Last night Huber Heights Wayne lost to Springfield 21-14. Springfield went out to a 21-7 first half lead with Wayne charging hard in the second half falling a little short in their bid to tie at game’s end. There was no shortcoming in talent in this game, but there were some players that I want to focus on beyond the well known talent on display.
<strong>Springfield</strong>
[caption id="attachment_47015" align="alignleft" width="300"]<img class="wp-image-47015 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/08/Smoot-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> <strong>Smoot under center</strong>[/caption]
First off though let it be known that Springfield QB [player_tooltip player_id="34392" first="Te’Sean" last="Smoot"] is the real deal folks. From beginning to end Smoot made play after play. Springfield’s offense has been put on his shoulders and he’s delivered. Te’Sean displays excellent pocket presence as he feels pressure and climbs the pocket. While exuding excellent mobility and scrambling ability he doesn’t use it as a crutch. He keeps his eyes downfield and ready to throw and does a good job of tucking and running when the situation deems it necessary. He can make every throw. The deep ball, crossing routes, and outside the hash throws are all in the repertoire for Smoot. He tallied 300+ all purpose yards on the evening with 3 passing td’s and 2 int’s.
[caption id="attachment_47014" align="alignleft" width="106"]<img class=" wp-image-47014" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/08/Anthony-Brown-169x300.jpg" alt="" width="106" height="188" /> <strong>#7 Brown</strong>[/caption]
Springfield 2023 wr [player_tooltip player_id="34498" first="Anthony" last="Brown"] had a big night with 3 catches for 90 yards. Brown has a great release and good speed. Anthony does a great job of running through the catch. He had a 46 yard reception on a fly route where he ran by the defender and caught the ball over his inside shoulder in stride for a td. As Brown continues to fill out and gain strength, he’s gonna be a very hot commodity.
[caption id="attachment_47019" align="alignleft" width="300"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-47019" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/08/Jaivian-Norman-e1598751617873-300x228.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="228" /> <strong>#28 Jaivian Norman</strong>[/caption]
2023 MLB Jaivian Norman was a player that stuck out. He was all over the field all night long leading all defensive players in tackles with 14. Norman does a great job of filling in the run game as well as playing in space. He had a couple of bigtime hits where that brought the ooh’s and ah’s from the crowd. He’s on the small side at this point, but has the better part of 3 years to fill out and gain strength. He’s gonna be one to watch in the future.
2021 wr Ben Van Noord and 2022 Logan Richardson were two other players that stood out. Van Noord had the first td of the night where he shook free when lining up as an inline TE and caught a post route over the middle. While not a burner he has a good size/speed combo and does a good job of running clean routes. 2022 rb Logan Richardson didn't have a big night, but there were attributes that you could see that make him a very intriguing player. Richardson has top end acceleration and is a slasher with good vision.
<strong>Wayne</strong>
<img class=" wp-image-47017 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/08/Elijah-Brown-169x300.jpg" alt="" width="160" height="284" />[player_tooltip player_id="34382" first="Elijah" last="Brown"] just looks like a Power 5 player the second he steps on the field. A tight end who’s listed at 6’6 240 and looks every bit of it. He’s an imposing figure to smaller defenders who lineup across from him. He’s a huge match up issue for opponents. Put someone bigger on him and he’s gonna run by them, put someone smaller on him and he’s gonna out muscle and go over top of him for the ball.
Wayne QB [player_tooltip player_id="34259" first="Cam" last="Fancher"] is a nightmare for defenses to contain. He showed the ability to execute RPO’s though Wayne didn’t have much success on them. If there’s a constructive criticism I have of Fancher it would be that sometimes he’s too eager to break structure and run rather than letting pass routes develop and so he doesn’t often stretch the field vertically from the pocket. That being said he has a nice easy release and he’s a difficult tackle in the open field.
<img class="size-medium wp-image-47016 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/08/Antonio-Oberry-169x300.jpg" alt="" width="169" height="300" /><strong>2021 Antonio O’Berry</strong> is one of those players that you see out on the field and have to immediately go to the program to see who he is. At 6’4 210 pounds O’Berry is an easy athlete. He’s a long rangy linebacker who can run sideline to sideline. He can come up and play the run and he can drop in coverage. With a frame that can add weight and strength he could slide down to defensive end at the next level, but his athleticism will allow him to stand up as well. O’Berry is a player who should get Division 1 looks. He’s the kind of athlete and body type that can be molded into a high end college defender if a coach is willing to take the time with him
<strong>2021 DeAndre Ham</strong> is simply an athlete. He can help his team both on special teams as a returner where he's a threat to take it to the house at any time. At corner his athleticism provide him the tools to play strong man to man coverage. He also does a good job of breaking on the ball in the air and create turnovers as he had an interception. Ham is another player who has D1 FBS ability, he just needs the opportunity.
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