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We’re just over half-way through the 2021 high school football season and seven of the Texas Longhorns’ commits in the 2022 class have yet to lose a game. Those athletes and their teams could all be poised for long playoff runs starting next month, but for now they still have to clinch a postseason bid.
Several are just one or two wins away from punching their postseason ticket, and some of the commits will have challenging district contests this week that will be important for eventually deciding the playoff seeding for their district.
The #22EFFECT class gained a member this week when Spearman wide receiver Brenen Thompson pledged to the Longhorns on Wednesday.
In Texas, the top-ranked teams in Class 6A, 5A Division I, and 5A Division II all have Longhorn commits in their lineup. In Louisiana, Ronald Lewis and his Warren Easton team will play the state’s top-ranked Class 4A team on Saturday, a few hours after Lewis’s future team plays against Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry.
Between Saturday’s game at the Cotton Bowl and all the other action involving UT commits that will take place this weekend, it should make for a good three days of football.
Below is this week’s schedule for each member of the class, and some brief notes on all of their teams. The start times for each game are written according to Central Time.
2022 QB Maalik Murphy — Gardena (California) Junipero Serra
Friday, October 8 at 9:00, vs. Chaminade
Note: Maalik Murphy is reportedly expected to play this week for the first time since leaving Serra’s September 10 game in the first half due to a shoulder injury. Friday night’s game will be Serra’s homecoming, and the Cavaliers have not played a game since September 17 due to a bye week combined with last week’s game against Bishop Alemany being canceled due to Serra being in Covid protocol.
2022 RB Jamarion Miller — Tyler Legacy
Friday, October 8 at 7:00, vs. Rockwall
Note: Tyler Legacy got a win in its first district game last week, routing Dallas Skyline 42-7. This week, the Raiders will face the Rockwall Yellowjackets, a team that got off to a hot 3-0 start with wins over Cedar Hill and Lake Travis before losing consecutive games to Highland Park and cross-town rival Rockwall-Heath.
Rockwall beat Tyler Legacy 45-40 when the teams played in 2020, and has won 10 straight games between the schools, with Legacy (formerly Tyler Lee) having its most recent win over Rockwall in 2004. Rockwall is the 14th-ranked team in Class 6A this week, and will be third ranked team Legacy has faced in 2021.
2022 WR Brenen Thompson — Spearman
No game this week
Note: BrenenThompson committed to the Longhorns on Wednesday night, becoming the 22nd member of UT’s 2022 recruiting class, and for now, the highest-rated member of the class, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Thompson will potentially be the first graduate of Spearman High School — which is in the far northern part of the Texas panhandle about 21 miles south of the Oklahoma border — to earn a football letter at the University of Texas.
Thompson has not played since the early weeks of the season due to injury, and his timetable to return is unknown. His Spearman team is 3-3 on the season and has a bye this week.
2022 WR Armani Winfield — Lewisville
Friday, October 8 at 7:00, vs. Flower Mound
Note: Lewisville improved to 5-0 last week with a 29-24 win over Plano East. Armani Winfield caught 3 passes for 31 yards, while Lewisville’s senior running back Damien Martinez, an Oregon State commit, had 289 yards from scrimmage and scored three touchdowns.
Lewisville is ranked 21st in Class 6A this week and on Friday will face 2-3 Flower Mound. Lewisville won last season’s matchup between the teams, 51-21.
2022 OL Cole Hutson — Frisco
Friday, October 8 at 7:00, at Princeton
Note: Frisco ran roughshod over Frisco Liberty last week, winning 43-7. The Frisco Raccoons have made a habit of piling up loads of rushing yards week to week, and against Liberty they ran for 375 yards and averaged over 10 yards per carry. Frisco is now 5-0 overall and 3-0 in district play, while this week’s opponent, Princeton, is 3-3 overall and 1-3 in district.
