Column: These once-unheralded high school athletes are now on everyone’s radars

They were underrated, underappreciated and under-publicized when the high school football season began. Seven weeks later, these athletes have thrust themselves into the conversation as top players, based on their performance in games rather than by how accurately they throw passes through a tire or how well they run around cones in a drill.

There’s Cade Sparks, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound senior quarterback at unbeaten Fontana Summit. “No one knew me,” he said about his preseason profile. “It was fuel for the fire.”

All he has done is lead Summit to a 7-0 record by passing for 1,708 yards and 26 touchdowns. He had to sit out the first five games last season after transferring from Upland Western Christian and was an unknown varsity backup. His patience and hard work in the off-season have made him a quarterback to watch.

Asked about his improvement, Sparks said, “The big thing is the feel for the game, being able to pick up defenses and lead a group of guys and have them rally behind you.”

Another quarterback breaking through is 6-4 senior Chris Murray of Lawndale. His coach, Travis Clark, calls him “a beast.” He had 197 yards rushing against Encino Crespi and 299 yards passing against Palos Verdes Peninsula. He has led Lawndale to a 6-1 record and picked up scholarship offers in the last week from Montana State and Eastern Washington.

If somebody asked me who deserves to be player of the year, it would be quarterback Khalil Tate of Gardena Serra. He hasn’t received an invite from any of the national all-star games. (That’s because they mostly select before the season.) Few have been able to tackle him, and now he’s starting to break out as a passer, too.

J.T. Daniels of Santa Ana Mater Dei is a 15-year-old freshman who has thrown for as many yards in seven games (1,684) as Matt Barkley did in 12 games as a freshman quarterback for the Monarchs in 2005. Even more stunning is that Daniels has just one interception in 143 passing attempts.

Senior receiver Justin Rogers of Los Angeles caught four passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns against Crenshaw and caught five passes for 130 yards and one touchdown against Dorsey. He has helped the surprising Romans start 7-0 and is averaging 30.8 yards a catch.

Mikey Dean of Chaffey is just 5-8, 165 pounds. But he sure knows how to pick up yards. He rushed for 336 yards against Bloomington, 332 yards against Colton and 313 yards against Ontario. He has 1,923 yards rushing and 28 touchdowns.

Chris Duncan of Woodland Hills Taft is a 6-4 senior quarterback with straight A’s on his report card. He’s still waiting for his first scholarship offer after passing for 1,750 yards and 24 touchdowns for the 6-1 Toreadors.

Junior Mekhi Ware, a cornerback for Culver City, would be the steal for any fantasy football league. Who would have predicted he’d have nine interceptions in seven games?

Then there’s Mique Juarez of North Torrance. Urban Meyer, Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh should be stationed in a tent outside of his house trying to sign him now that he’s decommitted from USC. Yes, we all knew he’d be an exceptional linebacker, but look what he’s accomplished playing quarterback simply because he’s the best athlete on the team. He has passed for 17 touchdowns and run for 20 touchdowns.

Juarez and plenty of others are earning respect the old-fashion way — by performance.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATSondheimer.com