Texas Longhorn commits: Week Two preview

Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath caused many high school football games on or near the gulf coast to be cancelled last weekend. Many schools will not be welcoming back students and resuming classes until next Monday, so many games that were part of the Week Two schedule have either been cancelled or had their format changed from a regular season game to a scrimmage. I’ll try to provide the best information I can below on which Texas Longhorn football commits will and won’t be playing this week, and fans in central Texas will have a chance to see a game featuring two Texas commits.

Also in this post you can read recaps from last week’s games that actually were played, and they featured some very notable performances from future Longhorns. Wide receiver commit Rondale Jones produced some truly eye-popping numbers, all-state running back Keaontay Ingram had just a handful of carries but reached the end zone on 40% of them, linebacker Byron Hobbs scored points both on defense and on special teams, and defensive back Caden Sterns had a hand in two takeaways and scored a special teams TD.

Even with many schools in the greater Houston area still a week away from playing their first game, this weekend should have some very good games played throughout the state.

2018 Texas Longhorn football commits

QB Cameron RIsing (Newbury Park, California)

Last week: Completed 11 of 16 passes for 177 yards and one touchdown, and rushed 8 times for 64 yards and 2 TDs in a 49-21 win over Agoura

This week: Friday, September 8 at 7:00, vs. Westlake

Notes: Newbury Park’s next opponent is the Westlake High from Westlake Village in the southeast portion of Thousand Oaks, California, not the Austin version. Newbury Park is also located wholly within the Thousand Oaks city limits, and in the northern part of that same city is California Lutheran University, Tom Herman’s alma mater. In two previous starts against Westlake - a 43-40 win in 2016 and a 35-24 loss in 2015 - Rising accounted for a combined 723 total yards and 6 TDs, though he also threw three interceptions against them last season. Worth noting: that 43-40 win over Westlake a year ago came one week after that same Westlake team lost 65-7 to Aledo. Yes, that Aledo: the Lone Star State’s eventual 5A Division II state champions. In two games in 2017, Westlake is 2-0 and outscored its two opponents (neither of which it faced last year) by a combined 82-38.

QB Casey Thompson (Newcastle, Oklahoma)

Last week: completed 14 of 33 pass attempts for 205 yards, 2 TDs and 2 interceptions, and rushed for 170 yards in a 35-21 loss to Noble.

This week: Friday, September 8 at 7:30, at Tuttle (Oklahoma)

Notes: Last Friday’s game was Thompson’s first in a Newcastle uniform after playing his first three high school seasons with Southmoore. In last week’s post I not-so-boldly predicted that due to the presence of Thompson the Newcastle-Noble score would be much less lopsided that the 47-10 score Noble won by in 2016. Last weekend’s game was, in fact, 23 points closer, but Newcastle still lost. This week’s opponent, Tuttle, beat Newcastle 34-0 a year ago.

RB Keaontay Ingram (Carthage)

Last week: rushed 5 times for 137 yards and 2 TDs in a 49-7 win over Gladewater

This week: Friday, September 8 at 7:30, vs. Texarkana Liberty-Eylau

Notes: Ingram, the #7 running back on 247Sports’ current composite rankings, made the most of his limited touches and abbreviated playing time in last Friday’s blowout win over Gladewater. He ran for a 65-yard TD on his first carry and added another score later. Carthage led 42-0 at halftime, and Ingram sat out the second half.

Carthage, the top-ranked team in Class 4A (the Bulldogs received 21 of the 24 first-place votes in this week’s AP poll) will next take on a Liberty-Eylau team that lost 58-57 in its season-opener to Class 4A’s 2nd-ranked team, Gilmer. Carthage won last year’s match-up with Liberty-Eylau 34-20. #1 Carthage and #2 Gilmer will play on September 23 at Gilmer.

WR Brennan Eagles (Alief Taylor)

Last week: game cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey

This week: No game, Taylor will scrimmage Galena Park North Shore

Notes: Alief ISD will have registration and enrollment this week for families affected by Hurricane Harvey, but its campuses, including Taylor High School, will not resume classes until September 11, and the same goes for Taylor’s originally scheduled Week Two opponent: Cypress Falls. Tuesday afternoon tweets indicated that Taylor will scrimmage Galena Park North Shore this week instead.

