchdowns, and has zero interceptions. There is an heir of confidence around Jones County right now, and seniors like Costlow can sense it.

“In all honesty, we have a great team overall. We have a strong group of seniors that lead the way both on and off the field. We know that if we play the way we are capable of then the sky’s the limit,” he said.

Last year, as a junior Costlow jumped onto the scene really cementing himself as one of the best quarterbacks in middle Georgia throwing for 241.3 yards per game and 30 touchdowns, ranking him near the tops in the state, but there was still room for improvement.

“I like to think I’ve improved a lot on my leadership on and off the field. I think that was a major problem I had last year was just going in the gutter when things didn’t go our way.” He continued, “Though we haven’t had too much adversity thus far, I like to think the little bit we have had, that I have handled the best I could have.”

A marked improvement this year is Costlow’s efficiency spreading the ball around at a 64% while not turning the ball over once. Just a year prior, the Jones County student-athlete was picked off 8 times, but those issues have disappeared, and with over 101 attempts already on the year, the senior has a 130.4 QBR. In fact, his QBR is currently outpacing all of the quarterbacks in the state of Georgia with over 80 attempts; with Westside’s Victor Dixon ranking 2nd at 123.8 and Marietta’s Harrison Bailey at 3rd with 116.6.

Colleges have to be taking notice, but right now Costlow sits with only one offer in hand, and that is from Lagrange College. Though, the senior has been hearing from a wide range of schools.

“I’ve heard from South Alabama, Valpo, Wofford, UTC, North Greenville, Florida Tech, Lindsey Wilson, SWOSU (and the aforementioned Lagrange).”

Some might be wondering by now, why does Hunter Costlow only have 1 offer, while guys like Victor Dixon is a legit D1 recruit and Harrison Bailey current holds his commitment to Tennessee? And of course, there is the fact the 2020 quarterback is a shade under 6′. The senior finds inspiration though from a player who has gone under similar scrutiny, and has seen tremendous success at the college and pro level thus far.

“The biggest guy I model my game after is definitely Baker Mayfield. I just tend to relate to him more than all of the other guys, nobody wanted him because of his height and I feel like I’m in the same boat. I love the energy he brings to the game, which is one of the things I try to do most is just be a guy that my team rallies around and is willing to go to war with.”

The trend of jumbo QB’s who stand 6’7″ are slowly going to the wayside with the new fast paced up-tempo offenses that 2020’s will surely take to another level. The senior quarterback is a proven commodity, he can sling the ball all over the field, and his high-IQ sees mismatches so quickly that Costlow makes the defense pay more times than not.

Jones County is on a hot streak right now, and is definitely a team you need to watch out for in the 5-A playoffs. Same can be said for their signal-caller, Hunter Costlow, who leads the state in all major categories as a passer, a state that has produced some of the best quarterbacks in the country the last few years. If there was ever a right time, now is when you buy high on Costlow.

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It’s crazy how once you get to your senior year you don’t even really think about the numbers,offers, etc. just worried about getting this ring ?

— Hunter Costlow (@CostlowHunter) September 8, 2019