Friday Night Recruit Recaps Week 2: Weather delays and nail-biters

Welcome back to Friday Night Recaps, your weekly collection of Michigan commit’s performances for their high school teams!

There were a lot more close games this week, with a few commits ending up on the losing end, not unlike the Wolverines. Weather also affected games across the country, with three getting suspended and played over two days.

I want to add a disclaimer that all season totals are unofficial. Tracking down high schooler’s statistics is difficult, and a lot of times I have to rely on random tweets are counting up yards from highlight videos. The stats are mostly a frame of reference until the end of the season, when totals for the year usually come out.

With that being said, let’s see how everyone played!

Cade McNamara: Damonte Ranch (NV) (2-0) vs Rocklin - W 42-35

This was a battle, but McNamara and company pulled out the win on their final drive. McNamara wasn’t as sharp as usual, throwing two interceptions, including a pick six.

Strangely, I couldn’t find his passing attempts, but based off of the MaxPreps gametracker, he threw for at least 67 yards, with another long completion of unstated distance. He also added a touchdown pass.

MLive had a great article about the adversity McNamara faced while winning the starting quarterback job as a freshman over the established starter. The article also revealed that McNamara will be enrolling early at Michigan.

Season totals: 23-37, 344 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs, 1 rush TD

Next week: vs Spanish Springs

Zach Charbonnet: Oaks Christian (CA) (3-0) vs Eastside Catholic - W 35-12

Oaks Christian participated in the Honor Bowl this past weekend, an annual showcase that raises funds to help injured or ill veterans return to civilian life.

The Lions soundly defeated Eastside Catholic, the number two team in Washington. Charbonnet was the star, winning MVP of the whole event.

For some reason, his complete stats are unknown too, but he did score a touchdown.

Season totals: 32 carries, 353 yards, 6 TDs

Next week: vs Alemany

Eric Gray: Lausanne (TN) (2-0) vs Harding Academy - W 49-7

In the first edition of Friday Night Recaps, I mentioned that Lausanne was one win away from breaking the Memphis record for longest win streak.

Well, they took claim of that record, and in dominating fashion.

Eric Gray was incredible, rushing for 321 yards and 3 touchdowns, on only 17 carries. These totals included 52 and 92 yard touchdown runs on his first two carries. Here’s the latter:

*Flame emojis*

Season totals: 34 carries, 569 yards, 6 TDs

Next week: vs Whitehaven

George Johnson III: Martin County (FL) (0-2) vs Palm Bay - L 46-7

So yeah, Martin County isn’t very good. They got crushed and it doesn’t look like quarterback/wide receiver/offensive weapon contributed much. The only Martin County score was a 1-yard run on a QB sneak, when Johnson wasn’t in at quarterback.

Martin County will look to get back on track against Central next week.

Season totals: At least 1 reception for 74 yards, 1 TD, 2 carries for 40 yards, 1TD, and 3 pass attempts for 60 yards, 1TD

Next week: @ Central

Quintel Kent: St. Edwards (OH) (0-2) vs Cass Tech - L 20-21

For the second straight week, St. Edwards suffered a heartbreaking loss to a fellow football powerhouse. This time, Michigan football factory Cass Tech took them down with a Hail Mary on the last play.

Kent tried his best to pull out the win almost single handedly, though. First, he caught a 21-yard touchdown pass for St. Edwards’ first score.

Then, he put what seemed like a nail in the coffin, returning a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown and a one-point lead with only 1:21 remaining.

While St. Edwards has had a disappointing start to the season, Kent has continued to impress everyone.

Season totals: 9 receptions, 156 yards, 4 TDs, 82 return yards, TD

Next week: Cathedral Prep

Erick All: Fairfield (OH) (1-1) vs Springfield - L 14-15

Kent was not the only one to suffer a back-breaking loss this weekend. After Fairfield scored in the 3rd quarter to go up 14-7, the game was suspended due to poor weather.

