Texas Longhorn commits: Week Three preview

Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc on the Texas coast in late August, and the first two weeks of the high school football season along with it. This weekend, the members of the Texas Longhorns recruiting class who had their first two games cancelled will finally take the field. There will not quite be a full complement of future Longhorns in action, though, as two commits have scheduled bye weeks, another had his team’s game cancelled due to the effects of Hurricane Irma, and another was injured last week and might sit out his team’s game tonight.

In last week’s action, UT’s three committed quarterbacks (two seniors and one junior) combined to produce 13 total touchdowns, a defensive back commit had a triumphant return to the field in his first game after missing much of his junior season due to injury, another defensive back commit scored TDs on both offense and defense, and a commit whose last name rhymes with “kicker” scored the winning points for his team with two seconds left on the clock, and sent the team of a fellow UT commit home in defeat in the process.

Also, you should be excited when you read what an opposing head coach had to say about 2018 QB commit Cameron Rising last week.

Below is this week’s preview and notes for games involving Longhorn commits.

2018 Texas Longhorn football commits

QB Cameron Rising (Newbury Park, California)

Last week: Completed 11 of 20 passes for 190 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception, and rushed 9 times for 122 yards and 3 TDs in a 42-40 loss to Westlake.

This week: Friday, September 15 at 7:00, vs. Valencia

Notes: Westlake fumbled twice near the goal line late in the 4th quarter but recovered both of them, the second one being recovered in the end zone and resulting in the game’s winning points. Newbury Park scored a TD with 3:49 left in regulation, but Rising was stopped short on the subsequent two-point conversion attempt, which preserved Westlake’s lead for good.

One of Rising’s TD runs was a 65-yarder early in the 3rd quarter that gave Newbury Park a 27-14 lead. Westlake’s first-year head coach Tim Kirksey was quoted after the game saying of Rising: “He may be the best I’ve ever seen in person. That kid’s unbelievable.” This is the same Tim Kirksey who spent the previous two years as offensive coordinator of Westlake Village’s Oaks Christian School, where he tutored consensus four-star QB recruit Matt Corral, who is now a senior at Long Beach Poly and is committed to Florida.

QB Casey Thompson (Newcastle, Oklahoma)

Last week: Completed 18 of 31 passes for 316 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT, and rushed 21 times for 85 yards and 1 TD and lost two fumbles in a 55-27 loss to Tuttle.

This week: Friday, September 15 at 7:00, vs. Blanchard

Notes: Through two games in 2016, Newcastle had been outscored by 71 points. Against the same first two opponents in 2017, the Racers have been outscored by only 42 points. So though they have yet to win their first game since Casey Thompson’s arrival, he’s been making their losses look more respectable, so there’s that. Next up for Newcastle is a Blanchard team that has outscored its first two opponents by a combined 72-15, and a year ago they beat Newcastle by a score of 55-3.

RB Keaontay Ingram (Carthage)

Last week: Rushed 19 times for 82 yards and a TD and caught 2 passes for 2 yards in a 48-38 win over Texarkana Liberty-Eylau.

This week: Friday, September 15 at 7:30, at Whitehouse

Notes: Ingram only reached the end zone once last week but it was a very consequential score. It came on a one-yard run as time expired in the 2nd quarter, and gave Carthage a 21-17 lead at the half. The teams traded scores in the 3rd quarter and Carthage led 34-31 going into the 4th. The game wasn’t truly put out of reach until a Mykel Gates TD run with 3:20 left in regulation that gave Carthage a 48-31 lead. Next, Carthage faces 2-0 5A program Whitehouse, who they beat 23-13 a year ago.

Carthage received 24 out of 25 first-place votes in this week’s AP Poll for Class 4A.

WR Brennan Eagles (Alief Taylor)

Last week: Game cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey

This week: Friday, September 15 at 7:00, vs. Spring Dekaney (at Houston’s Crump Stadium)

Notes: This will be the first game of the season for both schools. Their first two games were cancelled due to effects of Hurricane Harvey, which forced both schools to remain closed until this past Monday. This will also be the season’s second matchup featuring Longhorn commits on opposite sidelines, with Eagles suiting up for Taylor and Malcolm Epps for Dekaney.

WR Rondale Moore (Trinity - Louisville, Kentucky)

Last week: Had a 23-yard TD run in a 22-0 win over Louisville Male

This week: Friday, September 15 at 7:30, vs. Hialeah (Florida) Champagnat Catholic

Notes: Defense largely ruled the day in last week’s matchup of state-ranked cross-town rivals Trinity and Male. According to a local report, Trinity held Male to just one yard of total offense in the first half while taking a 17-0 lead going into the 3rd quarter. Rondale Moore’s TD run was the first score of the game.

