By: Michael Spiers

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

There is suddenly a whole lot more intrigue surrounding Friday night’s spring football matchup between Camden County High School and Columbia High School.

Just days before the two programs are scheduled to meet in a spring scrimmage, Columbia’s starting quarterbacks is reportedly making the move to Camden County.

According to reports out of Lake City, Class of 2027 quarterback Xavier Collins is transferring from Columbia High School to Camden County and participated in his final practice with the Tigers earlier this week.

That is a significant pickup for the Wildcats. Collins has been a three year starter at Columbia and has already put together an impressive high school résumé.

Over the last three seasons, he has thrown for more than 3,500 yards and 35 touchdowns while becoming one of the more experienced quarterbacks in the region.

The 6 foot 2, 185 pound signal caller is coming off the best season of his career. Last year at Columbia, Collins completed 140 of 249 passes for 2,033 yards and 16 touchdowns.

He also currently holds a college offer from Ave Maria University in southwest Florida.

The move also fills a major need for Camden County after the Wildcats lost quarterback William Jackson during the offseason.

Jackson transferred to Evans High School after putting together a strong junior campaign for Camden in 2025.

Last season, Jackson completed 64 percent of his passes for 1,923 yards, 24 touchdowns, and only 5 interceptions. He also added more than 250 rushing yards and 3 scores on the ground.

So now, Camden enters the Tucker Pruitt era with a new quarterback under center and a player who already brings extensive varsity experience to the offense.

What makes the timing even more interesting is that Collins could now potentially face his former team immediately in Friday night’s spring matchup against Columbia.

For Camden County fans, it is another fascinating storyline as the Wildcats continue adjusting to a new coaching staff, new systems, and now a new quarterback leading the offense into the 2026 season.

And based on the numbers Collins put up at Columbia, Camden may have landed a player capable of making an immediate impact.