News and notes from Battle At The Beach

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Ishmael Adams is tough, fearless, hard-nosed and competitive and the Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian prospect is only going to be a junior which means he's going to get even better in the next two years.

Adams was one of the top players at Saturday's Battle At The Beach 2010 Passing Tournament at Edison High School - which was won by La Habra, Calif. - and should become a high-profile player in southern California.

One play in particular sums up how Adams gets it done on the field: Adams had backed off the wide receiver and someone from the crowd yelled, "Look, he's backing off of you, he's scared of you."

So Adams moved up quickly into press coverage right before the play started and after the ball was tipped the Oaks Christian standout intercepted it. He's strong and has good footwork and should be picking up interest and offers soon. Playing at one of the more prestigious programs in California will help, too.

Wittek, Blackwell a tough combination

Max Wittek and Victor Blackwell have something special going at Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei and although their team didn't win the passing tournament there's a good chance they'll win a lot of games this upcoming season.

Wittek is usually poised in the pocket and delivers a nice ball. Blackwell runs terrific routes and showed an extra burst of speed at times. The two Southern Cal commits have one more season to do big things in high school before heading to play for the Trojans. If their chemistry continues, things could be looking fantastic at Mater Dei.

Eubank continues to get better

Michael Eubank is one of the best-looking prospects on the West Coast and now the Corona (Calif.) Centennial pro-style quarterback is looking more comfortable under center.

Eubank is 6 feet 5 and 232 pounds and has a chiseled frame but had struggled with his consistency and mechanics earlier in his career. That is all starting to get better and Eubank should see his recruitment heat up because of it.

He simply is too physically impressive not to strongly consider offering. Northern Colorado is on board already and other teams should be in the mix if he continues to throw the ball so well.

Payton talented on both sides

Jordan Payton is an outstanding 2012 wide receiver from Oaks Christian who has already committed to Southern Cal but if offense doesn't work out for him the 6-foot-2, 199-pound prospect showed he can play in the secondary as well.

Payton communicated well from his safety spot, made some nice plays and has a knack for being around the ball on almost every play. He projects as a wide receiver but just going into his junior year Payton is already ahead of the curve on both sides of the ball.

Other news & notes

Kalfani Mohammed is a 2013 running back from Sherman Oaks (Calif.) Notre Dame who could be a star in the making. Mohammed is rugged and tough and caught a bunch of balls out of the backfield. Look for rising junior receiver Sam Robinson at Notre Dame to pick up some offers as well.

** Westlake Village (Calif.) Westlake has some players and the two most impressive on Saturday were three-star wide receiver Nelson Spruce and two-star running back Tavior Mowry. Spruce has speed and terrific hands and Mowry is a compact, tough back who can catch coming out of the backfield.

** Another talented receiver at Oaks Christian is Blair Holliday, a smooth route runner who at 6 feet 3 and 195 pounds glides through his routes and has good hands. Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Northern Arizona have already offered but Holliday is skilled enough to pick up more.