Texas Longhorn commits: Week 5 preview

In Week Four’s high school football action, Texas Longhorns running back commit Keaontay Ingram shined in a battle of two highly-ranked teams, one of the program’s quarterback commits cracked the century mark in rushing yards, a tight end commit made multiple tackles for loss on defense, a defensive back commit scored the game’s last 14 points in his team’s comeback win, and Cameron Dicker made a field goal from beyond 50 yards, something no Longhorn kicker has done since the last game of the 2015 season.

Four commits have byes this week, and another will play in a rare Monday night game. The teams of several commits have finished the non-district portion of their schedule and will be facing district opponents from here on out in games that will determine whether they reach the postseason or not and where they’re ultimately seeded in the playoffs. Read on for recaps of last week’s games and notes on this week’s games.

2018 Texas Longhorn football commits

QB Cameron Rising (Newbury Park, California)

Last week: Completed 11 of 24 passes for 172 yards and 1 interception, and rushed 12 times for 106 yards and 3 TDs in a 52-42 win over Venice.

This week: Saturday, September 30 at 7:30, vs. Palos Verdes

Notes: Rising didn’t have his best night passing the ball and his Newbury Park team didn’t record a touchdown through the air last week against Venice, but they had a lot of success running the ball, piling up a school record 437 yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground, with Rising accounting for one-fourth of those yards and three of the TDs. Another performance of note came from Newbury Park freshman Christian Middleton, who had appeared in previous varsity games at defensive back, but got his first carries of the season at running back against Venice and ended the game with 11 carries for 166 yards and a TD. I reckon he’ll be a name to watch over the next three years.

Newbury Park jumped out to a 31-6 lead at halftime and was ahead 45-21 going into the final quarter. Newbury Park’s last score of the night came early in the 4th and pushed their lead to 52-21, and the game’s outcome was not in doubt despite Venice scoring three times in the game’s final ten minutes to make the final margin just ten points.

The win ended Newbury Park’s two-game losing streak and improved their record to 3-2. This Saturday they will play a 2-2 Palos Verdes team that they did not face in 2016.

QB Casey Thompson (Newcastle, Oklahoma)

Last week: Team lost to Weatherford 28-21.

This week: Friday, September 29 at 7:00, vs. Chickasha

Notes: I have not found any stats listed or news article with a detailed description of last week’s Newastle-Weatherford game. Newcastle lost its ninth straight game, dating back to the 2016 season. The Racers continue to show improvement and have played their opponents just a bit closer this season with new QB Casey Thompson than they did a year ago, but that improvement has yet to result in a win. Last week they lost by a touchdown to a Weatherford team that is now 4-0 in 2017 had beaten them 41-14 a season ago.

They should have a great shot this week at notching their first W of 2017 when they face a 0-4 Chickasha team that is on an even longer losing streak. The Fighting Chicks (yes, their actual nickname) have lost 12 straight going back to the 2016 season, and when the two teams played last season Newcastle came away with a 31-13 win, which was the last time they walked off the field as victors.

RB Keaontay Ingram (Carthage)

Last week: Had 27 carries for 228 yards and 2 TDs, and caught 2 passes for 62 yards and a TD in a 48-28 win over Gilmer.

This week: Bye

Notes: Last Saturday’s Carthage-Gilmer game was a battle of Class 4A’s top two ranked teams, a pair of east Texas powerhouses that have combined to take home eight state championships in the past 13 football seasons. It ended up being a back-and-forth affair that lived up to the hype.

The teams scored a TD apiece in the 1st quarter, just over 90 seconds apart. Ingram took a reception 49 yards to the end zone in the first minute of the 2nd quarter to give Carthage a 13-7 lead, but it was all Gilmer for the rest of the half, as they scored three times to take a 28-13 lead into halftime.

That remained the score for the first eleven minutes of the second half, then Carthage began a furious comeback spurred by three Gilmer turnovers. A one-yard TD run by Ingram with 16 seconds left in the 3rd quarter cut the deficit to 28-21. Carthage recovered the ensuing onside kick and tied the score with a TD run just 16 seconds into the 4th quarter.

