Tonight's College Football Playoff National Championship game features a matchup between two of the best wide receivers in the nation in
Roman Wilson of Michigan and
Rome Odunze of Washington.
Wilson and Odunze have combined for 25 receiving touchdowns this season.
Monday won't be the first time they have played against each other. When both were high school seniors in 2019, the two balled out in a matchup of reigning state champs and nationally-ranked squads as Odunze and
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) traveled across the Pacific Ocean to take on Wilson and
St. Louis (Honolulu, Hawaii) in the Aloha Football Classic.
Each player was a multi-time state champion sprinter in track and their speed showed on the field that night as Wilson got the game's first touchdown. On the other sideline, Odunze topped 100 yards and hauled in two touchdowns.
The game was within one possession until late in the third quarter when St. Louis linebacker and current Pittsburgh Steeler
Nick Herbig returned a fumble for a touchdown. A few possessions later deep into the fourth quarter, Wilson caught a 12-yard pass on fourth down to help extinguish the clock and the win for the Crusaders.
Despite playing high school football more than 2,700 miles apart, the careers of Odunze and Wilson have been eerily similar.
Both players are known for their speed, a skill that was polished on the track. Each won two state championships as sprinters. Odunze's top 100 meter time was 10.67 seconds while Wilson's best was 10.68. Both were also a part of 4x100 meter state champion relay squads as juniors.
When the two future NFL wide receivers met a couple months later to begin their senior seasons on the gridiron, they were coming off junior football campaigns that ended with them being outside of the top 500 prospects in the Class of 2020 according to 247Sports.
As a junior Odunze caught 60 passes for 1,347 yards and 15 touchdowns while Wilson hauled in 32 receptions for 803 yards and seven scores. Both took home state championships.
Both exploded during their senior seasons with Odunze putting up 58 catches for 1,322 yards and 16 receiving touchdowns. On punt returns he was also lethal, averaging 22.1 yards per return with two trips to the end zone.
Wilson also topped 1,000 receiving yards his senior year, finishing with 1,078 yards and 12 touchdowns on 65 receptions. When the spotlight was greatest, Wilson was at his best. He won a state championship every year he was at St. Louis and as a senior, he hauled in eight receptions for 171 yards and a touchdown to beat Kahuku 45-6.
His performance in the state title as a junior was equally impressive. In the Crusaders' 38-17 win over Mililani, the receiver caught seven passes for 148 yards.
Odunze also had two state championship games where he topped 100 receiving yards. By the end of their senior years, both were four-star recruits with top offers from all around the country.
Since getting to Washington, Odunze has earned a spot on the All-American team. In the program's four games against top 10 opponents this season, he recorded 29 receptions for 461 yards and five touchdowns.
Wilson also came up clutch when it mattered most. In the College Football Playoff semifinal against Alabama on Jan. 1, Wilson caught the game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Now more than four years after they squared off in high school, Odunze will try and bring Washington its first national title since 1991 while Wilson is looking to bring the cherished hardware back to Michigan for the first time since 1997.
