Friday Night Recaps Week 7: J.J. McCarthy tosses 4 touchdowns against top 10 team

This week’s slate of games involving Michigan commits was pretty patchwork with multiple postponements or cancellations due to Covid. On the bright side, every team in the playoffs won their game to advance to the next round. A few others still have a couple of weeks left before they start their runs to state championships.

J.J. McCarthy and Greg Crippen (IMG Academy - FL)

After a week off, IMG Academy didn’t skip a beat against top ten Miami Northwestern. After jumping out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter, they cruised to an eventual 49-14 victory.

McCarthy threw for four touchdowns and 204 yards, but only completed 9-of-28 passes. On the ground, the offensive line helped the team average 11.5 yards per carry and a couple of touchdowns.

There are no more games currently scheduled for IMG Academy this year, but with the weirdness of Covid scheduled I would not be surprised to see them add another game or two later on.

Tavierre Dunlap (Del Valle - TX)

Del Valle’s game against Lake Travis had to be postponed to a later date.

Andrel Anthony (East Lansing - MI)

East Lansing earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs. They will play Portage Central in the second round.

Giovanni El-Hadi (Stevenson - MI)

Stevenson flexed their muscle against winless Farmington as they easily won 41-15. It’s the first game Stevenson has won by more than seven points this season.

In the second round of the playoffs, Stevenson will play Southfield A&T, who won their first game by a 62-6 margin.

Raheem Anderson (Cass Tech - MI)

Cass Tech’s first round opponent, Edsel Ford, had to forfeit their game due to undisclosed reasons. The Technicians move on to play Fordson in the second round.

Quintin Somerville (Saguaro - AZ)

When both Saguaro and Casteel’s original opponents had to cancel games because of positive Covid cases last week, the two teams scrambled to play each other. Saguaro was unfazed by the adversity and won 48-20 over Casteel on the road.

Somerville helped Saguaro keep Casteel scoreless in the first half. He ended up with seven tackles and 2.5 sacks.

Saguaro is scheduled to play Campo Verde next week, but as the slate has shown so far, nothing is guaranteed.

Dominick Giudice (Mater Dei Prep - NJ)

In a match-up of the top teams in the conference, Mater Dei Prep won 26-19 over Rumson-Fair Haven in a stunning victory. With just under a minute to play and trailing by one, Mater Dei Prep completed a 56-yard hook and ladder play on 3rd and 11 to score.

This is kind of Mater Dei Prep’s thing, as they used the same play to win a state title in 2016. No stats were available for Giudice.

Mater Dei will wrap up their regular season at Manalapan.

Branden Jennings (Sandalwood - FL)

After starting off 5-0, Sandalwood has dropped their last two, the latest being a 28-13 loss to Bartram Trail.

Jennings was all over the field, racking up at least a dozen tackles as a team captain.

Next week, Sandalwood will try to right the ship against Andrew Jackson.

Junior Colson (Ravenwood Academy - TN)

Ravenwood notched a big 28-14 victory over Independence to earn the two-seed in their region for the playoffs.

While no defensive stats were available for Colson, he did punch in a touchdown on offense.

Ravenwood’s first round opponent has already had to forfeit their game because of a positive Covid test, so they effectively get a Bye into the second round.

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

After St. Thomas Aquinas jumped out to a 28-7 lead over DeLand at halftime, both teams tightened up to result in a 31-7 final score.

Unfortunately, Hood and McBurrows’ stats will not be available until later in the week. Last week, Hood had 10 tackles as he continues to learn the system. McBurrows had two tackles.

St. Thomas Aquinas will square off against American Heritage in the final game scheduled for them this season.

Tommy Doman (Orchard Lake-St. Mary’s - MI)

After an uneven regular season, OLSM stepped up with a 38-14 win over Pinckney in the first round of the playoffs.

Doman nailed a 31-yard field goal and all five of his extra points to remain perfect on the season.

In the next round, OLSM will face Brother Rice.

Marlin Klein (Rabun Gap-Nacoochee - GA)

In their rotating schedule of games this season, Rabun Gap-Nacoochee completed their home and home series against Metrolina Christian Academy with a dominating 56-7 victory.

Since there aren’t any stats available for Klein, I’ll repeat what I said during their last blowout, he had anywhere between zero and eight touchdowns.

Rabun Gap-Nacoochee will wrap up their season against Union County next week.

Alex VanSumeren (Garber - MI)

VanSumeren helped lead Garber’s defense to a 49-0 shutout over Saginaw in the first round of the playoffs.

In the win, VanSumeren had eight tackles, two tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles. While he didn’t get a sack, he was credited with six hurries.

For the second time in three weeks, Garber will play Swan Valley in the second round. Garber won the previous matchup 56-32.

Chart

(click to enlarge)

Jonathon Simmons