Trinity is ranked 19th in USA Today’s Super 25 rankings, and in their next game will host Florida’s 2nd-ranked 2A team Champagnat Catholic. Earlier in the week it appeared that the game might be cancelled due to the effects of Hurricane Irma. Champagnat Catholic is in Hialeah, Florida, in the northeast corner of Miami-Dade County, and its coach was quoted in a Tuesday morning news story saying his team hadn’t been together for a practice since Tuesday of last week. But Champagnat will be making the trip to Louisville after all.

Moore has been committed to Texas since June 25, but there are some indications that his days as a UT commit may be numbered. He visited Ohio State for the Buckeyes’ loss to Oklahoma last Saturday, and since Saturday afternoon nine recruiting analysts have made 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions that Moore will sign with Purdue.

WR Al’Vonte Woodard (Houston Lamar)

Last week: Game cancelled due to effects of Hurricane Harvey

This week: Thursday, September 14 at 7:00, vs. Klein Collins (at Delmar Stadium)

Notes: This will be Lamar’s first game of the season, after their first two contests against Spring Westfield and Fort Bend Hightower were both cancelled due to the flooding and after-effects of Hurricane Harvey, which forced Lamar and many other area schools to be closed for extended periods.

TE Malcolm Epps (Spring Dekaney)

Last week: Game cancelled due to the effects of Hurricane Harvey. Dekaney instead scrimmaged Humble Atascocita.

This week: Friday, September 15 at 7:00, at Alief Taylor (at Houston’s Crump Stadium)

Notes: See the notes on Brennan Eagles.

TE Dominick Wood-Anderson (Arizona Western College - Yuma, Arizona)

Last week: Caught 2 passes for 46 yards in a 34-17 win over Pima Community College

This week: Bye

Notes: Arizona Western has an off week before playing against next week against Eastern Arizona, a team they defeated 21-14 just two weeks ago.

OL Rafiti Ghirmai (Frisco Wakeland)

Last week: Team defeated Lovejoy 38-14

This week: Friday, September 15 at 7:30, at Richardson Pearce

Notes: Wakeland never trailed in its game last Thursday with Lovejoy, as the Wolverines scored the game’s first 14 points and took a 28-7 lead at the half. For the game Wakeland compiled 450 yards of offense and 21 first downs. Wakeland’s next game is a non-district contest against 6A program Richardson Pearce, who they defeated 54-28 when the teams played a year ago.

OL Reese Moore (Seminole)

Last week: Team defeated Idalou 36-10

This week: Friday, September 15 at 7:30, vs. Snyder

Notes: Moore, who lines up at tight end for Seminole, did not record a catch in last week’s win, but nobody else on his team did either. Seminole attempted just three passes for the game, which resulted in no completions and one interception. In fact, the game’s two starting QBs combined to complete just two passes to their own receivers and four to their opponents via interceptions! Seminole gained 295 yards on the ground and forced four Idalou turnovers, one of which resulted in a 44-yard fumble returned for a touchdown.

Seminole’s next opponent, Snyder, was on their schedule early last season, but the game was called off due to bad weather.

DT Keondre Coburn (Spring Westfield)

Last week: Game cancelled due to the effects of Hurricane Harvey

This week: Friday, September 15 at 7:00, vs. Galena Park North Shore

Notes: Friday night’s Westfield-North Shore game will be the first one for both schools this season, as both were closed to students for an extended period following Hurricane Harvey. Despite not playing a snap yet in the 2017 season, North Shore is the 8th-ranked Class 6A team in this week’s AP poll. They are one of three state-ranked teams in 6A who have yet to play their first game, and one of seven ranked teams across all classifications to have had both of their first two games cancelled.

LB Ayodele Adeoye (IMG Academy - Bradenton, Florida)

Last week: Game cancelled due to the impending landfall of Hurricane Irma

This week: Game cancelled due to Hurricane Irma

Notes: IMG has had its past two games cancelled due to Hurricane Irma. Last week the Ascenders were scheduled to host St. Francis Academy of Baltimore, but the two schools decided to cancel the game due to concerns about weather conditions and the possibility that St. Francis’s team might have trouble flying back home after the game. IMG’s scheduled home date against Washington, DC school St. John’s this week has also been canceled.

LB Byron Hobbs (Fort Worth Eastern Hills)

Last week: Team lost to Fort Worth Southwest 19-12

This week: Thursday, September 14 at 7:00, vs. Dallas Hillcrest

Notes: Eastern Hills and Hillcrest both sport 1-1 records and earned their one win against the same sad-sack opponent, Dallas Pinkston. Eastern Hills beat Pinkston 54-3 in Week One, Hillcrest beat them 47-0 last week.