WR Rondale Moore (Trinity - Louisville, Kentucky)

Last week: Caught 22 passes (not a misprint) for 304 yards (also not a misprint) and 3 TDs in a 38-30 win over Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller

This week: Friday, September 8 at 7:30, at Louisville Male

Notes: Last Saturday against Ohio power Archbishop Moeller, Moore produced numbers seen far more often by virtual FBS receivers in a NCAA Football 2008 video game playing Bethune-Cookman on the easiest setting than by real life receivers at any level. Moore broke school records for receptions and receiving yardage in a single game, and his 22 receptions were the second-most recorded in a game in Kentucky history.

Moore had 10 of his receptions and 111 yards in the first half, but Trinity started off slowly and trailed Archbishop Moeller 17-0 at one point in the second quarter, and they faced a 24-10 deficit at the half. Moore scored on a 40-yard reception with 5:53 left in the 3rd quarter to cut the deficit to 24-17, then helped tie the score at 24 following a 2-yard TD reception less than four minutes later. Trinity took its first lead at 31-24 after a TD with mere seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter, then with 9:39 left in regulation, Moore (on his 21st catch of the game) reached the end zone from 44 yards out for Trinity’s final score and a 38-24 lead that held up. Moeller got to within 38-30 and had the ball late with a chance to tie the score, but a tipped pass was intercepted by Trinity, who then ran out the clock to end the game.

Trinity will next face in-city rival Male, who Trinity beat in a closely-fought 37-34 game last season.

WR Al’Vonte Woodard (Houston Lamar)

Last week: Game cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey

This week: No game

Notes: Lamar was scheduled to play Fort Bend Hightower tonight at 7:00, but Lamar’s website indicates students will not return to campus until September 11, and this week’s game has reportedly been cancelled. That game was scheduled to be played at Ken Hall Stadium in Missouri City, a facility whose address is, ironically enough, 3333 Hurricane Lane.

TE Malcolm Epps (Spring Dekaney)

Last week: Game cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey

This week: No game, will scrimmage Humble Atascocita on Friday, September 8

Notes: Dekaney was scheduled to host Humble Atascocita this Friday at 7:00. Atascocita’s first day of school post-Hurricane Harvey is today, while Dekaney students won’t return to school until September 11. Their game has been cancelled, but multiple tweets on Tuesday night reported that Dekaney and Atascocita would hold a scrimmage on Friday instead.

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

Last week: caught one pass for 8 yards in a 21-14 win over Eastern Arizona

This week: Saturday, September 9 at 7:00, at Pima Community College (Tucson, Arizona)

Notes: Arizona Western opens conference play this weekend, then has its home opener two weeks later against the same Eastern Arizona team it just beat. Arizona Western will also play this Saturday’s opponent, Pima, a second time in October, but the latter game will be a non-conference contest. Don’t expect Wood-Anderson to produce outstanding stats this season, as his team doesn’t air it out very much. In 2016, Arizona Western attempted roughly 300 more runs than passes for the season, and the team’s leading receiver hauled in only 26 catches (Wood-Anderson was third with 14 receptions). True to form, in their season opener last week, AWC attempted 27 runs and just 15 passes.

OL Rafiti Ghirmai (Frisco Wakeland)

Last week: Team defeated Frisco Liberty 51-17

This week: Thursday, September 7 at 7:00, vs. Lovejoy (at Frisco’s Toyota Stadium)

Notes: Playing right tackle, Ghirmai helped pave the way for a Wakeland offense that gained 376 yards on the ground and 560 yards of total offense in a dominating win over city rival Liberty. Wakeland led 35-3 at the half and the game’s outcome was never in doubt. Liberty was limited to just 7 first downs, while Wakeland averaged 12 yards per play for the evening. Wakeland’s week two opponent, Lovejoy (which, like Wakeland, competes in Class 5A), lost 42-21 in their season opener to Class 4A powerhouse Argyle. Lovejoy won last year’s matchup with Wakeland, 21-14.

