Roosevelt quarterback Torren Devericks (1) looks for an open receiver during a Presidents Bowl game against O’Gorman at Howard Wood Field Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016, in Sioux Falls.
When he first started playing organized football as a third grader, Roosevelt’s Torren Devericks played both sides of the ball, but there was one position in particular that he enjoyed the most.
“I’ve always liked playing quarterback,” he said. “I was a defensive guy growing up, but I still played quarterback, too. When high school came around and I had to pick one, I picked quarterback.”
Now in his senior season, Devericks has the Rough Riders one win away from a trip to the DakotaDome. He torched Lincoln in the 11AAA quarterfinals, accumulating four touchdowns and 329 yards passing.
“Torren’s been a great player for us this year,” RHS coach Kim Nelson said. “He’s pretty much broken all of our passing records already this year. We’re really happy with how he’s taken charge of our team.”
Devericks is rewriting the Roosevelt record books on his way out, having reset the season records for total touchdowns (36), total passing yards (2,778), pass completions and attempts (195-295) and touchdown passes (29).
Thanks to his spreading the wealth, a pair of Roosevelt receivers (Nate Varns and Austin Johnson) have had record-setting seasons, as well.
“The best thing is he plays well on game night,” Nelson said. “It’s playoff time and he’s been a real steady leader of our offense all year and we’re happy that he’s still going.”
The Rough Riders have a difficult semifinal matchup against Brandon Valley on deck Friday, but the team is oozing confidence thanks in large part to its senior signal-caller.
“We’ve had a good week of practice,” Devericks said. “We’ve prepared pretty well and I think we’re all confident going into this game.”
Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen .
PREVIOUS WINNERS
Sept. 16 — Lexi Koltz, Softball (Roosevelt)
Sept. 23 — Bryce Hammer, Golf (O’Gorman)
Sept. 30 — Derek Zevenbergen, Soccer (Sioux Falls Christian)
Oct. 7 — Izzy Hedge, Soccer (O’Gorman)
Oct. 14 — LHS Patriots, Tennis (Lincoln)
Oct. 21 — Tupak Kpeayeh, Football (Washington)
Oct. 28 — Sami Slaughter, Volleyball (Harrisburg)
Athlete of the Week: Torren Devericks