Vince Marrow has Unique Praise for Montavin Quisenberry

Vicky Graff Photo

When Kentucky started recruiting Montavin Quisenberry of Boyle County, he had a conversation with former UK star Wan’Dale Robinson about him.

“I told Wan’Dale about this kid at Boyle County and you have to look past his size because he is a true player just like he (Robinson) was,” Marrow said. “I was tell (Boyle) Coach (Justin Haddix) that pound for pound he was the best player I had seen.”

Quisenberry received the Paul Hornung Award given to the state’s best high school football player by the Louisville Quarterback Club Wednesday in Louisville.

Marrow had several unique comparisons/descriptions for Quisenberry, who accounted for 127 touchdowns during his high school career. His first one was a Biblical reference to David who slayed the giant Goliath with only a slingshot.

“A lot of people do not know that David was not a big guy, but he was tough and fearless,” Marrow said during the awards ceremony. “David was a good guy and courageous. He (Quisenberry) is the same way. You (Quisenberry) stand for what a student-athlete should be. You never see him on social media. He just really reminds me of David from the Bible.”

The 5-9, 173-pound Quisenberry rushed for 4,469 yards and 61 touchdowns, caught 151 passes for 2,509 yards and 38 scores, and passed for 1,357 yards and 15 touchdowns in high school. He also had 13 special teams touchdowns and one defense had165 tackles and eight interceptions.

Marrow also recalled when Quisenberry came to the UK football camp. The coaches did not expect him to work out because they had seen enough to know what he could do.

“We had a lot of guys at that camp including some of the very best players around,” Marrow said. “Tavi is competitive. He stretched a little and then went out and blew it up. That told me this kid could really play in the SEC.”

Marrow got a reminder about that when Boyle County went to Ohio and beat powerhouse 38-21 in a battle of nationally ranked teams. Quisenberry ran for three touchdowns and 141 yards on 25 carries, threw a 69-yard touchdown pass and had a fourth quarter interception to help seal the win.

“That team had won the state championship three years in a row. (Frederick) Douglass played them and got the crap beat out of them a year before. I knew Boyle could compete but had no idea they would win. I actually thought they probably might get the crap beat out of them, too,” Marrow admitted.

At that time in early September Quisenberry was a West Virginia commit. One of Marrow’s coaching friends who watched the game in Ohio texted asking how he was letting Quisenberry get away.

“After that game, we really went full out to get him and I am really glad we did,” Marrow said.

How glad? Marrow reminded those at the Louisville Quarterback Club that he had recruited Robinson, who plays for the New York Giants, and Lynn Bowden, a former NFL receiver, to play at Kentucky.

“This kid (Quisenberry) is by far the best kid I have recruited out of high school,” Marrow said, noting that Robinson and Bowden would both be upset by his comments.