Video: Top 10 Games of the WeekAnother week, another monster showdown as No. 1 Gorman meets No. 3 Bosco.Bishop Gorman's drive for a second national poll championship in three years would get another big boost if it beats St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) on Friday night. Likewise, St. John Bosco could make a strong case for taking over the nation's top ranking if it can pull off the upset.
This matchup between the Nos. 1 and 3-ranked teams in the latest MaxPreps Xcellent 25 rankings kicks off the latest MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week.
In other action involving nationally ranked teams, No. 20 Mountain Pointe (Phoenix) hosts Chandler on Thursday night. These are the top two teams in the latest Arizona Class 6A rankings. Meanwhile, No. 24 St. John's (Washington, D.C.) travels to New Jersey to take on St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.), one of five bubble teams from this past week's Xcellent 25 rankings release.
Photos by Robbie Rakestraw and Wayne Litmer
Friday 7:30 p.m. (PDT)
Why it's big: This is No. 1 Bishop Gorman's second game in three weeks against a top-five team. It's the first ranked opponent so far for No. 3 St. John Bosco, but the Braves have the meat of its schedule in Trinity League and Pac-Five play looming on the horizon. Bishop Gorman (2-0) wants to extend its 14-game winning streak against California teams, which includes a 34-31 win over St. John Bosco in 2014.
Players to watch: Senior defensive end
Jacob Callier leads an imposing St. John Bosco defense line that keyed back-to-back 34-0 shutouts to open the season. Offensively, the Braves (2-0) have a standout in quarterback
Re-al Mitchell. The junior, rated three stars by 247Sports, has accounted for seven touchdowns – including a school-record 98-yard run against St. Xavier (Ohio) in the season-opener. … Senior
Tate Martell has a 32-0 record as Bishop Gorman's starting quarterback. The Ohio State recruit's career stats are a dazzling 5,553 passing yards, 94 total touchdowns and only eight interceptions.
Chandler (Ariz.) at No. 20 Mountain Pointe (Phoenix)
Thursday 7:00 p.m. (MDT)
Why it's big: Thursday night football in the Valley of the Sun features this matchup of the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the latest Class 6A state rankings. Mountain Pointe (2-0), which is No. 2 in the AZCentral.com poll despite checking in at No. 20 in this week's MaxPreps Xcellent 25, has won three the last four games against Chandler. The lone loss was in the 2014 state quarterfinals.
Players to watch: Sophomore quarterback
Jacob Conover already has 1,020 passing yards and six touchdowns for Chandler (2-1). His season highs were 465 yards and three touchdowns in a 56-49 loss to nationally-ranked Centennial (Corona, Calif.) two weeks ago. … Mountain Pointe is home to the state's No. 2 prospect in the Class of 2017, according to 247Sports, in
Isaiah Pola-Mao. The 6-foot-4, 195-pounder caught three passes for 158 yards and two scores in a 41-22 win over Upland (Calif.) two weeks ago.
Colquitt County (Moultrie, Ga.) at No. 6 Roswell (Ga.)
Friday 7:30 p.m. (EDT)Why it's big: Colquitt County, which started the season on a 30-game winning streak, now needs a major upset against No. 6 Roswell to avoid falling to 0-4. All three of the Packers' losses were by seven or less points, including a 3-point defeat against No. 19 American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) two weeks ago. A 21-20 loss to Tucker last week was their first at home against a Georgia opponent since 2012. For Roswell (2-0), this game is all about avenging a 30-13 defeat to Colquitt County in last year's Class 6A state championship game.
Players to watch: Senior quarterback
Malik Willis – a Virginia Tech recruit – and running back
Sheldon Evans have combined for nearly 450 rushing yards for Roswell this season. Both players are rated three-star recruits by 247Sports. … Colquitt County safety
Tirise Barge ranks among the Top 10 in Georgia with 30 tackles. The 5-11, 175-pound senior also has eight stops behind the line of scrimmage.
Manvel (Texas) at Pearland (Texas)
Friday 7:00 p.m. (CDT)Why it's big: Two of the Houston area's early state title contenders will square off in a non-district game for the first time on Friday. The teams were district rivals and members of the state's largest classification when Manvel won three out of four against Pearland from 2012-15. However, this year Manvel has moved down to Class 5A.
Players to watch: Manvel improved to 2-0 with a 26-13 win over defending 6A/Division I champion North Shore (Houston) last week. The Mavericks' offensive star was junior
Kam Scott, who caught four passes for 130 yards – including a 60-yard touchdown. … Senior linebacker
Derek Parish, a Houston commit, helped Pearland (2-0) blank Memorial (Houston), 36-0, last week. It's the 22nd time the Oilers have held an opponent to a touchdown or less since 2013.
Jenks (Okla.) vs. Union (Tulsa, Okla.)
Friday 7:05 p.m. (CDT)Why it's big: Arguably the top rivalry of the last 20 years in high school football renews for the 24th time since 2004 and 52nd time in 40 years. One of these two teams – whose school districts share a border – have won the state title in Oklahoma's largest classification every season since 1996. Jenks, which owns a slim 12-11 edge in games played against Union since 2004, has 16 state titles overall compared to Union's eight championships.
