After three consecutive losses, the Florida Gators finally beat the Kentucky Wildcats over the weekend. Credit goes to former Willis graduate and current freshman quarterback DJ Lagway. At only 19 years old, Lagway led his Gators to a convincing 48-20 victory Saturday night at the Swamp, including 21 unanswered points to end the contest.
After quarterback Graham Mertz suffered a season-ending knee injury against Tennessee the week prior, Lagway earned play-calling duties for the rest of the season. He finished Saturday’s win 7-of-14 passing for 259 yards and 46 yards of rushing, including three passes of 40+ yards in the first half and 300 yards of offense by the midway period.
At the Texas high school level, DJ Lagway appeared in 42 games with Willis and completed 569-of-874 passes for 8,392 yards and 100 touchdowns, as well as rushing for an additional 2,196 yards on 293 carries with 29 scores.
Over half of his passing touchdowns occurred in his senior season. It was this last year where Lagway made national news, breaking the Texas high school record for most passing touchdowns in a single season, and taking the Wildkats to the third round in the playoffs-only the second time in school history.
Lagway graduated as the honored 2023 Gatorade National Player of the Year, MaxPreps National Player of the Year, and Elite 11 National High School Quarterback of the Year.
After fielding offers from Miami, Georgia, Alabama, and others, Lagway opted to join Florida.
After a bye week, he will lead the Gators against a tall task at #2 Georgia.
