Cal football recruiting commits, Friday Night Lights: Regular season comes to a close

As you have likely heard by now, Zion Echols, the running back from Covina (Ca.) Charter Oak is no longer committed to Cal.

I am as disappointed as anyone as Echols was one of my top two favorite offensive commits in the class, with the other being Jordan Duncan.

Cal recruiting must soldier on and find someone else to fill the void left by Echols' departure.

Friday Night Lights will carry on as well, but I will no longer chronicle Echols' performances week to week.

Here we go with the players who are still committed to play for Cal:

Jordan Duncan: WR, Hattiesburg (Ms.) Oak Grove (9-2)

Oak Grove closed out their regular season in style with a 56-26 victory against Jackson (Ms.) Jim HIll. Duncan contributed a touchdown to the effort and will look to build on a great regular season with an extended run in the playoffs.

Oak Grove will battle Ocean Springs (Ms.) Ocean Springs (8-3) in their first playoff matchup.

Derrick Clark: RB, San Diego (Ca.) Mission Bay (8-2)

Mission Bay's season looks to be off the rails at the moment.

Last week they lost 41-0. It can't get worse than that, right?

It can. It did.

The Buccaneers lost 64-7 to San Diego (Ca.) Madison to end their regular season being outscored 105-7 in their final two games.

Mission Bay's playoff opponent has yet to be announced, but whoever it is will surely be licking their chops.

Max Gilliam: QB, Thousand Oaks (Ca.) Thousand Oaks (8-2)

Gilliam and Thousand Oaks rebounded from a defeat last week by squeaking out a 36-35 win against Newbury Park (Ca.) Newbury Park.

Gilliam went 14-20 for 201 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed 15 times for 83 yards and another touchdown.

Gillilam's first touchdown pass was completed through a tight window in the back of the endzone and he took quite a shot during his rushing touchdown as he was decked while leaping into the endzone for the points.

Thousand Oaks' playoff opponent is Lancaster (Ca.) Eastside (7-3).

Gentle Williams: T, Florence (Ms.) Florence (6-6)

Florence dropped its first playoff game 14-13 to Purvis (Ms.) Purvis.

Williams' season is over.

Drew Kobayashi: WR, Honolulu (Hi.) St. Louis (8-1)

St. Louis earned a bye into the semifinals of the Hawaii football playoffs and will take on Mililani (Hi.) Mililani (10-2).

The two teams will meet for the first time this season, but do share a common opponent.

Mililani and St. Louis both squared off against Henderson (Nv.) Liberty.

St. Louis beat Liberty 43-16 while Mililani lost 76-53.

Jake Curhan: OL, Larkspur (Ca.) Redwood (5-5)

Redwood took on Kentfield (Ca.) Marin Catholic, Jared Goff's old high school, and were soundly beaten 38-13.

Curhan and Redwood will take on Orinda (Ca.) Miramonte (9-1) in the playoffs and are heavy underdogs.

Logan Gamble: WR, Long Beach (Ca.) St. Anthony (6-4)

St. Anthony beat San Pedro (Ca.) Mary Star of the Sea 55-20 and Gamble contributed 3 receptions for 105 yards.

Gamble and his teammates will take on Irvine (Ca.) Crean Lutheran (7-3) in the playoffs.

Matt Laris: WR, Sammamish (Wa.) Eastside Catholic (9-0)

Eastside Catholic closed out their dominant regular season by destroying Edmonds (Wa.) Edmonds-Woodway 49-20.

Laris caught eight passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns.

Eastside Catholic begin their quest for the state championship by taking on Auburn (Wa.) Auburn Mountainview (8-2).

Daniel Juarez: OL, Corona (Ca.) Centennial (10-0)

Centennial clobbered Norco (Ca.) Norco 67-20 to finish off an undefeated regular season.

Their march towards not only a state championship, but the mythical national championship awarded to a team we have no idea of knowing whether or not it actually is the best high school football team in the country begins with a first round playoff matchup against West Hills (Ca.) Chaminade (7-3).

Back to the game against Norco, Juarez looked really good. He manhandled the opposition defensive linemen and it would not surprise me if he was in the hunt for immediate playing time at Cal.

Francisco Perez: OL, Baldwin Park (Ca.) Baldwin Park (7-3)

Baldwin Park pulverized Duarte (Ca.) Duarte 49-20 and will take on Montibello (Ca.) Schurr (5-5) in the playoffs.

Camryn Bynum: CB, Corona (Ca.) Centennial (10-0)

Bynum contributed 4 tackles and three pass breakups to Centennial's dominating win against Norco.

Josh Drayden: CB, Dallas (Tx.) Bishop Dunne (10-0)

Bishop Dunne annihilated Addison (Tx.) Trinity Christian 48-14 to complete an undefeated regular season.

Drayden's highlight video shows him make a nice tackle at the line of scrimmage to stop a wide receiver screen in its tracks and also breakup a downfield pass.

Bishop Dunne will have to wait a week before they know who they will face in the playoffs.

Cameron Goode: LB, Houston (Tx.) Klein Collins (9-1)

Klein Collins rebounded from their first loss of the season by smashing their rivals (Houston (Tx.) Klein Forest 49-20.

Goode's highlight video features one play where he shows great discipline on a quarterback option play before making the tackle.

Klein Collins' playoff opponent is Humble (Tx.) Atascocita (9-1).

Tevin Paul: DE, Austin (Tx.) Lake Travis (10-0)

Paul made five tackles as Lake Travis beat Austin (Tx.) Akins 56-7.

The real work begins now for Lake Travis as they take on Pflugerville (Tx.) Pflugerville (4-7) in the first round of the playoffs. They will likely navigate that game with relative ease.

Traveon Beck: CB, Bellflower (Ca.) St. John Bosco (10-0)

St. John Bosco beat Anaheim (Ca.) Servite 70-7 in their final regular season game and will turn their attention to a first round playoff game against Corona (Ca.) Corona (6-4).

Chris Yaghi: DT, Santa Ana (Ca.) Foothill (5-4)

Foothill lost to Yorba Linda (Ca.) Yorba Linda 31-21. This was their second consecutive defeat and the losing streak appears to have cost Foothill a spot in the playoffs.

Markus Wright: LB, Columbus (Ga.) Jordan (3-7)

Wright made five tackles as Jordan lost 48-9 to Columbus (Ga.) Spencer. It's been a rough season for Jordan and it is finally over.

Evan Weaver: DE, Spokane (Wa.) Gonzaga Prep (10-0)

Weaver made a number of nice plays during Gonzaga Prep's 42-0 victory against Walla Walla (wa.) Walla Walla. Weaver notched a sack, a quarterback hit, a quarterback hurry and a rushing touchdown.

Gonzaga Prep's first opponent in the playoffs is Battle Ground (Wa.) Battle Ground (9-2).

Good luck to all of the future Bears in their playoff games this week!