| LEADING PASSERS (return) | ||||||
| Name, School | Gm | Att | Comp | Int | Yards | TD |
| Layton Dowdy, James Monroe | 14 | 92 | 140 | 5 | 1,783 | 27 |
| Trey Bowers, Independence | 13 | 73 | 114 | 4 | 1,622 | 11 |
| Jaden Gladwell, Midland Trail | 10 | 80 | 159 | 15 | 1,320 | 11 |
| Brady Green, Shady Spring | 10 | 71 | 149 | 4 | 1,114 | 8 |
| Kadien Vance, Westside | 9 | 61 | 120 | 4 | 660 | 4 |
Dave Morrison
Here are the returning top passers in the Coalfield Conference heading into the 2023 season.
James Monroe rising junior Layton Dowdy enjoyed a banner year, throwing for 1,783 yards and 27 touchdowns, helping the Mavericks catapult all the way to the Class A state championship game.
In the postseason Dowdy completed 32 of 43 passes (74.4 percent) for 619 yards and 10 touchdowns, with three touchdowns passes in each of the first three playoff wins.
On the season overall Dowdy, also on the state championship basketball team, completed 65.7 percent of his passes (92 of 140) and only threw 5 interceptions.
He had eight games throwing for over 100 yards and two over 200.
He will lose several talented pass catchers (notably Eli Allen 35-715-12) but should benefit from his accuracy and a year as the full-time starter.
He also rushed for 296 yards and three touchdowns.
He was third overall in the Coalfield Conference but led in completion percentage.
Independence’s Trey Bowers moved over from receiver to QB to replace graduated record-setting QB Logan Phalin and ended up breaking the school’s passing-record himself as the Patriots won the 2022 Class AA state championship game.
Engineering the state’s top-ranked offensive, Bowers threw for 1,622 yards and 11 touchdowns.
The rising senior completed 64 percent of his passes (73 of 114) of his passes and threw just four interceptions.
On a run-heavy team Bowers passed for over 100 yards nine times, with a career-best 257 against Oak Hill Week 2 and three touchdowns against Nicholas County.
A top dual-threat quarterback Bowers also rushed for 899 yards and 15 touchdowns, including 118 and two scores in the state championship game victory against Herbert Hoover.
After moving over from Meadow Bridge, Midland Trail rising senior Jaden Gladwell threw for 1,320 yards and 13 touchdowns for the 6-4 Patriots.
He got off to a quick start, tossing for over 200 yards in each of the first four games and 1,021 and 11 touchdowns in the first five games.
His production was thwarted by injuries, especially in key sports that made it tough to mount a passing game and necessitating reliance on the run game.
Shady Spring riding Senior Brady Green returned from a torn ACL that cost him his sophomore season and threw for 1,114 yards and eight touchdowns.
He had two games tossing for over 215 yards, including 292 on just seven completions against Nicholas County.
He completed just 37.5 percent early in the year but in the second half of the season was 44 of 77 (57.1 percent) highlighted by a 13 of 15 performance for 217 yards and three touchdowns against Ripley.
That completion percentage rolled over into the summer sessions.
Westside’s Kadien Vance suffered a similar fate as Gladwell as injuries and a reliance on the ground game halted his passing, but he did go 19 of 33 for 248 yards and two touchdowns in the first two games.
The rising junior had three gages over 100 yards but as he was seemingly getting back into the groove was felled by an injury and missed the final game of the season.
He rushed and passed for over 100 yards (140 rushing, 2 TD, 102 passing, TD) in Westside’s victory against Wyoming East, the coaching debut of Justin Cogar, who was arguably one of the state’s all-time dual-threat quarterbacks.