RH 100 Notes: Grayson rises to No. 2
HIGHSCHOOLFOOTBALL:ViewtheRivalsHigh100
Advertisement
Dallas JacksonClick Here to view this Link. is the National Columnist for Rivals.com. Email him your comments or story ideas to DallasJ@Yahoo-Inc.comClick Here to view this Link. and follow him on TwitterClick Here to view this Link..
Following a 35-3 thrashing of Miami (Fla.) Central, Loganville (Ga.) Grayson
is making a strong claim to the top spot in the RivalsHigh 100 national high
school football poll.
Grayson will move from No. 5 to No. 2 in the recently updated ranking with its
statement victory over then-No. 19 Miami Central.
The defending Georgia state champions held Miami Central to just 22 total yards
of offense and unit limited Florida State-bound running back
yards combined. Grayson also held FBS-prospect Brandon Diaz to 3-of-12
passing.
Grayson's offense, which was considered a question mark entering the season,
amassed 355 total yards and dominated the time of possession.
The nation's No. 1 player,
Robert Nkemdiche, scored two touchdowns and
dominated on the defensive line.
Clemson-bound Nkemdiche scored the game's first touchdown mid-way through the
first quarter and then capped a 15-play, 76-yard drive with a two-yard run as
time wound down in the second quarter to give Grayson a 21-3 lead into halftime.
Running back Wayne Gallman, who is also committed to the Tigers, was
active in Grayson's passing game. He caught a 38-yard pass to set up the team's
first score and logged a 54-yard touchdown cass on a third down to aid in the
victory.
Grayson is idle this week after notching quality wins in both of its first two
games of the season. It is unlikely to be jumped during its off week considering
its impressive performance against Miami Central.
Miami Central falls to No. 44 in the nation and will take on No. 7-ranked Miami
(Fla.) Booker T. Washington this Friday.
BIG WIN FOR BELLEVUE: Based on the flood of fans storming the Memorial
Stadium field in Seattle, those that didn't know any better would have assumed
that Bellevue (Wash.) High pulled a major upset in downing Euless (Texas)
Trinity.
For the eighth-ranked Bellevue team, its 31-24 overtime victory over one of the
top teams in Texas was just the latest victory for one of the flagbearing
programs in the Pacific Northwest, but it was hardly an upset as Bellevue was
favored against the now-No. 53 Trinity team.
Bellevue got off to a quick start with two touchdowns on the teams first eight
plays highlighted by junior
Budda Baker catching a screen pass and
running 30 yards for a score and the early lead.
The second half started much like the first, with Myles Jack scored on
the third play of the third quarter and pushed Bellevue's lead to 21-9 before
Euless Trinity began to mount a comeback.
Kenneth Gonzalez scored a touchdown for Trinity in the third quarter before
Bellevue kicked a field goal and stretched its lead to eight.
Trinity quarterback Matt Hawkins drove the team 72 yards late in the fourth
quarter, and the Trojans tied the game and forced overtime following a Ramel
Newton touchdown run and a successful two-point conversion.
Bellevue scored on a 14-yard rush by Baker to open overtime and then held
Trinity without a score on its possession for the win.
Bellevue retained its spot at No. 8 following the victory and Trinity, in a rare
but not unprecedented move, climbed from No. 68 to No. 53 with the loss.
MOVING IN: Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian, who went from
unranked to No. 30 in the country, headlines the 10 new teams added to the
RivalsHigh 100 this week.
In the first two weeks of the season, Oaks Christian has bettered two nationally
relevant opponents -- Loomis (Cali.) Del Oro 40-0 and Granite Bay (Cali.) High
48-13. Del Oro and Granite Bay have also fallen to Westlake Village (Calif.)
Westlake, but in much closer contests.
Oaks Christian is not the only team from a power state to join the rankings this
week. Cedar Hill (Texas) High, Allen (Texas) High, Ventura (Calif.) St.
Bonaventure, and Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco.
Memphis (Tenn.) University School, Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Glenbard West, Phoenix
(Ariz.) Desert Vista, Lee's Summit (Mo.) West and Kahuku (Hawaii) High also
entered the RivalsHigh 100 this week.
ON THE SLIDE:
Southlake (Texas) Carroll entered the season as the third-ranked team in Texas
and the No. 12 team in the country despite questions surrounding how its offense
would respond to the loss of nearly all of its skill players.
One week into the season and those questions seem to have been warranted;
Carroll was blanked 24-0 by Allen (Texas) High in the Eagles' first game in a
new $60 million stadium.
It was the first time that Carroll had been shutout since it was held scoreless
by Carrollton (Texas) Newman Smith in 1997.
