Cal football recruiting commits, Friday Night Lights: Time for the playoffs

Several Cal football commits had playoff games this past week and the results were a mixed bag. A decent number of future Golden Bears managed to keep their seasons going with playoff victories this week.

For others, the first round of the playoffs marked the end of their high school football careers.

On the bright side, though, the next time they play football they will be playing for the Golden Bears! Unless they pull a Zion Echols ... let's hope no one else from this class pulls an Echols.

Anyways, on to the football!

Jordan Duncan: WR, Hattiesburg (Ms.) Oak Grove (10-2)

Duncan and Oak Grove took down Ocean Springs (Ms.) Ocean Springs by a score of 31-21 to move on to the next round of the playoffs.

Duncan contributed three receptions for 24 yards.

Up next for Oak Grove is a rematch with Meridian (Ms.) Meridian (7-5). Oak Grove will be the visitor, as they were when they defeated Meridian 24-21 during the regular season.

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

Despite taking two horrible losses to end the season, Mission Bay managed to earn a two-seed in the San Diego Section Championship bracket. That means they were on a bye this past week.

Up next for the suddenly slumping Buccaneers is a matchup with seventh-seeded Fallbrook (Ca.) Fallbrook (7-4).

Max Gilliam: QB, Thousand Oaks (Ca.) Thousand Oaks (9-2)

Gilliam helped Thousand Oaks take down Lancaster (Ca.) Eastside 49-14 in the first round of the playoffs with a solid performance.

Gilliam went 13-17 for 212 passing yards and two touchdowns. He also added a rushing touchdown.

Their playoff opponent is Lompoc (Ca.) Lompoc, who are a formidable 10-1 this season.

Drew Kobayashi: WR, Honolulu (Hi.) St. Louis (9-1)

St. Louis won their semifinal matchup in the playoffs 56-30 against Mililani (Hi.) Mililani. Kobayashi hauled in a 76-yard touchdown reception to contribute to their winning cause.

The Hawaii State Football Championship game will see St. Louis take on the undefeated Kahuku (Hi.) Kahuku football team (13-0).

Jake Curhan: OL, Larkspur (Ca.) Redwood (5-6)

Redwood's season is over after a 41-0 loss in the first round of the playoffs to Orinda (Ca.) Miramonte.

Logan Gamble: WR, Long Beach (Ca.) St. Anthony (6-5)

St. Anthony took a 21-6 loss to Irvine (Ca.) Crean Lutheran in the first round of the playoffs. Gamble made a few nice plays on the highlight reel, though.

Gamble ran a go route and got behind the defense, but the ball was thrown a bit behind him. Gamble does a nice job of adjusting and high-pointing the football to make the catch.

He also displayed good route running on an out route, during which he was able to get the cornerback to bite on a fake to the inside.

Matt Laris: WR, Sammamish (Wa.) Eastside Catholic (10-0)

Eastside Catholic predictably had little trouble dispatching of Auburn (Wa.) Auburn Mountainview by a score of 42-7.

Laris caught three passes for 28 yards and lost a fumble.

Up next for the juggernaut of Washington football is a meeting with Bonney Lake (Wa.) Bonney Lake (7-4).

Daniel Juarez: OL, Corona (Ca.) Centennial (11-0)

Centennial walloped West Hills (Ca.) Chaminade 70-29 to keep their dominant season going. Up next for maxpreps.com's number one ranked team in the nation is a rematch with  Orange (Ca.) Orange Lutheran (6-5). The first meeting saw Centennial win 35-14 on the road.

Francisco Perez: OL, Baldwin Park (Ca.) Baldwin Park (7-4)

Baldwin Park suffered a heart-breaking 27-26 overtime loss to the Montebello (Ca.) Schurr in the playoffs. Their season is now over.

Camryn Bynum: CB, Corona (Ca.) Centennial (11-0)

Bynum contributed seven tackles, one pass breakup and a fumble recovery to Centennial's winning cause.

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

Drayden and Bishop Dunne had a bye this past week due to their stellar regular season.

Their first playoff game will be this week against Tomball (tTx.) Concordia Lutheran (5-7).

Cameron Goode: LB, Houston (Tx.) Klein Collins (9-2)

A season which looked so promising late during the regular season ended prematurely when Klein Collins lost 32-27 in the first round to Humble (Tx.) Atascocita 32-27.

This contest featuring a pair of 9-1 teams was a bit cruel for Klein Collins as there were plenty of teams they would have beaten in the first round, but the brackets have been set up they way they are for a while now and their two districts are aligned to meet in the first round.

Goode did everything he could to keep Klein Collins' season going as he contributed several tackles, one sack, one pass breakup and a quarterback hit which led to an interception. Goode even recovered a late onside kick to keep their comeback hopes alive.

Tevin Paul: LB, Austin (Tx.) Lake Travis (11-0)

Lake Travis pummeled Pflugerville (Tx.) Pflugerville 48-0 in the first round of the playoffs. Paul notched five tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack.

Lake Travis will take on Houston (Tx.) Westfield (10-1) next. Westfield will surely provide a more stern test for Lake Travis.

Traveon Beck: CB, Bellflower (Ca.) St. John Bosco (11-0)

St. John Bosco made quick work of Corona (Ca.) Corona by way of a 72-7 beating.

Beck's squad are now second only to Centennial in maxpreps.com's national top 25 rankings.

Their next playoff game will be against Los Angeles (Ca.) Loyola (9-2).

Evan Weaver: DE, Spokane (Wa.) Gonzaga Prep (11-0)

Gonzaga Prep defeated Battle Ground (Wa.) Battle Ground 42-14 in the first of what figures to be many playoff games this season.

Their next opponent is Woodinville (Wa.) Woodinville (7-4); not to be confused with Woodenville - the mythical basketball land from yesteryear wherein the UCLA Bruins were the definitive national powerhouse and did not lose home games to Monmouth.

For those of you who have read the Friday Night Light's pieces throughout the season, it is not a surprise to see Weaver with insane stats on a week to week basis.

He went above and beyond this past week. Weaver rushed the ball nine time for 88 yards and two touchdowns. He also contributed an obscene number of tackles for loss and sacks. I'm pretty sure the sack total hit six, but I may or may not have lost the ability to count as my jaw hit the floor at how dominant a performance this was.

He is a very exciting prospect.

That's all for this week's edition of Friday Night Lights.

Check back next week to follow up on the playoff results for the Cal commits still in action.