OL Reese Moore (Seminole)

Last week: caught one pass for a 22-yard TD in a 20-17 loss to Lubbock

This week: Friday, September 8 at 7:30, at Idalou

Notes: Last Friday’s Seminole-Lubbock game was decided in overtime, as Seminole kicked a field goal on its possession, then Lubbock ended the game with a 25-yard touchdown run. Seminole held a late lead but Lubbock sent the game into overtime with a TD that tied the score with just seconds left in regulation. Lubbock is a 5A school and Seminole is in 4A Division II, and this was just the second time the schools had faced each other, the first being Seminole’s 44-9 win in Week One of the 2016 season. According to a local report, it was Lubbock High’s first season-opening victory since 2000.

Moore, playing tight end, opened the game’s scoring with a 22-yard TD reception with four minutes left in the 2nd quarter, a play in which he caught the pass at about the five-yard line and dragged two defenders into the end zone.

Seminole next will play Idalou, a Class 3A Division II team that they beat 29-0 last season, and which eventually reached the second round of the playoffs. Idalou lost 35-7 last week to 3A Division I opponent Shallowater in a game that was broadcast live on Fox Sports Southwest.

DT Keondre Coburn (Spring Westfield)

Last week: Game cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey

This week: no game

Notes: Westfield was scheduled to travel north to face Euless Trinity this Friday evening, but Westfield, along with all other schools in Spring ISD, will not resume classes until at least September 11, so that game was cancelled. Trinity has replaced Westfield on this week’s schedule with Montgomery, and those schools will play Friday night in Bedford. Montgomery’s Week One game with Houston Strake Jesuit was cancelled, and the Bears had been scheduled to host Aldine Eisenhower, but that game was cancelled because Aldine isn’t scheduled to resume classes until today.

LB Ayodele Adeoye (IMG Academy - Bradenton, Florida)

Last week: Team defeated Corona (California) Centennial 40-20

This week: no game

Notes: IMG’s game last week against Corona Centennial was a rematch of its closest game from 2016, one in which IMG eked out a 50-49 win with the winning points being scored on a TD pass with 12 seconds left in regulation. The rematch could have also been a close game that went down to the wire, if not for some unfortunate injuries on Centennial’s side. Centennial’s starting QB, four-star senior Tanner McKee, rolled an ankle during the first quarter and did not return to the game. Despite McKee’s early exit, Centennial scored first and held a 10-3 lead early in the second quarter. IMG came roaring back to take a 24-10 lead, and before the first half was over Centennial had also lost its backup QB, who took a hit to the helmet and was carried off the field on a stretcher. Despite being down to their third-string QB, Centennial played even with IMG for most of the second half and trailed only 26-20 with seven minutes left in the game. But IMG put the game away late with two TD runs by junior running back Trey Sanders, a four-star junior recruit who committed to Alabama in the spring of his freshman year.

IMG was scheduled to host Baltimore’s St. Frances Academy this Friday evening, but with Hurricane Irma headed for south Florida this weekend the two schools decided to cancel that game, while leaving open the possibility of it being rescheduled for later in the season.

LB Byron Hobbs (Fort Worth Eastern Hills)

Last week: Made 2 sacks, returned an interception for a TD and caught a pass on a two-point conversion in a 51-3 win over Dallas Pinkston

This week: Friday, September 8 at 7:30, at Fort Worth Southwest

Notes: Eastern Hills has recently been among Fort Worth ISD’s most mediocre teams (the Highlanders have finished with less than three wins just twice in the past 25 seasons, but have also reached the playoffs just once in their last 15 seasons) but they ran roughshod last Saturday over Pinkston, one of Dallas ISD’s worst teams. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Eastern Hills held Pinkston to -75 yards of offense on 40 plays. With the win they also extended Pinkston’s losing streak to 26 games. Pinkston has a record of 8-53 since the start of the 2011 season.

Eastern Hills’ next opponent should be a much bigger challenge. Fort Worth Southwest beat the Highlanders 35-10 in the teams’ meeting a year ago.

DB Jalen Green (Houston Heights)

Last week: Game cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey

This week: no game

Notes: Heights was scheduled to play Crosby on Saturday, but that game has been cancelled. Along with heavy rains from Hurricane Harvey, Crosby also suffered a disaster in the form of explosions at the local Arkema chemical plant (which is roughly four miles away from Crosby High School) last week. Classes are scheduled to resume in Crosby today.