Allen scored all the points it would need with a touchdown with about five
minutes remaining in the first quarter, but a blocked punt inside the Carroll
10-yard line with less than a minute remaining in the first half resulted in a
touchdown that clinched the victory.
Carroll was not able to sustain a drive of any significance through the rest of
the game and the loss dropped the defending state champions to No. 63
nationally.
Allen entered the rankings this week at No. 62 and will have to follow up its
performance against Carroll with a game against No. 60 Cedar Hill (Texas) High.
KEEP AN EYE ON ... how the state of Oklahoma fares this weekend as it
takes on three out-of-state foes.
No. 38-ranked Tulsa (Okla.) Union will be traveling to take on No. 51-ranked
Euless (Texas) Trinity in what will be an interesting emotion check for both
teams. Union beat rival No. 66 Jenks (Okla.) High last week while Trinity fell
in an out-of-state contest against Bellevue in Washington. How each team
responds could play a big role in this contest.
Jenks will be playing on the same field but against No. 35 DeSoto (Texas) High.
Jenks fell in its rivalry game to Union and will need a rebound game while
DeSoto earned an impressive victory over now-No. 83 Arlington (Texas) Martin.
The third team to watch from Oklahoma, No. 89 Broken Arrow (Okla.) High, will be
hosting No. 85 Bentonville (Ark.) High in a fairly evenly-matched contest.
Broken Arrow downed a quality Owasso (Okla.) High team this past weekend while
Bentonville knocked Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst out of the national rankings
with a 24-7 victory.
Oklahoma pundits claim this is a state on the rise in high school football and
with three of its best teams all playing nationally-ranked opponents there will
be three evaluation points for the relevancy conversation.
ON HIS SHOULDERS: Austin (Texas) Lake Travis opened its first season in
Class 5A with a very impressive victory over Converse (Texas) Judson. The No.
12-ranked Cavaliers dominated every aspect of the game and cruised to a 47-13
victory and run its streak to an incredible 52-straight road victories.
Helping to lead the way was senior quarterback Baker Mayfield who threw
for 410 yards and five touchdowns on the evening and completed 24 of his 37
passes.
Mayfield connected with five receivers overall, with Zach Austin, who
hauled in eight catches for 232 yards and four scores, was his favorite target.
Mayfield was 247 of 378 for 3,788 yards and 45 scores last year with Austin
accounting for 72 of those completions and 16 scores.
As Lake Travis looks to win its sixth consecutive state title this pair could
find itself in the national notebook more frequently.
ON TAP THIS WEEK: An incredible 15 games featuring two nationally-ranked
teams headline this week's slate of games.
Four teams inside the Top 10 of the RivalsHigh 100 rankings will be getting
games against ranked foes as No. 4 Dallas (Texas) Skyline will play No. 83
Arlington (Texas) Martin; No. 5 Duncan (S.C.) Byrnes takes on No. 50 Rock Hill
(S.C.) Northwestern; No. 6 River Ridge (La.) John Curtis will host No. 13 Tampa
(Fla.) Plant; and No. 7 Miami (Fla.) Booker T. Washington clashes with No. 44
Miami (Fla.) Central.
There will be plenty of action outside of the Top 20 as well as the three ranked
teams from New Jersey kickoff the season against ranked foes. No. 20 Olney (Md.)
Good Counsel will take on No. 54 Montvale (N.J.) St. Joe's; No. 32 Ramsey (N.J.)
Don Bosco will travel to take on No. 94 Baltimore (Md.) Gilman; and No. 33
Oradel (N.J.) will head north to play No. 98 Melville (N.Y) St. Anthony.
The rest of the slate of games features both major in-state and several
out-of-state clashes with No. 24 Harrisburg (Pa.) Central Dauphin playing No.
100 Harrisburg (Pa.) Bishop McDevitt; No. 26 Cleveland (Ohio) St. Ignatius
tangles with No. 46 Mentor (Ohio) High; No. 29 Seffner (Fla.) Armwood will go
against No. 80 Delray Beach (Fla.) American Heritage; No. 35 DeSoto (Texas) High
plays No. 66 Jenks (Okla.) High; No. 38 Tulsa (Okla.) Union challenges No. 53
Euless (Texas) Trinity; No. 43 Cincinnati (Ohio) Colerain battles for the city
with No. 70 Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier; newly ranked No. 60 Cedar Hill (Texas)
High will look to earn its place against No. 62 Allen (Texas) High; and No. 85
Bentonville (Ark.) High tries to improve its stock against No. 89 Broken Arrow
(Okla.) High.
Dallas Jackson is the High School Football analyst for Rivals.com. Email him your question, comment or story ideas to DallasJ@Yahoo-Inc.com and follow him on Twitter.
Click Here to view this Link.
[rl]