The game picked up the next day, and Springfield scored with merely seconds left. They decided to go for two and converted, dashing Fairfield’s hopes.

All was once against absent from the score sheet, as I could not find any of his statistics once again. Their offense seems to be focusing on JuTahn McClain, who exploded with a 7 touchdown game last week.

Season totals: n/a

Next week: @ Hamilton

Nolan Rumler: Archbishop Hoban (OH) (2-0) vs Cardinal Mooney - W 42-13

Anchoring the Hoban line at left tackle once again, Rumler helped crush Cardinal Mooney in an easy victory. He helped pave the way for four rushing touchdowns.

You can check out his highlights from the game below:

Season totals: n/a

Next week: @ Wayne

Trente Jones: Grayson (GA) (1-1) vs Bergen Catholic - L 22-37

Grayson hosted Bergen Catholic, coming all the way from New Jersey, in a highly anticipated matchup featuring the #5 and #12 teams in the USA Today Super 25, respectively.

Bergen and Michigan target Aeneas DiCosmo pulled the upset, never trailing as Grayson kept nipping at their heels but could never pull ahead.

Next week doesn’t get much easier for Grayson, as they face Marietta, who is ranked 87th nationally by MaxPreps.

Season totals: n/a

Next week: @ Marietta

Karsen Barnhart: Paw Paw (MI) (2-0) vs Sturgis - W 37-0

Barnhart and the Paw Paw patrol continued their strong start to the season, shutting out Sturgis with the help of six turnovers.

Barnhart scooped up one of those turnovers, a fumble, and ran it back 60 yards, leading to a short touchdown run.

On offense, Barnhart caught two passes for 42 yards, including a 32 yard touchdown pass. He is developing into an offensive weapon for their normally run-oriented offense.

Season totals: 4 receptions, 67 yards, 1 TD

Next week: @ Edwardsburg

Zach Carpenter: Archbishop Moeller (OH) (2-0) vs Trinity - W 21-14

Carpenter faced off against Louisville Trinity and former commit Stephon Herron, pulling out the win in come from behind fashion. Moeller was down 14 points, before scoring three straight touchdowns.

They went ahead not a minute too soon, as the game was suspended with 7:38 left in the third quarter due to lightning. Both schools agreed to not make the game up, leaving Moeller with the win.

The game dropped Trinity to 0-3, something very unusual for what is arguably the strongest program in Kentucky.

Season totals: n/a

Next week: Scott County

Mazi Smith: East Kentwood (MI) (1-1) vs Orchard Lake St. Mary’s - W 63-44

East Kentwood brushed off last week’s loss by crushing the consistently strong Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, almost breaking the school’s scoring record in the process.

In fact, there was enough scoring to go around that even Smith got in on the action. He scored on a 3-yard run late in the 3rd quarter to make the score 54-24 in favor of East Kentwood.

The team started out strong, getting as far ahead as 27-0 before allowing an OLSM score.

Season totals: 1 rush TD

Next week: @ Caledonia

Gabe Newburg: Northmont (OH) (2-0) vs Fairmont - W 24-21

Another victim of the bad weather in the Midwest this weekend, Northmont held off a comeback against Fairmont in a game that had to be resumed on Saturday after kicking off on Friday.

Unfortunately, Newburg had to leave only three plays into the game after suffering a severe ankle injury. Making things even worse, it was Newburg’s birthday. Hopefully the injury isn’t too serious and he can get back on the field sooner rather than later.

Season totals: A “few” tackles, .5 sacks

Next week: vs Tippecanoe

Tyrece Woods: Belleville (MI) (2-0) vs Livonia Churchill - W 48-24

Belleville got off to another slow start on Thursday night, but was able to pull ahead in the second half to secure their second win of the season.

Assisting in the comeback was Woods, who caught a 14-yard touchdown to put Belleville ahead for good in the third quarter.

