Allison is 2012 linebacker to watch

Jeremiah Allison plays with toughness and grit, qualities that make the 2012 linebacker from Los Angeles Dorsey a fun player to watch and a nightmare to play against.

Allison, a 6-foot, 190-pound outside linebacker, is sometimes a little reckless going after ball carriers or the opposing quarterback but is never out of control. For someone just starting his junior season it's clear he's going to have lots of recruiting mail to sift through over the next couple years.

The best hit Allison had in Dorsey's 34-27 victory against Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft last Thursday was on a reverse. Earlier in the game, Allison tried to make a play and was caught out of position. His coaches got on him and Allison quickly learned the lesson.

Down by a couple scores, Taft's offense, led by Arizona State quarterback commit Michael Bercovici, tried to mix up its play-calling with a reverse that was run to Allison's side. It turned out to be a big mistake.

Almost as soon as the pitch came on the reverse, Allison was there to lay a booming hit on the runner and Taft lost yardage. It was only one of Allison's big plays on the night but certainly his most memorable. That's one that can be put on his junior season highlight film and sent out to colleges.

"Earlier in the game, I had lost outside contain and coach was stressing me about staying home," Allison said. "I watched film early this morning and they thought they had me.

"It's like a chess game. You have to play with them. I knew they weren't going to try to fake a dive because they were losing so I knew they were either going to try a bootleg or a reverse and I just happened to stay home. I'm like a gator all over. I have to eat it up."

Dorsey is off to a 2-0 start with convincing wins over Taft and North Hollywood. The offense, led by quarterback Joseph Gray and a bevy of quick wide receivers, has scored 37 and 41 in its first two games. Allison and Washington commit Matthew Lyons lead the defense.

The Dons are playing well but Allison cautioned that this is when practices need to get even more intense so Dorsey doesn't lose its way.

"It all starts with practice," Allison said. "We go hard every practice and coach always stresses that if we finish practice off strong we're going to finish the game off strong so that's what we did.

"We're feeling really good but we can't overlook any of our opponents. We have to go hard and just continue on rolling."

UCLA and Oregon are rumored to be two of Allison's early favorites and interest is also coming in from Cal, Minnesota, Stanford, USC, Washington and others but the outside linebacker didn't want to talk much about recruiting. He's focused on a solid junior season and then will deal with recruiting in due time.

"I'm just about academics and education," Allison said. "I'm a student-athlete with student being first. I don't really want to get into college talk. I just feel that college will come and I have time for that."