It’s been quite the week for Enoch Watson.
Last Wednesday, the three-star quarterback prospect officially signed with BYU as part of the program’s early signing day class. And then on the day after Christmas, MaxPreps recognized Watson for having the No. 6 overall play of the 2023 high school season.
The highlight in question occurred back on Sept. 22, when Watson tossed a game-winning touchdown to secure a dramatic, comeback victory for his American Leadership Academy squad.
And he didn’t just throw the touchdown. Watson ended up catching it, too.
Wait, what? It’s OK to be confused.
Here’s what happened: Trailing 28-22 with under 30 seconds to play, Watson dropped back to pass but fell into immediate pressure, getting hit as he hurled the football into the helmet of one of his offensive linemen.
The ball bounced right back to Watson, who plucked it out of the air and took off, dodging the entire opposing defense en route to a 22-yard go-ahead score.
“I signaled my best receiver on the team (to run) a Dino route to go in the middle, then I got hit and it hit the lineman and I caught it. I just tried to go make a play and score, win the game,” Watson told Sports360AZ following the Sept. 22 win. “I knew our team was up for the challenge, and that’s what we’re made of. I think we just showed the whole state what we can do.”
The sequence went viral at the time of its initial posting on social media, with the MaxPreps recognition adding further prestige to “Enoch’s escape.”
Watson finished the 29-28 victory over Pinnacle with three touchdown passes, racking up 2,450 yards and 28 TDs in his senior campaign playing for Cougar quarterback legends Ty Detmer and Max Hall. He is ranked as the No. 26 overall recruit out of Arizona by 247Sports.
The Queen Creek, Arizona, native will join BYU’s program after serving a two-year church mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chile.