The defense also got back on track in the second half, holding the Churchill offense to 40 yards in the 3rd quarter, after giving up nearly 300 in the 1st half.

Belleville has all the talent you could ask for, but needs to put the pieces together if they want to have a long run in the playoffs.

Season totals: 1 reception, 14 yards, TD

Next week: @ Dearborn

DJ Turner II: IMG Academy (FL) (2-0) vs Norland - W 49-14

Ho-hum, IMG Academy cruised to another easy win against an outmatched opponent this weekend. This was a rare in-state matchup, with Norland traveling from Miami to get pasted.

There is a stream of the entire game that you can watch if you feel so inclined. I couldn’t find any individual stats for Turner, and I’m not watching the whole video to track his performance, so his season totals remain the same.

Season totals: 1 tackle, 1 PBU

Next week: @ Liberty

Quinten Johnson: St. John’s (DC) (2-0) vs Hoover - W 42-14

Apparently the thunderstorms stretched all the way from Ohio to Alabama on Friday night, as the big match-up between St. John’s and Hoover was also suspended and had to be resumed on Saturday.

St. John’s was only leading by 7 when the game lightning caused the game to be stopped late in the first quarter on Friday. But the team picked it up, getting as far ahead as 35-7.

Johnson helped hold the Hoover quarterback to only 16 completions on 34 attempts and 201 yards. Auburn commit and four-star receiver George Pickens caused most of the damage, hauling in 7 catches for 119 yards.

Again, I couldn’t get stats for St. John’s, even though Hoover’s were amply provided.

It was a big week for Johnson, who received an invite to the Under Armour All-American Bowl on Thursday. That makes four Michigan commits invited, joining Zach Charbonnet, Nolan Rumler, and Mazi Smith.

Season totals: 1 tfl

Next week: Central

Joey Velazquez: St. Francis DeSales (OH) (2-0) vs Lancaster - W 32-22

DeSales almost started their season off with six straight shutout quarters. Late in the second quarter this week they finally relented a touchdown, but were in control the whole game.

Velazquez notched his first 100-yard rushing effort, gaining 136 yards and a touchdown as St. Francis de Sales got to 2-0.

Season totals: 10 tackles, 4 tfls, 2 forced fumbles, 149 yards, 2 tds

Next week: @ Cardinal Mooney

Kalil Branham: Northland (OH) (0-2) vs Whitehall-Yearling - L 28-31

The Branham boys and Northland lost another close game, dropping to 0-2 on the season. The elder Branham, John, rushed for 267 yards and 3 TDs, accounting for basically all of Northland’s offense.

As quarterback, Kalil’s job was probably just handing the ball off, as clearly it was working. There were no totals for the Michigan commit.

Season totals: 65 rush yards, 1 td, 1 pass td

Next week: vs Granville

Denver Warren: West Aurora (IL) (2-0) vs West Chicago - W 54-0

West Aurora is simply dominating their early portion of the season, outscoring their first two opponents 109-6. This week, they led 40-0 at half before letting up in the second half.

Sadly, it was another week without any Denver Warren updates, and it looks like we’ll have to wait a while to tally up stats from highlights.

Season totals: n/a

Next week: vs Streamwood

Andre Seldon: Belleville (MI) (2-0) vs Livonia Churchill - W 48-24

Last week, Brighton’s strategy against Belleville was to avoid Seldon in the passing game. The Livonia Churchill coaches should have adopted that game plan.

Instead, Seldon racked up three, count ‘em, THREE interceptions in the big victory. Watch all three in the following clip.

Even more amazing is Seldon could have had more, if not for a flag on his teammate.

Needless to say, Seldon may not get tested much more this season.

Season totals: 4 tackles, 3 interceptions, 1 PBU

Next week: @ Dearborn

There you go, all the games from coast to coast. Next week will be even bigger, with every commit except one (David Ojabo) in action! Stay tuned to see if Michigan’s recruits are living up to their billing!