Prep football: Immokalee quarterback RJ Rosales turns heads at showcase events

Immokalee High School sophomore quarterback RJ Rosales may not have the traditional size most big-time college programs covet from a signal caller, but he has everything else in droves.

Rosales showed off his skills during quite the productive weekend, leading his 7-on-7 team to nine wins and the championship at the Battle of the Swamp in Gainesville on Saturday. He followed that up with an appearance at the Elite 11 regional competition in Orlando, which is touted as one of the premier quarterback competitions in the nation.

And he’s still just 15 years old, possessing the polish and confidence of a much older player.

Rosales was competing with players he had never played with before at the 7-on-7 event, but that didn’t seem to matter as he was leading scoring drive after scoring drive en route to the championship.

“It takes a different level of thinking when you’re playing with new players and working with new coaches,” Rosales said. “It really opens up your mind as a quarterback. Going into competitions like this, I’m always confident because I want to be the head honcho everywhere I go. I like to challenge myself against the best and take my game to another level.”

Football: American Heritage wears down Immokalee

Rosales has already accomplished so much at an early age, it’s sometimes hard to believe he’s not yet eligible to drive a car on his own.

He helped the Indians reach the regional championship as a freshman, where he split time with Nathaniel Betancourt. Rosales overtook the senior Betancourt as Immokalee’s starter this year, and the Indians soared to the state semifinal game against a Plantation-American Heritage team that had more than 10 legitimate Division I recruits.

The Indians led 21-14 heading into the fourth quarter, before the Patriots’ depth wore them down in an eventual 28-21 defeat. American Heritage blasted Baker County 44-15 the next week to win its fourth state championship in five years, so Immokalee was perhaps a quarter away from a state title.

Rosales finished his stellar season with video game numbers across the board, completing 70 percent of his passes for 2,154 yards with 35 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He also rushed for 301 yards and three more scores, earning second-team all-state honors.

“What you see from RJ is a kid with incredible heart and a tremendous work ethic,” Immokalee coach Rodelin Anthony said. “When I had Nate and RJ, both kids had talent but RJ eventually surpassed Nate because he’d go off on his own and work on footwork drills for two hours after practice. He’d run through sand pits and is always working on throwing mechanics. The kid puts in all the additional work you need to be great. Now if we can only get him to grow five inches.”

The likely knock on Rosales from college recruiters will be his lack of size. Listed at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, he doesn’t have the traditional height major colleges are looking for.

“He’s like the Drew Brees or the Doug Flutie of high school football,” Anthony said. “And those guys were a little bit bigger than what RJ is. But when you watch what he can do on the football field, there’s not a throw he can’t make, there’s not a play he can’t make for you.”

Prep football Rosales, Immokalee too much for Dunbar

Facing an onslaught from a huge, physical defensive line from American Heritage, Rosales took hit after hit, but bounced up each time with seemingly more fire than he had before. When he did have time to throw, he completed 12 of 17 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns against a first-rate secondary.

“My motto is, I can’t control what (college coaches) want,” Rosales said. “But I can control what they see. And I’m going to make sure what they see will become what they want.”