Carthage’s defense ended Gilmer’s next two drives with a pick-six and a fumble return for a TD, which gave them a 41-28 lead with 9:20 left in regulation. Ingram scored the game’s final points on a 19-yard TD run just over six minutes later. In the span of about 2:56 on the game clock, a 28-13 Gilmer lead became a 41-28 Carthage lead.

With the win Carthage moves to 4-0 and remains decidedly the top-ranked team in Class 4A, having received 22 of 25 first-place votes in this week’s AP Poll. Ingram has now accounted for 728 yards from scrimmage and 8 total TDs in just three and a half games’ worth of playing time. Carthage has a bye this week before beginning district play the following two weeks against Henderson and Kilgore, the only two teams to beat them last season.

WR Brennan Eagles (Alief Taylor)

Last week: Caught 5 passes for 58 yards in a 28-13 win over Katy Seven Lakes.

This week: Friday, September 29 at 7:00, vs. Clute Brazoswood

Notes: Taylor led Seven Lakes 15-13 going into the 4th quarter but got a 55-yard TD run from their punter early in the final frame added another TD with just over four minutes left in regulation to pad their lead. Eagles didn’t have eye-catching receiving numbers but the Houston Chronicle’s recap of the game credited his presence and Seven Lakes’ defensive focus on him with freeing up junior receiver Shea Whiting Jr. for a breakout performance. Whiting finished the game with 9 catches for 188 yards and two TDs, both of which were scored in the first three minutes of the 2nd quarter. I’m guessing that he is the son of the Shea Whiting who was a high school teammate of 16-year NBA veteran Rashard Lewis at Alief Elsik, and who went on to play four years on the basketball team at Louisiana-Lafayette.

This week Taylor begins district play against 2-0 Brazoswood. Last year, Brazoswood began its season 3-0 before dropping six of its final seven games, including a 35-0 loss to Taylor.

WR Rondale Moore (Trinity - Louisville, Kentucky)

Last week: Caught a TD pass in a 40-6 win over Louisville Jeffersontown.

This week: Friday, September 29 at 8:00, vs. Louisville St. Xavier (at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium)

Notes: I have not seen stats reported for Trinity’s win last week over Jeffersontown, other than a recap stating that Moore was one of three receivers to connect with QB Nick Bohn for a TD, and that Bohn completed 6 of 8 passes for the game. Trinity led 40-0 less than four full minutes into the 2nd quarter, and the teams played with a running clock afterward.

Trinity moved up one spot to #20 in this week’s USA Today Super 25 national football rankings, and they garnered all 14 first place votes in this week’s Kentucky Associated Press poll for Class 6A. Those rankings will be put to the test in a marquee matchup this Friday night against 2nd-ranked Louisville St. Xavier at the University of Louisville’s stadium. Trinity beat St. Xavier twice in 2016, first by a 35-13 score in the middle of the regular season, and against 24-14 in the state semifinal round of the playoffs.

WR Al’Vonte Woodard (Houston Lamar)

Last week: Caught one pass for 20 yards in a 35-14 win over Alief Elsik

This week: Bye

Notes: Lamar was one of many Houston area teams that had its first two games cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey. Several of those schools have been reaching out to others that had their first two games washed out and scheduling games during their bye weeks. This is Lamar’s bye week, but I’ve seen no indication anywhere that the Texans have scheduled an extra game in its place, so it appears they will play an eight-game regular season. They will begin district play next week.

TE Malcolm Epps (Spring Dekaney)

Last week: Made 2 catches for 52 yards, lost a fumble, and was credited with 3 tackles (2 for loss) and 2 sacks in a 13-7 win over Klein Oak.

This week: Thursday, September 28 at 7:00, vs. Aldine Nimitz

Notes: It was another week with multiple tackles made in the backfield by the longtime four-star tight end recruit Malcolm Epps, who has suddenly and unexpectedly shown himself to be a force off the edge after not playing on defense previously in his varsity football career. Epps had two sacks last week in a win over Klein Oak, and has been credited with five sacks but just four receptions through Dekaney’s first two games.