Players to watch: Ian Corwin, Jenks' savvy sophomore starting quarterback, threw three touchdown passes – including the game-winner with under a minute left to play – in a come-from-behind 38-34 win against Bixby last week that improved the Trojans to 2-0. … Union (2-0) followed up a 21-10 win over Texas power Southlake Carroll with a 42-7 rout of Broken Arrow. Senior
Tre Brown, a four-star Oklahoma commit, had touchdown catches of eight and 42 yards.
Dowling (West Des Moines, Iowa) at Valley (West Des Moines, Iowa)
Friday 7:30 p.m. (CDT)
Why it's big: This matchup of the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in Iowa is also one of the most heated neighborhood rivalries in the Hawkeye State. Top-ranked Dowling is 42-1 with three consecutive state titles since 2013. The only loss was to Valley in 2014. Overall, the series is tied 9-9 in games played since 2004.
Players to watch: Senior quarterback
Rocky Lombardi, a Michigan State commit, has three touchdown passes and a QB rating over 150 for Valley (2-0) this season. Junior running back
Jevon Mason is averaging over eight yards per carry and also has three scores. … Senior linebacker
Jake Hummel, an Iowa State recruit, and junior defensive end
John Waggoner – who holds offers from both Iowa and Iowa State – lead Dowling (2-0) in solo tackles and sacks, respectively.
Chaminade (St. Louis) at Christian Brothers (St. Louis)
Friday 7:30 p.m. (CDT)Why it's big: The top two Missouri-side schools in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch area rankings battle for first place in the Metro Catholic Conference standings. This rivalry has been shockingly one-sided in recent years. CBC (2-1), which lost a 32-28 heartbreaker at area No. 1 East St. Louis (Ill.) last week, has beaten Chaminade (3-0) seven consecutive times by an average margin of 32 points.
Players to watch: The second and third-ranked Class of 2018 prospects in the state of Missouri, according to 247Sports, will be counted upon heavily in Friday night's game.
Kamryn Babb, a four-star receiver for Christian Brothers, had 124 receiving yards and two touchdowns plus two interceptions on defense against East St. Louis. …
Trevor Trout, the 10th-best junior defensive tackle in the nation, is already a three-year starter for Chaminade.
Loyola Academy (Wilmette, Ill.) at Mt. Carmel (Chicago)
Friday 7:30 p.m. (CDT)
Why it's big: A key Chicago Catholic League battle between the Nos. 1 and 2-ranked teams in the latest Chicago Sun-Times Super 25 rankings. Top-ranked Loyola (2-0) slipped past Maine South, 44-43, last week to extend its Illinois-best winning streak to 19 games. Mount Carmel opened by beating two undermanned opponents by a combined margin of 105-13. Loyola has won four of its last five against Mount Carmel, but the Caravan still has an 8-6 record in the series since 2004.
Players to watch: Loyola senior
Jake Marwede, a senior tight end committed to Duke, caught two touchdown passes and threw for an 82-yard score against Maine South. The 6-foot-5, 235-pounder is rated three stars by 247Sports. … Mount Carmel and its traditionally strong rushing attack features one of the top running backs in Illinois in
Michael Kennedy. The 6-2, 195-pound senior is committed to Northern Illinois.
No. 24 St. John's (Washington, D.C.) at St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.)
Saturday 1:00 p.m. (EDT)Why it's big: St. John's could continue to ascend up the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 and St. Joseph Regionally would likely land a spot in the national rankings with a win Saturday afternoon. No. 24 St. John's (2-0) has looked fierce in its first two games – a stunning 35-14 rout of then-nationally ranked Pittsburgh Central Catholic (Pa.) and a 42-9 drubbing of American Heritage (Delray Beach, Fla.) last week. St. Joseph Regional (1-0) also has an impressive out-of-state result on its resume. The Green Knights traveled cross country to defeat Southern California power Serra (Gardena), 17-7, at the Honor Bowl in Mission Viejo, Calif.
Players to watch: Aside from No. 2 IMG Academy (Fla.), St. John's has the most impressive group of transfers of any team in the country. Five-star offensive tackle
Calvin Ashley (an Auburn recruit) and four-star Maryland recruits
Kasim Hill (QB) and
Cam Spence (DT) all played elsewhere last season. … St. Joseph Regional won't be as explosive as St. John's but might have a chance to be the more physical team. The Green Knights will play ball control with a big and experienced offensive line that features three-star Penn State recruit
Robert Martin.
Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) at St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia)
Saturday 7:30 p.m. (EDT)Why it's big: A week after losing its opener to No. 19 American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.), Don Bosco Prep will try again to deliver head coach Greg Toal his 300th career victory. However, once again, the task will not be easy with another out-of-state power sitting on the schedule. St. Joseph's Prep (1-0) blew the doors off a young but talented Oaks Christian (Calif.) team, 49-17, last week at the Honor Bowl in Mission Viejo, Calif.
Players to watch: D'Andre Swift, SJ Prep's four-star running back and a recent Georgia commit, had just under 300 combined rushing and receiving yards with four touchdowns in the win over Oaks Christian. …
Jordan Scott, SJ Regional's diminutive senior running back, ran for 102 yards and only five carries in the win against Oaks Christian. His 77-yard touchdown run helped the Green Knights open a 17-0 first-quarter advantage.
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.
