Video: Top 10 games of the week
See the games everyone will be talking about this weekend.
Last season's state champions of Florida's largest classifications are set to tee it up a week before beginning defense of their crowns in the state playoffs. The regular-season finale between No. 10 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Flanagan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) leads off our look at the MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week.
Meanwhile, No. 23 Jenks (Okla.) could finish its regular season a perfect 10-0 and claim a 16th district crown in 26 years with a win over Edmond Santa Fe.
The nationally ranked team that is farthest along in the postseason is No. 24 East (Salt Lake City). The Leopards could be tested by perennial power Timpview (Provo) in the Utah Class 4A state quarterfinals.
(10) St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at Flanagan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.)
Friday 7 p.m. (EDT)Why it's big: No. 10 Aquinas (6-2), the reigning Florida 7A state champion, has beaten its last three opponents by a combined margin of 133-15. That's after the Raiders' three-overtime loss to No. 1 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) on Sept. 30. Defending 8A champ Flanagan has won eight games in a row since a one-point loss to state-ranked Oxbridge Academy (West Palm Beach) in the season opener.
Players to watch: Division I-caliber athletes will go toe-to-toe all over the field but the matchup that might garner the most interest is Flanagan four-star cornerback
Stanford Samuels against St. Thomas Aquinas four-star receiver
Trevon Grimes. Samuels, the No. 3 cornerback prospect in the nation according to 247Sports, is a Florida State commit. Grimes, the No. 3 receiver, is headed to Ohio State.
Edmond Santa Fe (Edmond, Okla.) at (23) Jenks (Okla.)
Friday 7:30 p.m. (CDT)Why it's big: One of these teams will emerge with the undisputed District 6A1-I championship. Jenks (9-0), which is poised to reach double digits in victories for the 11th consecutive season, has beaten Edmond Santa Fe (8-1) in all four meetings against the Wolves since 2008.
Players to watch: Jenks' pass-catch combo of
Ian Corwin and
Brett Standlee had a record-setting night as the Trojans trounced Westmoore (Oklahoma City), 63-28, last week. Corwin, who is only a sophomore, threw for a school-record 444 yards. Standlee was on the receiving end for 264 of those yards, which also was a school record. …
Daviaun Bowler is Edmond Santa Fe's leader in all-purpose yards. The senior wide out has 603 receiving yards and more than 200 as a returner. Bowler had nine receptions for 129 yards and two scores in a 28-24 win over Yukon last week.
Timpview (Provo, Utah) at (24) East (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Friday 4 p.m. (MDT)Why it's big: No. 24 East's second-round game in the Class 4A playoffs will be anything but a cakewalk. Timpview (9-2) owns seven state titles since 2006 and had won three in a row before losing to East in last season's championship game. East (11-0) owns wins against defending state champions from Arkansas and California and has beaten teams from Utah by an average margin of 39 points.
Players to watch: East senior running back
Jaylen Warren leads Utah in rushing yards (2,426) and rushing touchdowns (29) this season. Warren had a season-high 270 yards in a 70-20 rout of Skyline (Salt Lake City) last week. … Leading Timpview's mission to stop – or at least slow down – Warren will be senior safety
Chaz Ah You and junior defensive lineman
Jackson Cravens. Ah You is a four-star prospect and No. 2 Class of 2017 prospect in Utah, according to 247Sports. Cravens has totaled an impressive 19 tackles for loss.
McDonogh 35 (New Orleans) at Edna Karr (New Orleans)
Thursday 7 p.m. (CDT)Why it's big: A pair of unbeaten teams square off for a solo District 9-4A championship on the final weekend of the regular season. History is very much on the side of Edna Karr in this matchup. The Cougars (9-0) have a seven-game unbeaten streak over McDonogh 35 (9-0) and nine wins in the last 10 meetings.
Players to watch: The game will showcase two of the top receiver prospects in Louisiana.
Racey McMath, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound senior with an offer from LSU, had a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in Edna Karr's 61-13 blowout of Easton (New Orleans) last week. For McDonogh 35, junior wide out
Lawrence Keys III has a four-star rating from 247Sports and holds offers from Arkansas, Nebraska and Texas A&M.
(5) DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) at Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.)
Friday 7 p.m. (EDT)Why it's big: DeMatha would love to wrap up an undisputed Washington Catholic Athletic Conference regular-season title with a win over archrival Good Counsel. Finishing an up-and-down regular season on a strong note and ending a three-game losing streak against fifth-ranked Stags (9-0) is Good Counsel's mission. If the Falcons (6-3) could pull the upset, it would even the series at nine wins apiece in games played since 2004.
Players to watch: Twelve players in the 247Sports list of the Maryland's Top 40 Class of 2017 prospects play for DeMatha or Good Counsel. The contingent includes the state's top two defensive ends in DeMatha's Ohio State-bound senior
Chase Young and Good Counsel's four-star prospect
Joshua Paschal.
Central Dauphin (Harrisburg, Pa.) at State College (State College, Pa.)
