PRZJordan’s Playoff Round 1 Live Look: Naperville North Standouts
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Kicking off Round 1 of the playoffs, I got a chance to see Naperville North LIVE in action as they took on the Marist Red Hawks. With that being said, let’s take a look at some of the Naperville North…
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Continue ReadingKicking off Round 1 of the playoffs, I got a chance to see Naperville North LIVE in action as they took on the Marist Red Hawks. With that being said, let’s take a look at some of the Naperville North Huskies that caught my eye.
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Mr. Gray is committed to Northwestern University and is one of the top QBs we have in the state. This young man can get the ball out quickly limiting the chances the opposing pass rush and can throw on the run well. When he does so, he flips his hips well to add zip on the ball as he puts it right into the receiver’s hands to keep the chains moving. What stands out the most is how he can make all level throws both adding a touch on the ball as well as adding zip to it. He also got it done in the ground game running the option as well as pulling the ball down to scramble if nothing is open downfield. When he does scramble, he can run through contact and break weak grab tackles in the process by keeping his feet driving. This resulted in him breaking long runs such as 40 yard run in the 2nd and a 31 yard run in the 2nd half. Talk about a performance as this young man finished with 3 TDs and 1 INT to end the night. Twitter
Highlights
I’ve had the pleasure of scouting Mr. Williams each year where he continues to improve from his previous season’s performance – on both sides of the ball. In Friday night’s contest, he was a force being all over the place to give his team a chance all night long. As they say, big time players make big time plays and that is the epitome of what Mr. Williams can do. On offense, he works as a receiver that can win over the top as a deep threat downfield to secure contested catches. This is what happened during his 40 yard TD in the 2nd putting his team in the board. Once the ball is in his hands, he can make the firs defender miss in open space before getting vertical quickly and has good change of direction to pair with this. Switching over to defense, this is where he can drive through tackles and close quickly to secure open field tackles in the flat for no to minimum gain on the play. His technique is second to none as he does a good job of staying on receiver’s hip pocket and racking down to force incomplete passes on 50/50 balls. One impressive play in particular was where he secured an interception in the 3rd by high pointing the ball to play above the rim taking it away from Marists’ star wideout. Overall, this young man is just starting to scratch the surface in terms of his potential and I look forward to seeing more P5 Offers come his way. Twitter
Highlights
Mr. Jacobs is a halfback that came onto my radar last season and one that I was very interested to see how he would perform this season. In Friday night’s contest, he was getting involved in both offensive attacks. In the run game, he’s a hard runner that keeps his feet driving through the whistle and at times won’t go down upon initial contact. In the air attack, he can take the swing route getting vertical quickly along the sideline to keep the chains moving and does a good job in the halfback screen game picking up chunk yards here. What stands out the most about this young man is his foot quicks as if you’re not careful he can gain a step on 2nd level defenders and be off to the races in an instant. He’s also a track star being names All State four times. Twitter
Highlights
Jackson Kertin
Jackson Kertin
Mr. Kerstin is an offensive tackle that did a good job of mirroring in pass pro all night long to tie up the rushing defender at the point of attack. He also was consistent in creating running lanes for his teammates when he was blocking in-line. This young man did so by getting out of his stance quickly and deliver his initial punch to get hands inside and keep his feet driving through the whistle. What stood out the most about this young man was when he got into open space and picked up a key block on the defender which resulted in a 80 yard TD run in the 3rd. The versatility he brings being able to block both in-line and in open space is one to watch. Currently he holds 2 D1 Offers and has yet to decide where he’s going to take his talents to next fall. Twitter
David Olano
David Olano
Mr. Olano is one of the top kickers we have in the state and he showed why during Friday night’s contest. This young man uses his strong leg to flip field position throughout the night on punts making 40 to 50 yard punts each time. By doing so it made Marist have to drive farther down the field to get into the endzone which gave the Huskie’s defense chances to make turnovers, which they did. This young man also had a handful of touchbacks as well. Safe to say the University of Illinois is getting a strong legged kicker that also has the ability to nail long field goals from 35+ out. Twitter
Cole Arl
Cole Arl
Mr. Arl is a new name to me this fall season and is the young man that broke the 80 yard TD run in the 3rd quarter. This young man’s foot quicks and lateral quickness were on full display when doing so as once he turned the corner he was off to the races. There were limited snaps of his in this game so there’s not a deep dive into his skill set currently but it was impressive to watch him break that long 80 yard TD run. I’ll be sure to keep a close eye on this young man moving forward and get a deeper eval on him this offseason. Twitter
Mr. Pettaway reminds me of Luke Williams Luke Williams 6’1″ | 175 lbs | WR Naperville North | 2024 State IL , to me they play very similar and have a similar skill set as a wideout. This young man has a long catch radius which he uses when he goes up for 50/50 balls to play above the rim and secure contested catches. In the 4th he was able to find the endzone for six by doing just that giving his team momentum in the game. What stands out the most about this young man is his quickness off the line to get to the defender’s toes and break them off creating separation on the route. With the threat he poses to win over the top this gives this young man leeway on how he wants to set up the route – snapping off if it’s a underneath route or going over top on the deep shot downfield – with his release and the break at the top. Overall, look for this young man to start gaining more attention as we head into the offseason for the Huskies as they’re primed to have one of the top receiving cores in the state next season. This includes this young man, Luke Williams Luke Williams 6’1″ | 175 lbs | WR Naperville North | 2024 State IL , and Austin Campbell Austin Campbell 6’1″ | 160 lbs | WR Naperville North | 2024 IL as they’re all threats in the air attack. Twitter
Honorable Mention
Lawson Grier 24′ DL (DE) 6’0 235 Twitter
Drew Jennings 24′ OL 6’2 230 Twitter
Ryan Anderson Ryan Anderson 6'2" | 200 lbs | LB Naperville North | 2023 IL 23′ LB Twitter
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