Rivals Recap: Mid-Atlantic gets underway
It was a busy start to the 2015 season in the Mid-Atlantic. Richmond (Va.)
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Benedictine School scrimmaged Richmond (Va.) J R Tucker, Fredericksburg (Va.)
Chancellor hosted Fredericksburg (Va.) Riverbend and Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha
played Miami (Fla.) Miami Central on national television.
I was impressed with...
Miami Central has won four of the last five Florida Class 6A titles but DeMatha
easily beat them by a score of 38-14. Over the past couple of years DeMatha has
lost out of conference games to teams like Warminster (Pa.) Archbishop Wood and
Montvale (N.J.) St. Joseph's but this year's team seems a little different. The
offensive line is one of the best in school history, 2017 quarterback Beau English did a good job of not forcing bad throws and Rivals100 Penn State defensive end commit Shane Simmons had one of his best games
as a high school football player. Next week DeMatha plays at Plantation (Fla.)
American Heritage, another Florida powerhouse program. That game will certainly
get national attention.
Rivals100 Duke wide receiver commit Scott Bracey doesn't
participate in the offseason camp circuit so it has been at least eight months
since anyone has seen him do anything football related. On Thursday night he
showed everyone that he hasn't lost a step. Bracey started the game at
quarterback, which he probably will do each game this year, but saw significant
time at wide receiver. There were three plays in the first half where he either
ran the ball or caught the ball. On those three plays Bracey racked up two
touchdowns and close to 130 yards. There was a 65-yard touchdown run and a
33-yard touchdown catch where he basically carried a defensive back for the last
10 yards. ACC defensive backs should watch out because Bracey might be the best
prospect Duke has ever landed.
Yetur Matos is now in his junior year and showed on Friday night that
he has already advanced his game since the spring. The Chancellor star gained
about 15 pounds and is starting to really understand how to play with leverage.
Matos had a couple of sacks and did a good job of standing up at the point of
attack. He made big plays in key moments in the second half of a close game that
his team ended up winning by three.
I was surprised by...
Rivals250 wide receiver Darnell Salomon is a bigger receiver with
offers from all over the country but he was pretty much a non-factor in Miami
Central's game against DeMatha. He was targeted a few times but four-star
Arizona State commit Robbie Robinson was right there with the
tight coverage. The way he played in coverage all game was impressive.
Robinson's footwork and explosiveness really made it tough for Miami Central to
complete anything to his side of the field.
Saturday defensive end Chase Young had a "Hello World"
moment that will surely impact both his recruitment and how teams play him in
the future. Young had about 10 tackles in the game and a few sacks but the crowd
rose to its feet when he beat his man to the inside and leveled the Miami
Central quarterback for a big loss. Young still has to develop from a physical
standpoint but his skills and techniques are pretty advanced.
There weren't many highlights for Miami Central from the DeMatha game but people
on the sidelines were shocked by how physically gifted Jamel Cook and
Keir Thomas are. Cook has the size and speed to match up with pretty
much anybody. He lined up at cornerback for most of the game and did a good job
of using his size to his advantage. Thomas has the athleticism to play almost
every position on the defensive line.
Other thoughts...
DeMatha
four-star athlete Darryl Turner had a big offseason and he gained the
respect of players, coaches, scouts and fans from coast to coast. Turner was
poised for a dominant season but he hit a major bump in the road on Saturday,
going down with a significant ankle injury in the first quarter against Miami
Central. Turner, a Maryland commit who took home MVP honors at the
Richmond stop of the Rivals Camp Series, was one of the leaders
of the DeMatha squad and they will miss his experience and focus. Now his
teammates are rallying around him and have dedicated this season to him.
Most
people who really follow college football recruiting know who many of DeMatha
and Miami Central's next stars are. Guys like Austin Fontaine,
DeMarcco Hellams and James Cook will be the featured prospects in games of
this magnitude in the future. Benedictine, Riverbend and Chancellor also have
younger players that have the potential to play in college. Chris Collins and Wendell Davis from Benedictine, Ben Skinner and Teagan McDonald of Riverbend and EJ Jenkins of Chancellor
are just a handful of players that might be able to make it to the next level.
Riverbend
defensive end TyJuan Garbutt, a member of the 2017 Rivals250, had an up
and down game on Friday night. Chancellor did a good job of scheming against him
so that he couldn't take over the game with his athleticism and explosiveness.
Listed as a weakside defensive end, Garbutt seems like a true outside
linebacker/defensive end hybrid that can make plays in space but also rush the
passer. He has a very high ceiling but he needs to find the right system for him
to reach his potential.