The Wildcats open district play tonight against a 1-1 Nimitz Cougars squad that has so far lost 51-48 to Katy Mayde Creek, a team that went 1-9 in 2016, and won 18-0 last week over Katy Morton Ranch, which was a playoff team a year ago.

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

Last week: Caught 4 passes for 41 yards in a 55-22 win over Eastern Arizona College.

This week: Bye

Notes: Wood-Anderson caught a season-high four passes in last week’s lopsided win over Eastern Arizona, the longest one covering 17 yards. I said earlier in the season not to expect big numbers from him this season, as Arizona Western was a very run-heavy team in 2016 with nearly 300 more rushes than pass attempts and a near 70:30 run-pass ratio. They’ve been more balanced so far in 2017 but definitely won’t be mistaken for an Air Raid team, as they’ve run the ball on 63% of their plays. Wood-Anderson’s 7 receptions in three games is actually second-most on the team.

OL Rafiti Ghirmai (Frisco Wakeland)

Last week: Team defeated Dallas Woodrow Wilson 49-23.

This week: Bye

Notes: Last week Wakeland got two passing TDs in each of the first three quarters from junior QB Dylan Cadwallader and took advantage of five Woodrow Wilson turnovers to roll to a 49-23 lead. Wakeland took a 7-0 lead less than five minutes into the game and never trailed. Cadwallader’s fourth TD pass came with 50 seconds left in the first half and put Wakeland ahead 28-9, and their lead was never less than 19 points for the rest of the game. Wakeland gained 485 offensive yards and converted 26 first downs in the contest.

With the win, the Wolverines moved to 4-0 for the first time since 2009. Wakeland, Frisco ISD’s third-oldest high school, played its first varsity football season in 2006, and after finishing 3-7 in that inaugural season, they have finished .500 or better in every year since, winning seven or more games in seven of their previous eight seasons. They get a bye this week before facing a Frisco Reedy team that is a surprising 4-0 in just its second varsity season.

OL Reese Moore (Seminole)

Last week: Team defeated Amarillo River Road 56-0.

This week: Friday, September 29 at 7:30, at Monahans

Notes: A reader pointed out in the comments of last week’s post that Reese Moore had been injured in Seminole’s season-opener and missed the Indians next two games. I have not heard if he played last week but his presence would not have been needed as 4A Seminole ran roughshod over 3A River Road for a 56-point shutout win. Seminole did not punt or commit a turnover, while its defense forced four turnovers (one of them a pick-six) and held River Road to just 88 total yards. The score was 43-0 at halftime, and Seminole spread the wealth with its eight TDs scored by as many players.

Seminole is 3-1 and begins its district schedule this week against a 3-1 Monahans team that owns a win over 5A program Canyon and whose only loss was a Week One 50-13 defeat at the hands of Wall, currently the 4th-ranked team in Class 3A. Seminole and Monahans faced off twice in 2016; Monahans won their regular season matchup 27-19, but Seminole got revenge by knocking the Loboes out in the third round of the playoffs with a 28-21 win.

DT Keondre Coburn (Spring Westfield)

Last week: Team defeated League City Clear Springs 28-23.

This week: Friday, September 29 at 7:00, at Spring

Notes: Westfield beat a solid foe for the second time in as many weeks. After starting their season two weeks ago with a win over state-ranked Galena Park North Shore, the Mustangs came away with a win last week over Clear Springs, the defending champions of District 24-6A. Westfield has not posted any defensive stats to its Maxpreps page, and the only account of the Westfield-Clear Springs game mentioned that Coburn made “a vital sack” but did not shed further light on his performance or stats for the night.

Westfield remained the #10 team in Class 6A in this week’s AP poll, and they will begin their district schedule on Friday against Spring, a team that also sports a 2-0 record and beat its first two opponents by a combined score of 47-13. Westfield beat Spring 46-13 when the teams played last season.

LB Ayodele Adeoye (IMG Academy - Bradenton, Florida)

Last week: Made one tackle in a 24-15 win over Miami Central.