Friday 7 p.m. (EDT)Why it's big: State College wants to claim its first unblemished regular season since 2008. A Central Dauphin (8-1) upset would prevent that and also insert the Rams into at least a two-way tie with the Little Lions (9-0) for the championship of the Mid Penn Commonwealth Division. Recent history is working strongly in favor of Central Dauphin, which has won the last seven games in the series.
Players to watch: Noah Woods caught five passes for a season-high 138 yards and a touchdown in State College's 37-0 shutout of Chambersburg last week. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound senior wide out has gone over 100 yards in three of the last four games. … Central Dauphin's most versatile athlete might be
Sylas Pope. The senior hauled in a 59-yard touchdown pass and recorded 10 tackles in a 35-7 win over Red Land (Lewisberry) last week.
Hebron (Carrollton, Texas) at Carroll (Southlake, Texas)
Friday 7:30 p.m. (CDT)Why it's big: Hebron (7-2) would tie Carroll (8-1) for the District 5-6A championship with an upset win at Dragon Stadium on Friday night. This will be the first meeting since 2008-09 when the teams were last placed in the same district and split a pair of games.
Players to watch: Freshman cornerback
R.J. Mickens nabbed a pair of interceptions in Carroll's 45-7 blowout of Bell (Hurst) last week. Mickens, the son of former NFL cornerback Ray Mickens, already has offers from multiple Power 5 colleges. On the other side of the ball, Carroll quarterback
Mason Holmes needs only 82 passing yards to eclipse 2,000 for the second consecutive season. … Hebron is led by a talented junior at quarterback in
Clayton Tune. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder had over 350 yards of total offense and six total touchdowns in a 51-27 win against Lewisville last week.
Monte Vista (Danville, Calif.) at De La Salle (Concord, Calif.)
Friday 7:30 p.m. (PDT)Why it's big: Monte Vista aims to end one of the most remarkable streaks in prep sports history -- as well as finish the regular season with a 10-0 record for the first time since 2005. De La Salle (8-1) has won 278 games in a row against Northern California opponents. The incredible run dates back to 1992 and includes 12 victories over Monte Vista.
Players to watch: Last week senior
Jake Haener threw for a season-high 304 yards and eclipsed 2,000 passing yards for the season in Monte Vista's 32-20 win over rival San Ramon Valley (Danville). Haener, a Washington commit, needs 336 more yards to reach 8,000 yards for his career. … Junior
Kairee Robinson had a touchdown rushing and another on a punt return as De La Salle steamrolled James Logan (Union City) last week. Robinson overshadowed all-everything senior running back Najee Harris when he ran for 305 yards in a nationally televised win over Antioch on Sept. 23.
Christian Brothers (St. Louis) at Hazelwood Central (Florissant, Mo.)
Saturday 1 p.m. (CDT)Why it's big: A Top 5 team in the latest Missouri Class 6 rankings will be eliminated from the postseason after this state quarterfinal matchup concludes. Top-ranked Christian Brothers (9-1) is vying for its third consecutive trip to the state finals. The Cadets won it all in 2014. Hazelwood Central (10-0) made three straight finals appearances from 2008-10 and brought home top prize in 2008-09.
Players to watch: Brett Gabbert, brother of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert, has thrown for 2,407 yards with 24 touchdowns and only three interceptions as a sophomore starting quarterback for Christian Brothers.
Cameron Brown and
Kamryn Babb, a pair of big-time junior wide outs, have accounted nearly half those yards receiving. … Hazelwood Central's most dynamic player is junior receiver/safety
Dallas Craddieth. The three-star prospect has 438 receiving yards and five touchdowns on only 13 receptions. Craddieth's 93-yard touchdown reception was the difference maker in an 18-17 win over St. Louis University (St. Louis) last week.
Cicero-North Syracuse (Cicero, N.Y.) vs. Christian Brothers Academy (Syracuse, N.Y.)
Saturday 6 p.m. (EDT)Why it's big: Syracuse University's Carrier Dome will host this Section III Class AA championship game. It's been something of a dream season for Cicero-North Syracuse, which finds itself 9-0 following a streak of 12 seasons in which the Northstars finished more than one game above .500 only once. C-NS has never won a section title in football but CBA (8-0) is zeroing in on its second section title in four years and 11th overall.
Players to watch: Stevie Scott III, CBA's 6-foot-2, 225-pound junior running back, had nearly 200 rushing yards and ran for three touchdowns in a 35-7 win over Baldwinsville last week. Scott III is an FBS prospect with offers so far from Boston College and Syracuse. … The sparkplug for Cicero-North Syracuse's offense is sophomore quarterback
Conner Hayes. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound dual-threat is on track to become a four-year starter for the Northstars.
MaxPreps contributor Jamie DeMoney has covered high school sports and recruiting for more than two decades. He is a Regional Content Manager and Product Specialist for XOS Digital and has compiled the National Prep Poll (PrepNation.com) since 1999.