2022 OL Connor Robertson — Austin Westlake
Friday, October 8 at 7:30, at Austin Bowie
Note: Westlake rolled to an easy 56-0 win over district foe San Marcos last week. The Chaparrals led 49-0 at halftime. The team is 5-0 and ranked at the top of Class 6A.
On Friday they will play unbeaten Austin Bowie, a team they have beaten six straight times, with the last four games being won by a combined score of 192-14.
2022 DL Aaron Bryant — Southaven (Mississippi)
Friday, October 8 at 7:00, at Batesville (Mississippi) South Panola
Note: Southaven won its third straight game last week, beating Hernando 16-9. The Chargers are 2-0 in district play and will host 4-1 South Panola on Friday. South Panola beat Hernando 25-9 two weeks ago.
2022 DL Justice Finkley — Trussville (Alabama) Hewitt-Trussville
Friday, October 8 at 7:00, vs. Vestavia Hills
Note: Hewitt-Trussville fell 34-10 last week against Hoover, Alabama’s second-ranked team in Class 7A. The Huskies are 2-2 in league play and 5-2 overall. Friday’s opponent, Vestavia Hills, is 1-5 overall but may be better than their record indicates. Hewitt-Trussville and Vestavia Hills have won and lost by similar margins against mutual opponents this season.
2022 DL Kristopher Ross — Galena Park North Shore
Thursday, October 7 at 7:00, at Humble Kingwood
Note: North Shore beat Humble 68-6 last week to improve to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in district play. Another lopsided win is likely in the offing tonight, as the Mustangs will play winless Humble Kingwood. North Shore beat Kingwood 63-6 when the teams played last year.
2022 DL Zac Swanson — Phoenix (Arizona) Brophy Prep
Friday, October 8 at 9:00, at Anthem (Arizona) Boulder Creek
Note: Brophy Prep was off last week, and the 2-2 Broncos will travel to face 1-3 Boulder Creek on Friday. Boulder Creek beat Brophy Prep 28-27 when the teams played a year ago.
2022 DE J’Mond Tapp — Donaldsonville (Louisiana) Ascension Catholic
Friday, October 8 at 7:00, at White Castle (Louisiana)
Note: J’Mond Tapp’s Ascension Catholic team will play just its fourth official game of the 2021 season on Friday. The Bulldogs have had two games canceled due to hurricane damage or power outages, and last week’s schedule game against Thrive Academy was canceled due to Covid and Ascension Catholic was awarded a win by forfeit.
The Bulldogs are Louisiana’s 8th-ranked team in Class 1A this week, and their opponent on Friday is 0-5 White Castle, which has lost three games by a combined margin of 19 points, and two other games both by 40 points or more.
2022 DE/LB Derrick Brown — Texarkana Texas
Friday, October 8 at 7:30, vs. Marshall
Note: The Texas Tigers beat Hallsville 37-24 last week to stay unbeaten at 4-0, and improved to 2-0 in district play. They will look to stay unbeaten when they host Marshall on Friday night, a team they beat 28-0 in 2020.
2022 LB Eoghan Kerry — Santa Ana (California) Mater Dei
Friday, October 8 at 9:00, at Orange (California) Lutheran
Note: Mater Dei beat St. John Bosco 42-21 last week in a battle of nationally-ranked squads. The Monarchs remain the top-rated team in this week’s USA Today Super 25 rankings. Eoghan Kerry has not been credited with any defensive stats in Mater Dei’s two most recent games. I have not seen any report indicating that he is injured.
2022 DB Bryan Allen — Aledo
Friday, October 8 at 7:00, at Joshua
Note: Aledo is 5-0 and coming off of its bye week. The state’s top-ranked team in Class 5A Division II will improve to 3-0 in district play with a win Friday over Joshua. The Joshua Owls are 3-2 this season, which already makes 2021 a fairly good year by Joshua’s standards. Since 1986, the Owls have finished .500 or better just once, and finished with two wins or fewer 21 times. Aledo has won its last four matchups with Joshua by a combined score of 238-20.