This week: Saturday, September 30 at 7:00, vs. Miami Northwestern

https://chorus.voxmedia.com/compose/9d41bff9-fd4b-4bbb-8abd-8495314bb8c4Notes: Last week’s IMG-Miami Central game was a battle between two nationally-ranked teams; IMG came into the game ranked #2 on the USA Today’s Super 25 rankings, and Central was #5. Both teams had had games cancelled due to Hurricane Irma, and IMG had not played a game in three weeks. Central led 15-10 with just under six minutes left in regulation, but the game turned on a 65-yard TD run by IMG’s junior running back Trey Sanders, an Alabama commit. Adeoye was only credited with one tackle, and he has made just six through three games this season. I do not know if that is due to IMG having such a stacked roster, Adeoye still getting used to playing with a new team, or an injury that’s holding him back.

IMG faces another talent-rich opponent this week in Miami Northwestern, currently Florida’s top-ranked team in Class 6A. (Florida’s largest schools are in class 8A, which has all schools with 2,332 or more students. Schools in 6A have between 1,593 and 1,938 students, so the enrollment of a school at that level is equivalent to that of a mid- to large-sized 5A school in Texas.

LB Byron Hobbs (Fort Worth Eastern Hills)

Last week: Bye

This week: Friday, September 29 at 7:30, at Richland

Notes: Hobbs was injured about halfway through Eastern Hills’s Week Two game with what was later determined to be a dislocated clavicle. He sat out the team’s next game and had a bye last week, so he’s had some time for rest and rehab. If he returns to the field on Friday he’ll have legitimate competition for “best linebacker on the field” status, as Richland’s defense boasts senior three-star LB DaShaun White, a Texas A&M commit.

Last season Richland finished in a three-way tie for first place in district 8-5A. The Rebels defeated Eastern Hills 57-13 a year ago.

DB B.J. Foster (Angleton)

Last week: Had 7 carries for 109 yards and one TD, and caught 3 passes for 152 yards and 2 TDs in a 63-7 win over Houston Westside.

This week: Saturday, September 30 at 7:00, at Rosenberg Terry

Notes: When Houston Westside scored on a one-yard TD run just over two minutes into last week’s game, it was not only the first time Angleton had trailed this season, it was the first time they’d been scored against. Westside’s lead was short-lived, as B.J. Foster housed a 77-yard reception a minute and a half later to tie the score, and Angleton finished the game scoring 63 unanswered points. Foster scored his second TD of the night on a 65-yard reception with 1:37 left in the 2nd quarter, and Angleton went into halftime with a 42-7 lead. Foster scored TD #3 two minutes into the 3rd quarter on a 19-yard run.

Angleton moved up from 10th to 7th in this week’s AP rankings for Class 5A. Having outscored its first three opponents by a combined score of 160-7, Angleton will begin its district schedule on Saturday night against a 1-1 Rosenberg Terry team. Angleton beat Terry 56-30 when the teams played last season.

DB Jalen Green (Houston Heights)

Last week: Rushed 9 times for 50 yards and one TD and scored on a two-point conversion run, and caught 2 passes for 59 yards and 1 TD in a 27-21 win over Katy Tompkins

This week: Saturday, September 30 at 9:00 am, at Houston Sam Houston

Notes: The time and date for Heights’s game this week has been listed as both tonight and Saturday morning in various places. The school’s athletic calendar now says their game will be Saturday morning, and that’s backed up by a tweet by head coach Stephen Dixon.

In last week’s game against Katy Tompkins, Heights trailed 21-7 following a Tompkins TD with 3:14 left in the 3rd quarter. Heights answered a minute later with a long TD run, and a Jalen Green run on the two-point conversion was successful to cut the deficit to 21-15. Green scored on a 28-yard reception in the first minute of the 4th quarter, and when the PAT was missed the score was tied at 21. Green scored the winning points on a 14-yard TD run with 3:08 left in regulation.

DB DeMarvion Overshown (Arp)

Last week: Bye

This week: Friday, September 28 at 7:30, at Waskom

Notes: Arp plays the first of its District 9-3A Division II opponents on Friday, Waskom. The two teams have had very successful seasons recently, but their combined record coming into Friday’s game is 2-5.

