Praise for what Worthington Kilbourne quarterback Jackson Szabo could accomplish started rolling in well before the junior racked up four consecutive games with at least 400 yards of total offense this fall.
“Calling it now… 2028 Worthington Kilbourne (OH) QB Jackson Szabo will throw for over 3,000 and run for over a 1,000 this year,” renowned quarterbacks coach Brad Maendler posted Aug. 23 on X, two days after Szabo threw for 213 and ran for 116 in a season-opening 49-7 rout of Watkins Memorial.
“Szabo is the most electric quarterback in Ohio high school football,” recruiting analyst Jared Luginbill posted on X on Sept. 23, four days after Szabo torched Dublin Scioto for 633 yards – 424 through the air and 209 on the ground – in a 49-20 victory.
No one around the undefeated Wolves (6-0, 3-0 OCC-Capital) will argue what a star they have in the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Szabo, who entering an Oct. 2 game at unbeaten Big Walnut not only has thrown for 1,977 yards and 24 touchdowns and run for 682 yards and 12 scores this fall but has amassed 8,265 all-purpose yards in starting all 29 games of his high school career.
They will just point out that Szabo laid the groundwork long ago, becoming the only eighth grader Kilbourne coach Mike Edwards can remember who not only attended practices that young, but followed along with a script in preparation for what was to come.
“He asked questions. The only eighth grader I have ever had who wanted to do that,” Edwards said. “I just saw his work ethic. He always wants to work. He always wants to get better.”
Szabo, Kilbourne ‘doing something special’
It was all part of the process for Szabo, whose intense curiosity partly comes from being the son of Buffalo Bills scout Mike Szabo. He beat out two seniors for the starting job before his freshman year, and a 16-13 overtime win at Watkins in the 2024 opener broke Kilbourne’s 12-game losing streak.
The Wolves went 5-7 that fall, including an upset of 10-0 Walnut Ridge in the first round of the Division II, Region 7 playoffs, and that coupled with a 7-4 record last fall laid the groundwork for this season, in which Kilbourne has averaged 48.3 points and scored at least 49 in each of its first five games.
“We’re doing something special,” Szabo said. “None of us are complacent. We all want more, and our final goal each and every week is to get more.”
“More” for Szabo has included better decision making and approval from Edwards to check in and out of certain play calls and pass protections.
“[I am] taking what the defense gives me, not doing too much, not pushing,” Szabo said. “Knowing defensive coverages, too. The mental portion of my game has improved and that is why my game has gotten better over the years.”
Szabo’s top receiver, classmate Alex Meek, was quick to point out Szabo’s touchdown passes have steadily increased – from 18 in 2024 to 21 last year – while interceptions have decreased in kind. He threw 13 as a freshman, seven a season ago and just three this year.
“His situational awareness gives all of us receivers and the whole offense assurance that we’re going to be fine,” Meek said.
Szabo’s passing yards rank second statewide, according to MaxPreps, 118 behind Sherwood Fairview’s Gavin Brown, and his 2,659 all-purpose yards are third nationally.
Lacrosse plays a part in Szabo’s dominance
Szabo also heaps credit for his football accomplishments on another sport – lacrosse, which, like football, he took up at age 5. He was a second-team all-state midfielder last fall and started as a freshman for the eventual Division I, Region 3 champions.
“They are the best crossover sports,” said Szabo, whose father played collegiately at Ohio Wesleyan. “All my moves I get on the football field are from lacrosse. The speed of lacrosse, the conditioning, it really translates over well.”
Brian Miller, himself a former Wolves quarterback who coached Kilbourne’s lacrosse team for eight years before stepping down in August, echoed Szabo’s sentiments.
“He is wildly composed,” Miller said. “It took all of one game [in 2025 for opponents] to know they needed to put their best defender on him. …
“Jackson will be the first to tell you that his ability to move in the open field and escape pressure is a direct correlation to lacrosse. You have to use the space you are given to free up your hands and create space. Jukes and dodging translate exactly to football.”
Szabo owns no fewer than five individual career or single-season records for Kilbourne, having twice broken his own single-season marks for passing yards and touchdowns. His career all-purpose yards already have almost doubled the previous record of 4,137, held since 1998 by Ryan Sprague.
“It’s hard to think about [my legacy] in the moment because you are so focused on today, tomorrow and the game,” Szabo said. “It is special to be up there. I am still working and still grinding to improve, but overall just keep working and see where it all leads.”
Are Mr. Football, college in Jackson Szabo’s future?
Even with well over a year left in Szabo’s high school career, Edwards expressed some surprise and frustration that Szabo is not more heavily recruited.
His only two college offers are for lacrosse, from Ohio State and Villanova.
“He’s going to make somebody really happy in college,” Edwards said.
Meek invoked the possibility of Szabo winning Mr. Football in December. If so, he would be the first from central Ohio since Upper Arlington’s Jeff Backes in 2000.
“Jackson Szabo is Mr. Ohio,” Meek said. “He is the best quarterback in the state. The stats don’t lie. He is the bona fide Mr. [Football]. I think it should be solidified already.”
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: How Kilbourne's Jackson Szabo is dominating Ohio high school football
