Why Ryan Downes is the next IMG great

Whether watching the New York Jets every Sunday with his dad, throwing the pigskin around with friends or taking the field with his teammates, Ryan Downes and his love for football get stronger every day.

When Downes was in elementary school, he started playing flag football and then moved to tackle football, and he hasn’t looked back since.

Hailing from Long Island, New York, an area predominantly known for lacrosse and soccer, Downes knew if he wanted to play football at the next level, it was best for him to move.

In 2018 the standout quarterback packed his bags and headed down to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

It’s hard to imagine a 12-year-old moving over 1,000 miles to attend a new school, but he mentioned it was the best decision for his future.

“The process was me going down there for camp and the coaching staff inviting me down to play,” Downes said. “Taking the opportunity to move down to the best football team in the country was a no-brainer for me.”

Over the past decade, many of the nation's biggest high school football stars have called IMG Academy home, and people around the country think Downes is the next Ascender superstar.

Moving away from home while still in middle school is extremely difficult and is a colossal change, but Downes made the most of it.

Although it took time for him to get comfortable in Florida, he noted it was a quick transition, with many people helping along the way.

“To go from Long Island, which isn't known for football, and go down IMG was a big shift, but it was something I knew I always wanted to do,” Downes said. “It took a bit of acclimating, and the coaches, players and everyone down there, are good at acclimating the new kids to the way everything goes.”

A massive part of acclimating is finding a routine and Downes wasted little time finding one both on the football and in the classroom.

Playing quarterback requires you to be a student of the game, and while he studies football often, he devotes a great deal of time to his classes.

From a young age, his parents instilled in him academics are a huge part of life and come before football.

The rising sophomore has a 4.2 GPA, but it’s challenging to maintain elite grades in the classroom and elite play on the gridiron.

“I try to stay super scheduled and super structured, and I'm able to maintain really good grades and still be productive on the football field,” Downes said. “When you're structured, and you have the ability to do great things on the field and in the classroom, it leaves time for me to be a horrible golfer.

Although his golf game doesn’t have collegiate programs calling, his 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame does.

Colleges began noticing the IMG superstar when he was in middle school, and on May 15, 2019, he received his first offer from Brown; two days later, Kansas offered him his first scholarship from a power-five program.

Downes isn’t the first middle school athlete offered a football scholarship, but he mentioned receiving those offers is something he’ll never forget.

“To be that young and receive an offer was unbelievable, and it was just something I'll never forget,” Downes said. “It gave me more fuel and hunger to get better and keep pushing myself to be better every day.”

He continued to pick up offers from Indiana in 2020 and Marshall in 2021 before suiting up for IMG’s national team.

In 2020, the Ascenders went a perfect 8-0 and captured the national championship. They entered 2021 looking to repeat as champions, with current Florida State Seminole A.J. Duffy ahead of Downes on the depth chart.

Duffy was one of the country’s top signal-callers, ranking as the 11th best quarterback and No. 176 player, according to 247 Sports.

The future Seminole had led his team to an impressive 8-0 record, and with two games left in the season, it seemed another undefeated season was in the cards.

IMG was gearing up for a matchup against Clarkson North, as disaster struck when Duffy left the program to what some suspected was due to an injury he sustained.

Taking the reigns for one of the top offensive attacks in the country was Downes, who was 15 years old.

Despite being that young, the gun-slinger was ready to square off against Clarkson North and lead his team to victory.

“A.J didn’t show up for a team meeting, and then I was informed by the coaching staff he wasn’t coming back,” Downes said. “You could’ve imagined how shocked I was in the moment, but that shock was quickly overtaken. I was like, “all right, let's do this, and let's go win some football games.”

Winning games is what Downes and his team did, defeating Clarkson North 28-0 in a rain-shortened affair.

With the rain pouring down, the freshman standout fired his first touchdown pass to wide receiver Weston Adams.

Current Penn State running back Kaytron Allen stole the show finding the endzone three times in the victory.

IMG was one win away from completing its second straight undefeated season, but it had a matchup against St. Frances Academy, which featured several D1 talents.

However, midway through the second quarter, the Ascenders found themselves in a position unknown to them all season, trailing 26-3.

Looking to keep its 19-game win streak alive, they battled back, scoring 15 points to end the half capped off by a 36-yard touchdown pass from Downes to wide receiver James Olsen.

IMG opened trailing by eight and concluded a lengthy drive with Downes brushing off a sack on fourth down and launching his second touchdown pass of the contest, this time to Allen.

After falling behind by 23, the Ascenders scored 21 unanswered to make it a 26-24 battle, but those were the last points they tallied as St. Frances tacked on another touchdown and came away with a 34-24 victory.

The loss was IMG’s first in 763 days, but despite losing, Downes recalled it was his favorite game.

“My favorite game was Saint Francis from this past fall because we didn’t win that game, but it served as a great learning experience for me to see what it's like to get beat by a better team,” Downes said. “That allowed us to go into this offseason with hunger and drive, and that's helped fuel me for the past few months, and I'm really looking forward to the season after that game.”

Before the 2022 season gets underway, the second-year starter had a busy summer traveling to camps across the nation.

He visited programs such as Clemson, Oklahoma and Penn State, among others and he’s continued to generate interest.

With the loss to St. Frances fueling Downes and the rest of his teammates, they want to start another long win streak and capture a national title.

“Our goal right now is to win out our schedule, and we're trying to go undefeated, and I know we got all the guys to do it,” Downes said. “ I'm looking forward to leading this team and being the best quarterback I can be. I really want to solidify my place as one of the best quarterbacks not only in my class but in the country.”

Alex Rocco is a rising junior at Penn State majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email alex.rocco1702@gmail.com