It's almost near, at, or a little bit past the mid-season point for a lot of high school football players in the nation. Joey Gaston, a Class of 2025 quarterback who attends Iona Prep in New York, has been steady in the first four games of the season. His team sits at 2-2 headed into this weekend's game and he has completed 73-of-111 passes for 766 yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions in those contests. Gaston has also carried the football 30 times for 161 yards (5.4 yards per carry) and one touchdown. Gaston had the same amount of completions (21) and attempts (38) in both the last two games he played. One game ended up in a loss and other one ended up as a win.
Before we get into what we saw when watching Gaston's mid-season highlights, here's a look at our original scouting report on Gaston.
Gaston is a mobile QB that can burn a defense with both his arm and his leg. He's great at turning nothing into something when the play breaks down. He can evade tacklers while keeping his eyes downfield to find his receiver. Has good arm strength to deliver the ball while on the move. Gaston has impressive accuracy on his throws for a QB so young. - Ryan Oliver
YOUTH1 QUICK EVALUATION ON JOEY GASTON
Gaston is listed at 5-foot-8, 160 pounds, so it goes without saying that he's on the small side. During his sophomore-year season in 2022, Gaston completed 81-of-142 passes for 1,272 yards, 12 touchdowns, and six interceptions and carried the football 69 times for 604 yards and six touchdowns. He is well on his way to surpassing both his passing yardage and touchdown numbers from last season. By the way he looks when he runs the football, both fast and quick, he could possibly pass the yardage number as well. That's not to say he's looking to run first, but being a threat to run with the football makes him that much harder to game-plan against.
From a passing standpoint, I think there are a few things that Gaston does well and a thing or two that can continue to work on. When he sets up in the pocket with poise, he fires that football out to its intended target. I think that he is at his best when throws short-to-intermediate passes where he shows a good touch on the football. Gaston is full of energy, which is a great thing. I'd like to see him get more settled in the pocket on passing plays. He doesn't hold onto the football too long in the pocket and isn't afraid to test the middle of the defense.
Gaston is off to a solid start for Iona Prep and should continue to improve as the season goes on.
Stay tuned to Youth1 for more mid-season evaluations on some of our premium high-school members.
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Ed O'Brien @EdOBrienCFB 2 months ago