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A week after a trio of Hawkeye commits kicked off their senior seasons, the rest of the Iowa recruiting class of 2019 got into action this week as most every high school across the country kicked off the prep football season. In the land of Hawkeye recruiting, there were some pretty impressive performances.
As we will do each week during the high school football season, here’s a recap of the performances for current Hawkeye commits over the last week:
Alex Padilla, QB
Hometown: Greenwood Village, CO (Cherry Creek)
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 195
Stars: 247 Sports - 3 Rivals - 3
Quarterback commit Alex Padilla kicked off his senior season in style. He finished with 206 yards and 4 touchdowns on 10-16 passing (62.5%) as top-ranked Cherry Creek clobbered Doherty 56-7 on Thursday evening. He also added 35 rushing yards on 3 carries.
Padilla did his damage in three quarters as the score led to a continuous clock situation and little need for starters in the 4th.
The Greenwood Village native is an interesting prospect for Iowa. He’s certainly built different than 2018 QB commit Spencer Petras. He reminds me more of class of 2017 QB Peyton Mansell. While he didn’t make use of his legs a ton in week one, he did show off his escapability.
.@APadilla_8 gets out of trouble and finds a receiver for a short TD. @CreekFB leads @DHS_Football1 42-0 in the 3rd. Mercy rule, running clock. #copreps pic.twitter.com/UceRmFsyWo
— Lindsey Smith (@LindseySquints) August 24, 2018
The pocket presence and slipperiness will certainly come in handy at the next level.
You can see Padilla’s full highlights below.
Padilla and Cherry Creek travel to Santa Margarita, California in week two.
Desmond Hutson, WR
Hometown: Raytown, MO (Raytown)
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 195
Stars: 247 Sports - 3 Rivals - 3
While Padilla is throwing to Air Force commit Marcus Miller this season, one of his targets once he dons the black and gold will be Raytwon, Missouri receiver Desmond Hutson. Hutson kicked off his senior campaign in similar fashion to Padilla, hauling in 7 catches for 118 yards (16.9 ypc) and a pair of TDs.
The effort came in a 41-34 win for Raytown over Blue Springs South. They take on Oak Park this Friday.
Logan Lee, TE
Hometown: Orion, IL (Orion)
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 225
Stars: 247 Sports - 4 Rivals - 3
Another potential target for Padilla in Iowa City will be Orion tight end Logan Lee. Lee kicked off his senior season Friday with a solid performance on both sides of the ball. He finished with 2 catches for 20 yards. He also added 4 tackles, including 3 TFL, and 2 sacks on defense.
Orion took down Spring Valley Hall 42-21 on Friday. They’ll play host to Sherrard this week.
Jack Campbell, LB
Hometown: Cedar Falls, IA (Cedar Falls)
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 210
Stars: 247 Sports - 3 Rivals - 3
Speaking of defensive performances, linebacker commit Jack Campbell had a very good one to kick of his senior season. Playing in Ames, Campbell tallied 8 tackles, including 1 for loss, as Cedar Falls cruised to 31-0 win of the Little Cyclones.
Cedar Falls will now play host to the Little Hawks of Iowa City City High this Friday.
Jestin Jacobs, LB
Hometown: Clayton, OH (Northmont)
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 205
Stars: 247 Sports - 3 Rivals - 3
Fellow linebacker commit Jestin Jacobs of Ohio also had an impressive senior debut. Jacobs finished with 6 tackles, including 2 solos and a fumble recovery as Northmont demolished Lima Senior 56-13.
Jacobs also got into the action on the offensive side of the ball, tallying 6 yards and a rushing TD on 2 carries. Northmont will be back in action with Fairmont at home this Friday evening.
Sebastian Castro, S
Hometown: Oak Lawn, IL (Richards)
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 198
Stars: 247 Sports - 3 Rivals - 3
Safety commit Sebastian Castro did it all in his opener last Friday. With the planned starter at QB sidelined awaiting clearance on his transfer, Castro played both ways and put on a solid showing filling in at QB.
He finished with 186 yards and 2 TDs on the ground, including a put-away touchdown in the 4th to take Richards’ lead to 17-7. He followed that up with an interception on the defensive side of the ball to seal the win.
Castro also appeared to take a human life at one point. See the first clip in his highlights from last week.
A lot to like in there beyond the ridiculous tackle after coming from the other side of the field. The kid is an athlete and you love to see the toughness he shows turning from QB into lead blocker after getting the ball to his running back.
In addition to the interception, Castro had 8 tackles on defense.
Richards is back in action this Friday at St. Rita.
Dane Belton, CB/S
Hometown: Tampa, FL (Jesuit)
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 185
Stars: 247 Sports - 3 Rivals - 3
The other defensive back commit in this class is Florida native Dane Belton. Belton has the flexibility to play either corner or safety, but spends a good portion of his time at safety for his Tampa Jesuit team. He also handles punting and returner duties.
In the season opening 28-7 win over Durant Friday, Belton finished with two tackles before he was forced to leave the game with an ankle injury. Here’s a look at his highlights before the injury.
The injury sounds relatively minor and Belton hopes to be back out there for Jesuit when they host Steinbrenner this week.
Jake Karchinski, DE
Hometown: De Pere, WI (West De Pere)
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 245
Stars: 247 Sports - 3 Rivals - 3
Defensive end commit Jake Karchinski is the only of Iowa’s recruits to already have a game under his belt and a matchup last week (Tyler Goodson and North Gwinnett also played in week 0, but had a bye this week). Karchinski picked up right where he left off, tallying 5 tackles, including 2 TFL, and a sack as West De Pere took down New London 35-0.
West De Pere (2-0) will host Green Bay West this week.
Jalen Hunt, DE
Hometown: Belleville, MI (Belleville)
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 250
Stars: 247 Sports - 3 Rivals - 3
Finally, Jalen Hunt and Belleville took home 40-35 victory over Brighton in their season opener. As of this writing, no defensive stats are available.
Belleville will host Churchill this week.
Lineman Notes
Offensive line commit Justin Britt and Warren Central were in action on Friday night. Hopefully you had your DVR set to ESPNU as Britt and top 2019 WR target David Bell won the nationally televised contest with Trinity (Kentucky) on a Bell touchdown reception.
Unfortunately, Britt suffered a knee knee injury in the second half. He’ll reportedly have an MRI early this week to determine the extent of the injury.
Warren Central (2-0) is at North Central (home of freshman CB DJ Johnson) this Friday.
Fellow lineman commit Noah Fenske and New Hampton fell to Aplington-Parkersburg 13-12 on Friday night. New Hampton will be at Charles City in week two.
Elsewhere, offensive lineman Ezra Miller and Ridge View suffered a 40-16 loss to OA-BCIG. Ridge View will host Woodbury Central this week.
And finally, lineman Tyler Endres had a pair of tackles on defense, but Norwalk fell to Indianola 24-7 in their opener on Friday. They’ll travel to Dallas Center-Grimesthis week as they look to bounce back.
That’s it for week 1 of the high school football season. We’ll be back next week (and every week from here on out) to update you on all the performances.