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State playoff races around the country are wrapping up and a couple Hawkeye commits in the class of 2018 are still playing. Here’s a look at how they performed last week.
Anthony Torres
Pos: TE
Hometown: Mishawaka, Indiana
Ht: 6’6”
Wt: 235 lbs
Torres remains out for the season with an injury. In his stead, the Mishawaka Penn Kingsmen took on Ben Davis in Lucas Oil Stadium last Saturday for a chance at the Indiana 6A State Championship. Unfortunately for the Kingsmen, they couldn’t keep up with Ben Davis and their star QB and Indiana Hoosier commit Reese Taylor as they fell 63-14. Penn finishes the year 13-2. Torres missed his entire senior season.
Terry Roberts
Pos: DB
Hometown: Erie, PA
Ht: 5’10”
Wt: 169 lbs
Defensive back commit Terry Roberts and Cathedral Prep were back in action last week. They rolled past Thomas Jefferson 42-17. In the win, Roberts had 1 catch for 40 yards (he had another for a 63-yard TD called back on a hold) on offense, as well as 3 tackles and 2 passes broken up on defense. Here’s a look at the highlights.
On the season, Roberts now has 1,069 yards and 14 touchdowns on 35 catches (29.7 YPC) on the offensive side of the ball and 15 tackles and 5 interceptions on defense. The win moves Cathedral Prep to 12-0 on the year. They will face off with Berks Catholic on Friday with the winner advancing to the Pennsylvania Class 4A State Championship. You can see their playoff bracket here.
Samson Evans
Pos: ATH
Hometown: Crystal Lake, IL
Ht: 6’1”
Wt: 190 lbs
Wide receiver commit Samson Evans and teammate Jeff Jenkins, an offensive line commit, finished their senior seasons in style as they were able to become back-to-back state champions with a 28-21 win over Nazareth Academy last Saturday. Evans, who plays QB in a run-oriented offense, finished with 155 rushing yards and a pair of TDs on 35 carries (4.4 YPC). He also added a 78-yard punt return for a TD in the win.
On the year, Evans finishes with 2,101 rushing yards and 37 touchdowns on 268 carries (7.8 YPC) and 605 yards and 8 more touchdowns passing. Prairie Ridge finishes the year unbeaten at 15-0 on the year.
Evans finishes his high school career with nearly 6,400 rushing yards, good enough for 7th all time in the state of Illinois, and 112 rushing TDs, 3rd best all time in the state. Here’s a look at his senior year highlights.
Rankings Updates
As they periodically do, Rivals made some rankings updates earlier this week. A few current commits in the class of 2018 for Iowa had some changes.
Samson Evans
Was: 3 Star
Now: 2 Star
Given everything I’ve written above about his accomplishments this season and over his career, this one doesn’t really add up. He also has an impressive offer list which indicates coaches see more than a 2 star rating. The only concern I would have on him is the position change. He plays in an option offense where he is carrying the ball 30+ times a game in high school and looks to be moving to WR at the next level. Even with a position change, I can’t make sense of this one.
Terry Roberts
Was: 2 Star
Now: 3 Star
Roberts appears to be the opposite story of Evans. I’ve said a number of times he didn’t look like a 2 star and I’m not sure if it was lack of evaluation or what that caused him to be ranked that way initially, but this one is finally corrected. Roberts looks like he could play WR for a number of power 5 schools and is good enough defensively that opponents just don’t throw at him. Good to see him get the bump he deserved.
Ben VanSumeren
Was: 2 Star
Now: 3 Star
I said it when I first wrote about VanSumeren committing to Iowa, he was vastly underrated as a 2 star. The only way it makes sense is if you assume the competition level was terrible, but his testing at camps should have been enough to see he is a freak athlete. I have some concern that he may be physically closer to his ceiling than a lot of Iowa recruits, but he looks like a man among boys on the high school football field. Like Roberts, glad to see him get some of the respect he deserves.
As a reminder, here’s the complete list of commitments to-date in the class of 2018, updated with new star rankings per Rivals.
Iowa Football Class of 2018 Commitments
Name | Pos | Hometown | Ht | Wt | Stars | Commitment Date | Signing Period |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Pos | Hometown | Ht | Wt | Stars | Commitment Date | Signing Period |
Jeff Jenkins | OL | Crystal Lake, IL | 6'4" | 272 | 3 | 1/22/2017 | Early |
Dillon Doyle | LB | Iowa City, IA | 6'3" | 215 | 3 | 3/20/2017 | Early |
Henry Geil | RB | Green Bay, WI | 6'0" | 211 | 3 | 4/23/2017 | Early |
Tyrone Tracy Jr. | ATH | Indianapolis, IN | 6'0" | 187 | 3 | 4/29/2017 | Early |
Tyler Linderbaum | DT | Solon, IA | 6'2" | 255 | 3 | 5/1/2017 | Early |
Samson Evans | ATH | Crystal Lake, IL | 6'1" | 190 | 2 | 5/21/2017 | Early |
Terry Roberts | DB | Erie, PA | 5'10" | 169 | 3 | 6/5/2017 | Early |
Cody Ince | OL | Balsam Lake, WI | 6'5" | 260 | 3 | 6/19/2017 | Early |
Jack Plumb | TE | Green Bay, WI | 6'8" | 245 | 3 | 6/26/2017 | Early |
Noah Shannon | DT | Oswego, IL | 6'2" | 285 | 3 | 7/4/2017 | Early |
DJ Johnson | DB | Indianapolis, IN | 6'0" | 170 | 3 | 8/22/2017 | Late* |
Julius Brents | DB | Indianapolis, IN | 6'2" | 180 | 4 | 9/1/2017 | Late* |
John Waggoner | DE | West Des Moines, IA | 6'5" | 245 | 4 | 12/5/2017 | Early |
Calvin Lockett | WR | Largo, FL | 6'2" | 170 | 3 | 12/13/2017 | Early |
Spencer Petras | QB | Kentfield, CA | 6'5" | 225 | 4 | 12/15/2017 | Early |
Dallas Craddieth | DB | Florrisant, MO | 6'1" | 180 | 4 | 12/20/2017 | Early |
Seth Benson | LB | Sioux Falls, SD | 6'1" | 210 | 2 | 12/21/2017 | Early |
Nico Ragaini | WR | West Haven, CT | 6'0" | 190 | 3 | 1/8/2017 | NA |
Logan Klemp | LB | Jewell, IA | 6'3" | 210 | 2 | 2/2/2018 | Late |
Kaevon Merriweather | S | Belleville, MI | 6'2" | 195 | 2 | 2/2/2018 | Late |
Jayden McDonald | LB | Suwanee, GA | 6'1" | 210 | 3 | 2/5/2018 | Late |