Waskom went 4-7 last season, but in the few years before that they were one of the state’s most remarkable rags-to-riches stories. Waskom had a two-decade playoff drought that lasted from 1993 to 2012. Then, after twenty straight years of missing the postseason, the Waskom Wildcats advanced five rounds deep in the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, winning Class 3A Division II state championships in 2014 and 2015. Waskom defeated Arp by ten points in the 2014 regular season, and beat them in both district play and in the third round of the playoffs in 2015. Arp won the teams’ 2016 contest, 27-7, on its way to a 12-3 final record and an eventual playoff run that ended one round short of the state championship game.

Waskom is 1-3 this season and is coming off a 56-38 loss to private school Tyler T.K. Gorman last week.

DB Caden Sterns (Cibolo Steele)

Last week: Had 8 tackles and one pass defended in a 43-20 loss to Smithson Valley.

This week: Friday, September 29 at 7:30, at Converse Judson

Notes: Steele dropped to 1-2 for the first time in its history after a Week Three loss to San Antonio O’Connor, then fell further into the loss column with last week’s defeat at the hands of Smithson Valley. Steele held first half leads of 7-0 and 14-6 following two rushing TDs by Rice commit Brendan Brady. The latter score came with 7:14 left in the 2nd quarter. Smithson Valley managed to score two TDs in the final 16 seconds of the first half to go ahead 20-14 at halftime, and they went on to score the first 16 points of the second half. By the time Steele scored against there was just 6:53 left in regulation, and that merely cut their deficit to 36-20.

It was Smithson Valley’s first-ever win over Steele in four tries, and it snapped Steele’s 41-game winning streak in district games. To start a new streak this week Steele will have to defeat Converse Judson, another area power that Steele has never lost to but who will go into Friday night’s game as the 2nd-ranked team in Class 6A and the 16th-ranked team in USA Today’s Super 25 national expert rankings.

Since going 4-6 in 2006, the program’s first varsity season, the Steele Knights have not had a season with more than three losses, and they went into the 2017 season with a remarkable streak of seven straight seasons with 12 or more wins. A loss on Friday would mean that streak could only continue if the Knights win out from next week all the way to the state championship.

K Cameron Dicker (Lake Travis)

Last week: Made five of five PAT attempts and two out of two field goal attempts in a 48-0 win over Pflugerville Hendrickson.

This week: Friday, September 29 at 7:00, vs. Buda Hays

Notes: Lake Travis is ranked 6th in this week’s AP Poll for Class 6A. Last week they spread the wealth around in their dominating win over Hendrickson, with eleven players getting at least one offensive touch. According to the game’s Maxpreps box score, Dicker made all five PAT attempts and was good on two field goal attempts, including one from 53 yards out. He also recorded touchbacks on five of his nine kickoffs.

Lake Travis is 3-1 and plays its first district game on Friday against 1-3 Buda Hays, a team they beat 50-14 last season.

2019 Texas Longhorns football commit

QB Roschon Johnson (Port Neches-Groves)

Last week: Completed 10 of 16 passes for 262 yards and 2 TDs, and rushed 8 times for 65 yards and 3 TDs in a 42-0 win over Lumberton.

This week (next week, really): Monday, October 2 at 7:00, at Livingston

Notes: Port Neches-Groves has one of their weirdest schedules I’ve seen. Last week they played a very rare Wednesday night game in their win over Lumberton. Their Week Five game at Livingston that was originally scheduled for Friday will instead be played this coming Monday night. This will give the Indians only five days to prepare for their following game on Saturday, October 7 against Baytown Lee.

Roschon Johnson had a hand in five of PN-G’s six touchdowns in last week’s shutout win over Lumberton, and their other TD came on a pick-six in the 3rd quarter with the game already out of reach. That same Lumberton team won this past Tuesday (again, with the weird scheduling, probably Hurricane Harvey-related) 49-9 over Livingston, PN-G’s next opponent. Livingston is 0-3 and has been outscored 134-30 in 2017. PN-G defeated them 41-21 in 2016.