Friday Night Recaps Week 9: High school playoffs suspended in Michigan

Two of the four Michigan commits won their matchups to advance to the state semifinals, but were dealt some disappointing news when it was announced that all sports below college would be suspended for at least three weeks as the state tries to slow down its number of rapidly increasing COVID-19 cases.

That means Andrel Anthony and Raheem Anderson will have to wait a bit while the other commits still playing their seasons look to stay alive in the playoffs.

Tavierre Dunlap (Del Valle - TX)

After their previously scheduled game was postponed two weeks ago because of a positive test, Del Valle got the chance to play Lake Travis, although they probably wish they hadn’t. Del Valle lost 42-13 in a blowout.

Dunlap only reached five rushing yards on three carries before leaving the game with an injury. He missed last week’s game, too, so he’s clearly going through something right now.

Del Valle’s next opponent is against Hays High School.

Andrel Anthony (East Lansing - MI)

East Lansing completed another dominant blowout with a 42-14 win over Portage Northern in the state quarterfinals. The 14 points scored by Portage Northern almost doubled the amount of points East Lansing has allowed this season, which was a whopping 18 coming into the game.

Anthony caught six passes for 47 yards and a touchdown in the game. Here’s a video of his touchdown grab:

In the state semifinals, East Lansing will face fellow undefeated team Mona Shores.

Giovanni El-Hadi (Stevenson - MI)

Stevenson finally didn’t play in a tight game. Unfortunately, they were on the losing end of a blowout at the hands of Donovan Edwards and West Bloomfield. Edwards scored six touchdowns in just the first half of the game.

While there are no stats for El-Hadi, here are some clips of him on both offense and defense:

Stevenson ends their season with a 7-2 record.

Raheem Anderson (Cass Tech - MI)

In their state semifinal game, Cass Tech easily dispatched of Woodhaven with a 42-8 win.

Anderson helped protect the quarterback to allow for 155 yards and three touchdowns in the air and paved the way for Kobe King to rush for 82 yards at 6.8 yards a carry.

Cass Tech will face off against Belleville in a gigantic matchup of two of the most talented teams in Michigan high school this year. Belleville has crushed nearly everyone they’ve played this year, but have been known to choke in the playoffs in the last few seasons.

Quintin Somerville (Saguaro - AZ)

There was yet another shuffling of the schedule that resulted in Saguaro playing Horizon instead of Notre Dame Prep after both of their opponents had to cancel. Saguaro was unbothered, shutting them out 26-0 and holding them to fewer than 50 total yards.

The complete stats for Somerville aren’t up yet, but he did register at least one sack and it looks like he had more.

Saguaro is supposed to play Gilbert next week, but with how their season has gone, who knows what will happen.

Dominick Giudice (Mater Dei Prep - NJ)

Facing undefeated Wall Township in the first round of New Jersey’s playoff “pod” system, Mater Dei Prep was walloped 42-0 to end their season.

There was once again no mention of Giudice, who has basically been a ghost this season in any write-up. I’m looking forward to seeing his end of year stats now that the season is drawing to a close.

Mater Dei Prep finished with a 5-2 record.

Branden Jennings (Sandalwood - FL)

Strangely, Sandalwood’s game against Mandarin was scheduled for Monday night. It’s going to end later than this article is submitted and Jennings’ stats won’t be uploaded until at least Tuesday.

Junior Colson (Ravenwood Academy - TN)

Ravenwood was upset in the second round of the playoffs with a 31-28 loss to Franklin.

Colson did as much as he could, racking up 13 tackles and a sack. Here’s a clip of his sack:

Ravenwood finishes the season with a 7-5 record.

Jaydon Hood and Ja’Den McBurrows (St. Thomas Aquinas - FL)

Despite only playing four games in the regular season, St. Thomas Aquinas earned a bye in the first round of the Florida state playoffs. In the second round they’ll play Lehigh, home of Michigan cornerback target Omarion Cooper.

Marlin Klein (Rabun Gap-Nacoochee - GA)

As the No. 3 seed in the four-team North Carolina independent school state playoffs, Rabun Gap-Nacoochee upset No. 2 seed Providence Day with a 52-42 win.

Stats for Klein have not been uploaded yet.

In the championship game, Rabun Gap-Nacoochee will play No. 1 seed Charlotte Christian, who won by forfeit in the first round.

Alex VanSumeren (Garber - MI)

Garber’s season came to an end with a 35-14 loss to Freeland in the state quarterfinals.

VanSumeren had five tackles, including one for a loss. He also caught a pass for 18 yards. On the season, he totaled 63 tackles, with 21 for a loss. He had eight sacks and forced three fumbles as well.

Garber finished the season with a 7-2 record.

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Jonathon Simmons