Middle school athletes emulating high schoolers; Push to make California more like Texas; Aquinas tries to get Lakeland monkey off its back; Barry Sanders Jr. not doing it alone.
Compiled By Stephen SpiewakMaxPreps.com1. Eighth Grader “Commits”: When a high school football player calls a college head coach to commit to play at that university, there is hardly a prouder moment for the athlete or a happier moment for that coach.
But when an eighth grade player calls a high school head coach to “commit” to that high school, what is the reaction?
“What are you committing to?”
DeMatha (Md.) head coach Bill McGregor told one such middle school athlete, in
an excellent piece by the
Washington Post’s Josh Barr.
Some college players might emulate professional athletes, and high school players certainly look up to those who have advanced to the college playing field. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that middle school students are beginning to model the behavior of high schoolers.
After all, in basketball there have already been eighth graders committing to colleges.
2. Should California Be More Like Texas? Bowl game selections in California certainly created a stir, as some teams believe they were unfairly left out and some fans believe its time for a new selection process.
Carl Steward of the Bay Area’s
Contra Costa Times argues that the Golden State shouldn’t fix the selection process, but should scrap the whole bowl game concept altogether, and instead, opt for a playoff system similar to the state of Texas.
He makes a compelling argument.
“Too many games? Only the D-I finalists play as many as 16. Season extends too far into December? Four Texas state championships already have been decided, and the final one will be played this weekend, same as California,” Steward wrote. “Travel considerations too problematic? Last time we checked, Texas was still bigger area-wise than the Golden State.”
3. Curse of the Dreadnaughts: St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) has passed every test this season with flying colors. It beat Elder to open its season in Ohio,
smashed Deerfield Beach in a CBS College Sports nationally-televised game, and has rolled through the Florida 5A playoffs unchallenged.
However, the team’s biggest test this year--and most years--will come from Bill Castle’s Lakeland Dreadnaughts, a program with a proven track record of success against the Raiders.
As Andre Fernandez of the
Miami Herald notes, the Dreadnaughts are 4-0 all-time when they meet St. Thomas Aquinas in a state championship game.
Coach George Smith’s Raiders have never been this heavily favored. Although Lakeland (
Video) is also undefeated, most early predictions have Aquinas winning by double digits. Still, fans of both teams would likely tell you that anything can happen when these two square off, making Friday’s showdown a can’t miss affair.
4. Sanders Jr. Not a One-Man Show: By now, it seems like everyone on the internet has seen
this sensational run by freshman phenom
Barry Sanders Jr. of
Heritage Hall (Okla).
What most people don’t realize is that Heritage Hall became Oklahoma state champions in Class 2A over the weekend, and did so by a total team effort.
The Chargers lost in the 2007 state finals, but finished the job this year with a shockingly easy 37-7 win against a dangerous Chandler squad.
After allowing an early touchdown, Heritage Hall’s entire defensive unit clamped down and refused to allow another score. To get the scoring started for the Chargers, talented senior quarterback
Turner Peterson hooked up with receiver
Ricco Phinisee on an 86-yard touchdown bomb.
Jason Kersey has the entire game story at
NewsOK.com.
5. Murray’s Big Test: Aaron Murray has a huge test to close out his high school career, and it comes on the football field.
This weekend’s match-up with Lincoln will be the last thing keeping Murray on the
Plant (Fla.) campus. He will graduate at the end of the semester and enroll at Georgia in January. When it comes to the classroom, Murray has torn through tests much like he has shredded defenses over the last two seasons.
According to
TampaBay.com, Murray boasts a 4.9 grade point average, and exempted out of his finals, meaning he will not have to take a single exam.
NationalHigh 5 is a regular MaxPreps feature, highlighting top national highschool news, game stories or human interest pieces from around theweb. If we miss something, please e-mail us at sspiewak@maxpreps.com and/or mstephens@maxpreps.com.
