Hey folks. Here's this week's rundown on our commits' game results and performances, along with updates on a few of our key targets.
Be sure to check out the CGB Recruiting Board for updated info too.
COMMITS
Jared Goff, QB Marin Catholic (Kentfield, CA). Goff and Marin Catholic lost a heartbreaker to fellow NorCal powerhouse Vacaville on Friday night, falling in the final seconds 24-28. Jared threw for 250 yards and 3 touchdowns in the game, but a fumbled snap in the final minutes gave Vacaville back the ball and allowed them to drive for the winning score. oof.
Ray Hudson, TE Foothill (Pleasanton, CA). Had 6 catches for 77 yards and a game-sealing interception in Foothill's 35-21 win at Las Lomas. Ray looks to be the favored target for Foothill and should continue to pile up some impressive receiving numbers, despite the fact that Foothill is a run-heavy offense.
Darius Allensworth, CB Heritage (Menifee, CA). Darius had a touchdown catch and played solid defsne in Heritage's 37-16 win over Beaumont. He suffered a concussion in the game though, so his status for this week is unknown.
AJ RIchardson, WR Narbonne (Harbor City, CA). Had a 48 yard kickoff return and 3 catches for 32 yards, including a 20 yard touchdown, in Narbonne's 56-0 beatdown of Long Beach Poly. AJ also had 3 carries for 8 yards on the ground. Narbonne looks like the real deal this year; it's rare to see Poly get embarrassed like that.
Trey Cheek, CB Archer (Lawrenceville, GA). Had two pass breakups and 7 tackles, including 1 TFL, in Archer's dominant 27-6 win over East Coweta. Trey and the Archer defense held East Coweta to just 158 yards of total offense.
Shon Akins, CB Norcross (Norcross, GA). For the second straight game, Shon saw no passes to his side of the field as Norcross shut out Parkview, 20-0. Parkview mustered just 102 yards of total offense in defeat. Shon was also strong in run support, reading a jet sweep to his side and nailing the receiver for a loss.
Chad Whitener, ILB Mansfield (Mansfield, TX). Chad had a sack and a pass breakup in a dominant Mansfield defensive effort over Keller, shutting them out 35-0. Keller went heavy on the pass, so Chad didn't tally as many tackles as usual. Still a quality effort though.
Cameron Hunt, OL Centennial (Corona, CA). Hunt and Centennial nothced an impressive and dominant win over Long Beach Cabrillo on Friday night, rolling up 498 yards of offense in a 61-6 win. Cam also unofficially visited UCLA and attended their big win over Nebraska. Ungood. Remains to be seen how much the Bruins continue to pursue him though, as UCLA just got their 4th OL commit earlier this week (see below).
Takkarist McKinley, OLB Kennedy (Richmond, CA). Kennedy got waxed by El Cerrito, 8-63. Takkarist had a one catch for 26 yards from his tight end spot. Wish I had a better sense of Takkarist's impact on the defensive side of the ball.
Matt Anderson, K San Ramon Valley (Danville, CA). Matt never got an opportunity to get in the scoring column as San Ramon Valley was shut out by James Logan, 0-35. Tough game and start to the season for the Wolves.
TARGETS
Terrell Newby, RB Chaminade (West Hills, CA). Carried the ball 28 times for 161 yards and three touchdowns in Chaminade's 41-27 win over Valencia. Newby is proving to be a real workhorse and a very complete back. Still a guy I really covet in this recruiting cycle.
Berkley Edwards, RB Chelsea (Chelsea, MI). Had 50 yards and a touchdown on 17 touches in a 20-53 Chelsea loss to Bedford. Edwards isn't getting much help from his OL or the passing game as Chelsea is really struggling. In better news, he will be taking his official visit to Cal the weekend of October 6 for the UCLA game.
Kenny Lacy, OL Mountain Pointe (Phoenix, AZ). Committed to UCLA on Monday, following his official visit. We were at least in contention at some point, but no more. Lacy may still take official visits, but we are not one of them as of now. Winning is good for recruiting, and UCLA has a nice OL class going as of now. Sigh.
JD Hinnant, OT Fountain Valley (Fountain Valley, CA). Took an unofficial visit to Cal over the weekend and attended the Southern Utah game with his family. Sounds like Hinant enjoyed himself (kind of surprising), and will take an OV to Cal after the season, His emphasis on academics seems to be working in our favor as well.
I'm having some mixed feelings on recruiting coverage in the midst of what very well may be the most brutal Cal football seasons since the death throes of the Holmoe Era. I'm pretty disheartened based on what I've seen on the field the past two weeks, and the recruiting impact could be major if the staff and the team are unable to reverse a rather alarming trend. This isn't a talent issue, it's a performance/leadership/motivation/discipline issue. If things really go south, the question of which commits (and coaches?) stick around will be a big issue. We could find ourselves having to focus all of our recruiting energy on retaining current commits, rather than pursuing new ones. How everything unfolds remains to be seen. Things could get a lot worse before they get better.
So that said, focusing my time and energy on the status of recruiting when the on-field product seems to be hanging by a thread seems both ironic and sad. I've been saying for months that on-field performance will determine the success of 2013 recruiting. Thus far, that isn't a good thing. There's time to reverse momentum certainly. We'll see what happens.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.