Friday Night Recaps Week 9: Moonlighting punters and sack records

It’s high school playoff time in Michigan, and the five in-state commits all made the postseason. They’re the first state involving Michigan commits to finish up their regular season, but several other teams locked up division titles across the country.

In fact, only two teams with Michigan commits on the roster have losing records, and only five have more than three losses on the season. Regular seasons may be finishing up soon, but there will be plenty of games to cover well into November.

2019 4-star TE Erick All

All has been able to carve out a niche for himself in the Fairfield offense, catching 20 balls for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns this season. That’s especially impressive considering running back Jutahn McClain has more than 1,500 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns.

Last weekend Fairfield didn’t fare too well, getting squashed by Cincinnati powerhouse Colerain 55-27. The reason I wanted to highlight All this week is that he’s not only lining up at tight end for his team, but also at punter. And he’s really good at it too:

All punted four times in this game for 139 yards. That’s an average of 35 yards, which will bring down his average of 39 for the season. Those aren’t eye-popping numbers that we’re used to at the college level, but they’re clearly good enough for his division in Ohio.

Michigan’s Will Hart has been a revelation this year, but he wasn’t even supposed to start until Brad Robbins got injured. If the same thing happened to Hart...I’m just saying there’s a possibility there next year.

2019 3-star DL Gabe Newburg

I mentioned Newburg a couple of weeks ago in this space, but he gets another mention this time, considering he broke a meaningful school record in a 38-21 victory.

That sack was his second of the night, adding to his total of, by my count, 4.5 on the season. That would actually be his lowest total in his three-year varsity career if it doesn’t change. Newburg tallied five as a sophomore and 6.5 as a junior, adding up to 16 overall.

Newburg would have had more opportunities this season to rack up more if he hadn’t been hung up with an ankle injury for a few games. Still, Northmont won their division title in this game and has the chance to win their conference outright next week. There will be plenty more games for Newburg to pad his total.

2019 4-star DL David Ojabo

Unlike most of New Jersey high school football, Ojabo’s Blair Academy keeps it pretty quiet. There isn’t too much information out there about how their games went. That’s one of the reasons I went and scouted Ojabo live a few weeks ago.

Still, we knew Ojabo was tallying up some impressive numbers from the defensive tackle position. Now, thanks to him, we can see how he’s putting up those stats for ourselves.

Ojabo posted some highlights from his latest game, a 10-0 win over Hill Academy. He titled the video, “fun,” and boy did it look like it.

His explosion was full on display as he gets through the line five times for tackles for loss, including two sacks. That makes eight sacks on the season in only four games for the 6-foot-4, 233-pound terror.

He’s already received a significant ratings bump, but he could be due for another if he shares more tape like this.

Play of the Week

2019 3-star wide receiver Quintel Kent has been making clutch plays all year for the St. Edward’s Eagles, but he topped himself this week. Down a point with just over a minute to play in the fourth quarter, St. Edward’s was driving against Michigan commit Zach Carpenter and Archbishop Moeller. Lining up inside the Moeller 40-yard line, Kent struck.

Watch it with commentary here.

Kent burns the corner lined up against him, jukes a safety and is in the end zone for a 39-yard game-winning touchdown. Every week Kent proves he is one of the most underrated receivers in the country.

Other interesting tidbits

Zach Charbonnet finally returned from a knee injury that sidelined him for three weeks. He ran for almost 200 yards and three touchdowns in a close victory over rival Calabasas.

2019 3-star DL Tyrece Woods and 2020 4-star cornerback Andre Seldon of Belleville locked up an undefeated regular season and division title, handing Brighton its second loss of the season. Both of Brighton’s losses came against Belleville, in the first and last games of the season.

For six straight weeks, 2019 4-star quarterback Cade McNamara and Damonte Ranch have improved their point total. The sequence: 20 - 48 - 63 - 69 - 70 - 71. Can they put up 72 next week?

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