By Titus Mohler
Correspondent

Lakeland quarterback Zach Super has been selected to participate in the ESPN Elite 11 Regional QB camps this spring.

The Elite 11 is a program designed to identify the best rising senior high school quarterbacks in the country. Young quarterbacks attend the regional camps for a chance to go to the national camp in California.

Super reacted to the honor on both a personal and public level, realizing what it meant to himself, but also the local community.

“I was excited,” he said. “Being the first quarterback from Suffolk was a big thing for me. I look at all these other great quarterbacks in the NFL and college right now who have been selected to the Elite 11, so I think it’s a big thing for the school and a big thing for the city, and it’s a very big thing for me as well.”

Some of the NFL and college standouts to attend the camps during its 14-year history were Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger and Stanford’s Andrew Luck.

Lakeland coach Glenwood Ferebee, who has coached Super the last two years, was not very surprised by the honor.

“He’s one of the better quarterbacks in the area, talent-wise,” Ferebee said. “I’ve been in the area for about a good 12 years being assistant and the head coach, and he’s probably one of the most accurate (I’ve) seen in a while.”

Ferebee mentioned skills both learned and natural as he listed the key ingredients to Super’s success.

“Like I said, the accuracy that he has and his overall quarterback instincts and his command of the offense,” he said. “A lot things as a quarterback, you can’t coach.”

Ferebee, a former quarterback, knows firsthand that some abilities the position requires.

“You can’t coach presence in the pocket,” he said. “You can coach accuracy by throwing the ball a lot, but some of those things he naturally has as a quarterback.”

Super believes his success comes through the effort and consistency he applies to his day-to-day training.

“I think mainly it’s just my hard work,” he said. “I put in hard work every day. I’m always out here, whether I’m throwing, running, lifting weights, I’m always spending time with my teammates and just working to get better.”

Ferebee agreed that Super’s work ethic might be his best trait as a young quarterback.

“That’s one thing that changed our football team when he came over,” Ferebee said. “The kids (saw) how hard he worked, and they were right along with him.”

Even with his success, Super is not getting ahead of himself. When asked if he has NFL aspirations, he provided a very grounded answer.

“Not really, right now. I’m just trying to basically get out of high school with a state championship right now,” Super said. “I’m just going to keep working hard at what I do and just let everything fall into place.”

Super will attend the Elite 11 camp in Atlanta this April.