2022 DB Austin Jordan — Denton Ryan
Thursday, October 7 at 7:00, vs. The Colony
Note: Denton Ryan improved to 4-0 in district play with a 37-7 win over Frisco Centennial last week. Austin Jordan caught 3 passes for 19 yards and made one tackle in the win. The Ryan Raiders are the top-ranked team in Class 5A Division I and should clinch a playoff spot with a win tonight over The Colony, a team they beat 49-8 last season.
2022 DB Ronald Lewis — New Orleans (Louisiana) Warren Easton
Saturday, October 9 at 7:30, vs. New Orleans (Louisiana) Edna Karr
Note: Warren Easton improved to 2-1 with a 55-6 thrashing of King Charter last week. The Easton Eagles are ranked 4th in Class 4A, and on Saturday they will battle Class 4A’s top-ranked team, Edna Karr, a frequent opponent in recent years. Easton and Karr have played each other twice in each of the past four seasons, meeting in both the regular season and the playoffs in those years. Karr won their two 2020 matchups by scores of 45-20 and 35-13, and has won the last nine games between the two schools. Karr won four straight state championships in Class 4A from 2016 to 2019.
Easton’s last win in the series — its only win over Karr in the past 14 years — was in 2015, when the Eagles had a resounding 40-14 regular season victory. That Easton team went on to reach the 4A state championship, where it lost to Monroe Neville by a 44-36 score.
Warren Easton’s only loss this season came two weeks ago at the hands of Class 5A’s top-ranked team Catholic-B.R., which this week is ranked 24th in USA Today’s Super 25 national rankings. The Eagles will follow this game up with another against a ranked opponent next week.
2022 ATH Anthony Jones — Henderson (Nevada) Liberty
Friday, October 8 at 8:00, at Henderson (Nevada) Green Valley
Note: Liberty beat Las Vegas Centennial 55-0 last week. Anthony Jones caught one pass for a 17-yard touchdown, and made two tackles, with one being for loss. Liberty was beaten 49-7 on September 10 by the country’s top-ranked team, Mater Dei, but in its other six games it has outscored opponents 256-34.
Liberty’s next opponent is 5-1 Green Valley, a team Liberty has beaten 12 straight times.
2022 K Will Stone — Austin Regents School
No game this week
Note: Regents was scheduled to play Austin Hyde Park Baptist tonight, but that game canceled on Wednesday “due to injuries and illness at Hyde Park”, according to a tweet sent out by the account for Regents Athletics. The 5-0 Regents Knights will next face Boerne Geneva next week.
2022 LS Lance St. Louis — Gilbert (Arizona) Williams Field
Friday, October 8 at 9:00, at Peoria (Arizona) Centennial
Note: Williams Field suffered its first loss of 2021 with a 21-20 defeat to Queen Creek. The Black Hawks will play Peoria Centennial tonight. Centennial was very recently one of Arizona’s top powerhouses, winning four state championships between 2014 and 2018. But the Coyotes haven’t been as dominating of late. Since the start of the 2019 season, Centennial is 17-8, and this season the Coyotes are 2-3. Centennial beat Williams Field 14-8 in the 2020 season.
Other commits not playing this week
2022 RB Jaydon Blue (Klein Cain)
Cain opted out of playing in the 2021 season. Unless there is a change with his status I will not be posting Klein Cain’s weekly schedule.
2022 DL Jaray Bledsoe (Marlin)
After previously attending Bremond High School, Bledsoe transferred in the summer of 2021 to Marlin High School, which is 17 miles away. He was subsequently ruled ineligible for the 2021 football season, and in late August the U.I.L. denied his eligibility appeal. Unless there is a change in Bledsoe’s eligibility status, I will not be posting updates on Marlin’s season.
2022 LB Trevell Johnson (Arlington Martin)
After dealing with a hip issue for several months, Johnson attempted to play in week one, but afterwards elected to have a surgery that will cause him to miss his senior season. I will not be posting weekly updates on Martin’s games unless one of Johnson’s teammates commits to Texas.