In last week’s loss to Southwest, Hobbs had, according to his mother, 6 tackles and 2 sacks at one point in the 2nd quarter. He had to leave the game early and made a trip to the ER for what was determined to be a “possible muscle strain”, but was released in the early morning hours on Friday following last Thursday’s game.

I don’t know his status for this week’s game, but if he plays it’s a good bet he’ll be at less than 100%. Hope he gets back to full health soon.

DB Jalen Green (Houston Heights)

Last week: Game canceled due to the effects of Hurricane Harvey

This week: Friday, September 15 at 7:00, vs. League City Clear Creek

Notes: Friday’s Clear Creek-Heights game is another of many Houston-area Week Three games featuring teams that will be playing their first game. Heights lost 17-16 when the teams played a year ago.

DB B.J. Foster (Angleton)

Last week: Rushed for 157 yards and 3 TDs, and caught a 57-yard TD in a 31-0 win over El Campo

This week: Saturday, September 16 at 6:00, vs. Houston Chavez

Notes: Foster had a big statistical contribution in his first game action since a knee injury that cost him the second half of his junior season. His next game back will come against a Chavez team that Angleton beat 56-22 a year ago.

DB DeMarvion Overshown (Arp)

Last week: Scored TDs on a run, reception, and fumble return in a 22-21 loss to Hughes Springs.

This week: Friday, September 15 at 7:30, vs. Alto

Notes: According to a local report, Overshown scored all three of Arp’s TDs in a variety of ways. He ran to the end zone for a 60-yard score, caught a 20-yard TD pass and also returned a fumble 50 yards for a TD. The fumble return came a minute into the 3rd quarter and made the score 8-7 in favor of Hughes Springs. Overshown also scored his two offensive TDs in the 3rd quarter and staked Arp to a 21-14 lead entering the final frame. But Hughes Springs re-took the lead for good with a short TD run and two-point conversion 4:22 left in the game.

After going 12-3 in 2016 and coming up two points short of playing for the 3A Division II state championship, Arp has started its 2017 season 0-2. The Tigers will look for their first win Friday night against Alto, a 2A Division I team who they beat 27-7 last season.

DB Caden Sterns (Cibolo Steele)

Last week: Made 3 catches for 29 yards and made 7 tackles in a 34-31 loss to Lake Travis

This week: Friday, September 15 at 7:30, vs. San Antonio O’Connor

Notes: See Cameron Dicker’s notes below.

K Cameron Dicker (Lake Travis)

Last week: Made four PATs and two field goals (including the game-winner) in a 34-31 win over Cibolo Steele

This week: Friday, September 15 at 7:30, vs. Dallas Jesuit

Notes: For the second time in as many seasons, powerhouse programs Lake Travis and Cibolo Steele met early in the season and the game turned on a field goal by Cameron Dicker in the closing seconds of regulation. In 2016, Dicker made a 46-yard field goal with two seconds left on the clock to tie the game and sent it to overtime, where he later made a 29-yard field goal in the second overtime period to give Lake Travis its winning points.

Last week, Dicker was responsible for the game’s first and last points. He opened the scoring about three minutes into the game with a 22-yard field goal. Lake Travis went on to take a 17-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter, but Steele came back and tied the game at 17 with just over three minutes left in the 3rd quarter. The teams traded scores in the 3rd and 4th quarters, with Steele’s last touchdown tying the game at 31 apiece with 7:32 left in regulation. Dicker would eventually nail a 36-yard field goal with two seconds left to give Lake Travis the win.

Here’s a tweet with video of his game-winning boot.

2019 Texas Longhorn football commit

QB Roschon Johnson (Port Neches-Groves)

Last week: Completed 15 of 20 passes for 342 yards and 5 TDs, and rushed 16 times for 74 yards and one TD in a 55-31 win over Houston Sterling

This week: Bye

Notes: Johnson had a very successful debut to his junior season last week, accounting for four first half TDs (3 passing, 1 rushing) in leading Port Neches-Groves to a 41-17 halftime lead. A 55-yard TD pass from Johnson to senior receiver/kicker Preston Riggs (who caught three TD passes from Johnson on the night) opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game, and a 30-yard TD pass from Johnson to Cameron Stansbury as time expired in the 2nd quarter extended PN-G’s lead from 34-17 to 41-17 at the half. After having their first game cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey, they opened their season a week late, only to have a bye week afterwards.