Prospects Who Caught Our Attention on Film in Week 9

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the final week of the regular season we dive into some tape of prospects that caught our attention.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>QB [player_tooltip player_id='1924317' first='Brayden' last='Hackett'] (Mattoon - 2028)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hackett had a good week 9 for Mattoon.&nbsp; Good zip on his intermediate passes.&nbsp; Like the pocket presence, play fakes, and footwork he has showed.&nbsp; Good with his mobility and can throw on the run.&nbsp; Good accuracy.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>QB Cam Brinkman (Sacred Heart Griffin – 2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brinkman is a quality hooper and football prospect.&nbsp; The quarterback brings nice mobility moving to extend plays and can scramble for yards and scores when holes open.&nbsp; Quick release with good accuracy.&nbsp; Puts nice touch on the deep ball.&nbsp; Lets it rip on in breaking slant routes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>WR Artie Gamino (Plainfield South – 2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The slot receiver is slippery with the ball taking short routes for long gains.&nbsp; Scored a couple of long touchdowns getting the ball behind the line and running them downfield.&nbsp; Works well shifting from side to side pre snap creating mismatches.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>WR Jake Davis (Maine South – 2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Davis caught three passes and all three went for touchdowns while recording 100 yards.&nbsp; Adjusts well to the ball in the air downfield.&nbsp; Good route runner that gets vertical out of the slot.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>WR CJ Geist (Naperville North – 2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Geist is a slot wide receiver that has good hands and runs well after the catch with the ball.&nbsp; Crafty route runner and good on bubble screens.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>OL Jerry Richmond (East St. Louis – 2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The sophomore left guard got a huge matchup against IMG over the weekend.&nbsp; Anchored well against big time prospects.&nbsp; Mirrors and gets his hands on defenders.&nbsp; Moves very well pulling and hitting hard opening holes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DL Ohimai Ozolua (Romeoville – 2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Romeoville fast rising pass rusher had another big game.&nbsp; Good build and burst off the edge.&nbsp; Uses his hands well to gets down the line of scrimmage making tackles in the run game.&nbsp; His quickness off the ball allos him to get after the QB and put pressure on him speeding up passes.&nbsp; Nice combination of speed and power as a rusher. Can slide inside and rush from defensive tackle in a NASCAR type package.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DL Lachlan Smith (Marshall – 2028)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The southern Illinois 6'0” 240 pound defensive lineman plays with good strength and uses his hands to get off blocks.&nbsp; Does a nice job of stuffing the run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DB [player_tooltip player_id='1865423' first='Connor' last='Hites'] (St. Ignatius – 2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hites is a hard hitting safety that flies in front the back end to make tackles near the line of scrimmage.&nbsp; Takes good angles and is a sound tackler with his technique.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DB [player_tooltip player_id='1565289' first='Tyler' last='VanderLaan'] (Neuqua Valley – 2028)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Safety that closes well on the ball covering out of the slot.&nbsp; Good keeping contain on the edge and making the play.&nbsp; Moves well with receiver downfield blanketing them with sound footwork.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ATH Avian Thomas (Rock Island – 2026)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As a wide receiver Thomas caught a touchdown in the redzone on an in breaking slant route.&nbsp; Solid route runner with good hands.&nbsp; Really like what he brings defensively tackling well in space. &nbsp;&nbsp;He had 61 yards and a touchdown on offense along with 6 tackles including two TFL on defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>K Blake Keller (O'Fallon – 2027)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Panthers kicker showed an explosive leg making both his field goal attempts from 39 yards and 30 yards.&nbsp; He also was 4/4 on PATs.&nbsp; He had a touchback along with 3 punts inside the 10.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->