DB B.J. Foster (Angleton)

Last week: Game cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey

This week: Friday, September 8 at 7:30, vs. El Campo

Notes: Friday’s game will be the season-opener for both teams. Angleton had its Week One game against Galveston Ball cancelled, while El Campo’s Week One contest against Gregory-Portland was instead played as a scrimmage. El Campo beat Angleton 35-13 when the teams played a year ago.

DB DeMarvion Overshown (Arp)

Last week: Team lost to Tatum 14-0

This week: Friday, September 8 at 7:30, at Hughes Springs

Notes: Overshown’s team had a tough start to its season. The Arp Tigers of Class 3A Division II committed four turnovers against the Tatum Eagles of 4A Division II, and were kept off the scoreboard for the duration of their game. Tatum scored both of its TDs within the game’s first quarter and a half. Arp’s next opponent, Hughes Springs (a 3A Division I school), started its season with a 30-23 win over Daingerfield. When the teams faced off in Week Two last year, Arp won 42-20.

DB Caden Sterns (Cibolo Steele)

Last Week: Made 4 tackles, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, and returned a kickoff 50 yards for a TD in a 36-3 win over San Antonio Madison

This week: Friday, September 8 at 7:30, at Lake Travis

Notes: Steele closed out the 1st quarter by scoring three times in the span of less than six minutes to go up 22-0 on Madison, and it kept Madison off the scoreboard until the game’s final minutes. After Madison’s only score of the game - a field goal that made the score 29-3 with 2:32 left in regulation - the Mavericks attempted an onside kick, but Sterns came away with the ball and returned it to the end zone for a TD. If Sterns makes an impact on special teams in Steele’s next game, let’s just hope it doesn’t involve him laying a big hit on the opponent’s kicker (see: next preview).

Steele kept the ball on the ground for the most part, attempting just five passes while rushing 51 times as a team, likely in part because they could get away with being one-dimensional against an overmatched team like Madison, and because senior Onyx Smith (a Bowling Green wide receiver commit) was making his first start at QB after playing out wide as a junior. Smith may have to throw the ball more, possibly with Sterns on the receiving end of some passes, when Steele plays defending 6A Division I state champions Lake Travis this week. Sterns won’t be the only Longhorn commit on the field for that game; he’ll be joined by future teammate...

K Cameron Dicker (Lake Travis)

Last week: Converted three PAT attempts and made a 37-yard field goal in a 65-45 loss to Converse Judson

This week: Friday, September 8 at 7:30, vs. Cibolo Steele

Notes: Dicker did his part last Friday in a regionally televised prime time game against Converse Judson, but unfortunately he doesn’t play defense, as Lake Travis was gashed for 500 rushing yards and 759 total yards in a season-opening 65-45 loss to the only team to defeat them during 2016’s state championship season. Dicker first PAT gave Lake Travis an early 7-0 lead in the 1st quarter, and he made a 37-yard field goal about midway through the first frame to give Lake Travis a 10-7 lead. He made two PATs in a back-and-forth 2nd quarter in which the teams traded the lead several times; the latter of his two 2nd quarter PATs gave Lake Travis a short-lived 32-28 lead with 5:45 left in the first half, but Judson scored the game’s next 21 points and led the rest of the way. Following Lake Travis’s final score, a TD run with 2:18 left in regulation that made the score 65-44 in Judson’s favor, Dicker ceded PAT duties to fellow senior kicker Beau McCannon.

Friday night’s Lake Travis-Cibolo Steele game will be a re-match of one of the best regular season games in the 2016 season, one that needed two overtime periods before it was decided, and in which the teams combined for 115 points and 1,167 yards of total offense. Cameron Dicker was a big figure in that 59-56 Lake Travis victory, as he nailed six PATs and made three field goals, the second of which was a 46-yarder that tied the game with two seconds left in regulation and sent it into overtime, and the third and final one was a 29-yarder in the 2nd overtime period that provided the winning margin for Lake Travis.

2019 Texas Longhorn football commit

QB Roschon Johnson (Port Neches-Groves)

Last week: Game cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey

This week: Friday, September 8 at 7:00, vs. Baytown Sterling

Notes: Port Neches is in an area that sustained a lot of flooding and property damage, and though students won’t return to school until next Monday, the school’s website indicates that Friday night’s scheduled game against Baytown Sterling will in fact be played. The two teams did not play each other in 2016; PNG’s Week Two opponent a year ago was actually Goose Creek Memorial.