Top Football Players Series: Quarterback, Jackson Stecher, Lake Brantley

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This is the fifth of a seven-part series that will take a look at the top players at each position among the Orlando area’s high school football teams with spring practices underway. Today we focus on the quarterbacks:

Jackson Stecher, junior, Lake Brantley

He’s headed into his junior season, but Lake Brantley quarterback Jackson Stecher already has quite a resume. Before he and coach Garrett Kruczek arrived at Brantley, the pair teamed up at The Master’s Academy in Oviedo for three years, where they won back-to-back Sunshine State Athletic Association championships in 2023 and 2024.

Things were a little different when the duo stepped up to Class 7A football this past season, but the Patriots still managed to go 6-4 and Stecher threw for 2,316 yards and 20 touchdowns, all while trying to stay upright behind an offensive line that, sometimes, had trouble with protection.

Despite some protection issues, he still completed 70% of his passes (171-of-243).

“His body of work speaks for itself,” Kruczek said of his prize pupil. “He’s a winner. He’s played a lot of football, seen a lot of football. Physically, I’ve seen him grow.

“His arm strength is elite, he has great speed, physicality and then just the cognitive maturity of him … He is extremely developed in understanding the whys behind the things that we do.”

Stecher has all the tools and has displayed an impressive ability to use those tools. He shows an impressive knowledge of the game. He has a big-time arm, he has pin-point accuracy, he has quick feet and can maneuver quite well and he also has an extremely high football IQ.

Lake Brantley’s Jackson Stecher earns MVP at 12th Orlando QB Shootout

“He’s a great conductor to our offense and it takes a special person to do that. He plays at a really high level, cognitively,” Kruczek said. “The one thing that separates him from anybody I’ve ever been around, and that includes some NFL quarterbacks … is his understanding of the game of football.

“His diagnosis and film preparation is unmatched. His diligence in making sure he’s prepared on a week in, week out basis is impressive. He has a hand in what we do each week because he knows what he’s looking at.”

He can stand in the pocket, he call roll out or he can throw it while being chased, but his passes are nearly always right on target.

Kruczek and Stecher have a great relationship.

“I’ve known him for four years now so it’s kind of special,” Kruczek said. “I think our familiarity with each other just helps things. Jackson is a great quarterback. He’s good enough where he can perform, really, in any system.

“He’s awesome to be around and you kinda need to have a guy like that. He has great character.”

He is extremely polished, and Kruczek, along with his father Mike Kruczek, the former UCF coach and Brantley offensive coordinator, have done the polishing.

“He was a skinny, redheaded string bean who had a lot of mechanical issues and didn’t understand that much of the game, but now he’s kind of a master of the game, and he’s still learning,” Kruczek said. “He’s definitely a luxury, for sure. We knew he was gonna be special when he was real young.”

Stecher and four other rising juniors make the quarterback Class of 2028 possibly the best group the Orlando area has ever seen. Given the strength of the 2028 class, we are listing six QBs in today’s report.

Other top Orlando quarterbacks

Blake McCullough, junior Bishop Moore

When McCullough (6-1, 190) stepped into the starting lineup at Bishop Moore this past season, he was stepping into a role in which he was picking up after a guy who had a lot of success. Bjorn Jurgensen had led the Hornets for the past two seasons, but he was off to Virginia. No problem for McCullough. The sophomore led Bishop Moore to the Class 3A state semifinals in his first season as the starter. He ended up third in the state in passing yards with 3,477 and threw 37 touchdown passes.

AJ Chung, junior, West Orange

Chung has led West Orange to a 20-5 record over the past two seasons, losing in the Class 7A region final in 2024 and region semis last year. With a beefed-up schedule, coach Geno Thompson is hoping it will get his Warriors ready to advance further in 2026. Chung is not huge (5-11, 170), but he is cerebral with talent and he’s great at picking his spots. Last season he completed 66 percent of his passes (139-of-210) and threw for 2,355 yards and 36 touchdowns.

Brycen Marbrey, junior, Lake Howell

With his long, wiry arms, Marbrey (6-2, 178) often makes it look effortless when he sends a 60-yard pass through the air with a flick of his wrist. He’s working on his accuracy, which was only 53% a year ago, with QB coach Anthony Siciliano. Last season he was 113-of-212 for 2,087 yards and 26 touchdowns, but 2026 promises to be better, especially with receivers Devin Coleman and Jayvon Funnye back.

Jeremiah Lattier, junior, St. Cloud

Lattier is a big-bodied quarterback (6-3, 220) who is mobile and has a big arm. He can wing it and he was third among Orlando QBs last year with 316 pass attempts, of which he completed 60%. He transferred from Lake Minneola to St. Cloud last year and he led the Bulldogs to an 8-3 record, but St, Cloud suffered a disappointing first-round playoff loss to Lake Nona. Lattier threw for 2,834 and 25 touchdowns.

Sebastian Galeano, senior, Oviedo

Galeano (6-1, 190) has seen a steady improvement since his freshman season and he is ready to have a breakout senior season this year for coach Greg Odierno. For three straight seasons, the Lions have gone 8-3, losing in the first round of the playoffs, but Galeano is looking to turn that corner. Last season he completed 66% (64-of-123) of his passes for 2,294 yards and 29 touchdowns.

Chris Hays can be found on X.com@OS_ChrisHays.

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