Blue and Gold Illustrated

January 2018

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JANUARY 2018 45 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP • Notre Dame lost two members of its 2018 class when Indianapolis Cathedral running back Markese Stepp and Etiwanda (Calif.) High wide receiver Geordon Porter decommitted Dec. 2 and Dec. 9, respectively. Stepp, a four-star Rivals250 prospect, was a valued member of the class. However, according to multiples sources with knowledge of the situ- ation, Stepp had work left to do in the classroom and wasn't on track to get it done. The parting of ways leaves Notre Dame with one running back commitment in the class of 2018 — three-star Jahmir Smith of Sanford (N.C.) Lee County, the No. 5 running back in North Carolina. At this point, it is unlikely Notre Dame will pursue another running back to fill Stepp's slot. Coconut Creek (Fla.) North Broward Prep wide receiver Kevin Austin, the No. 81 player in the class, and Gurnee (Ill.) Warren Township prod- uct Micah Jones, the No. 179 player nationally, remain at wide receiver giving the Irish a talented one-two punch. The Irish aim to add at least one more wideout to the group. • The latest edition of the Rivals250 was released Dec. 5, and eight of Notre Dame's 18 commits made the cut. The highest-ranked Irish pledge on the list was Gibsonia (Pa.) Pine-Richland quarterback Phil Jurkovec — who checked in at No. 55, up 25 spots from No. 80 in the previous rankings. Following Jurkovec on the list were Marietta (Ga.) Lassiter safety Derrik Allen at No. 66, Temecula (Calif.) Great Oak linebacker Jack Lamb at No. 77, Austin at No. 81, Erie (Pa.) Cathedral Prep linebacker Matthew "Bo" Bauer at No. 142, Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter's Prep rover Shayne Simon at No. 159, Jones at No. 179 and Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter's Prep defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola at No. 219. This edition of the rankings marked Ademi- lola's debut on the list. • Defensive back recruiting, or lack thereof, has been the subject of much discussion among Irish fans for the last year. Notre Dame added three- star athlete Tariq Bracy of Milpitas (Calif.) High Dec. 10, and Blue & Gold Illustrated felt good about the chances of adding Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star safety Houston Griffith going into his Dec. 12 decision, which would give them five secondary commits. The focus is now on four-star Noah Boykin of Washington (D.C.) H.D. Woodson, the No. 193 overall player in the land, and fellow four-star Kyler Gordon of Everett (Wash.) Archbishop Mur- phy, the No. 25 cornerback nationally. Ideally, Notre Dame would like to add at least one of those two players to the class, which would meet the staff's goals at the position. • Two Irish commits picked up big honors Dec. 11, when Gatorade named its State Player of the Year award winners. Gibsonia (Pa.) Pine-Richland quar- terback Phil Jurkovec captured the award for Pennsylvania and Reno (Nev.) Damonte Ranch quarterback Cade McNamara claimed the award for Nevada. Jurkovec accounted for 5,193 yards of total offense and 63 touchdowns while leading Pine-Richland to a state championship, while McNamara fin- ished his junior season 225-of-384 passing (58.6 percent) for 3,470 yards with 44 touchdowns and eight interceptions. — Corey Bodden and David McKinney • DL Jayson Ademilola: Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter's Prep (9-3) fell 44-7 to Oradell (N.J.) Ber- gen Catholic (10-2) in the New Jersey Non-Public Group 4 championship game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J … Finished the season with 56 total stops, 16 tackles for loss and eight sacks. Season completed. • DL Justin Ademilola: Jersey City (N.J.) St. Pe- ter's Prep (9-3) fell 44-7 to Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic (10-2) in the New Jersey Non-Public Group 4 championship game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. … Finished the year with 42 total stops, nine tackles for loss and six sacks. Season completed. • LB Matthew Bauer: Erie (Pa.) Cathedral Prep (14-0) defeated Philadelphia Imhoptep Charter (13-2) 38-28 in the Pennsylvania Class 4A cham- pionship game … Advanced to the title game by defeating Jefferson Hills (Pa.) Thomas Jefferson (11-2) 42-17 in the quarterfinals and Reading (Pa.) Berks Catholic (13-1) 42-24 in the semifinals. Season completed. • OL John Dirksen: Maria Stein (Ohio) Marion Local (15-0) notched a 34-11 victory versus Kirt- land (Ohio) High (14-1-1) in the Ohio Division VI championship game … Advanced to the title game by beating Findlay (Ohio) Liberty-Benton (12-2) 31-13 in the semifinals. Season completed. • QB Phil Jurkovec: Completed 15 of 27 passes for 200 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and also rushed 20 times for 88 yards and four scores, to help Gibsonia (Pa.) Pine-Richland (16-0) take down Philadelphia St. Joseph's Prep (13-1), the nation's No. 7 team per USA Today, 41-21 in the Pennsylvania Class 6A championship game … While battling the flu, he connected on 19 of 32 throws for 241 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, plus added 105 yards and a score on 10 carries, in a 28-7 victory over Lancaster (Pa.) Manheim Town- ship (13-2) in the semifinals … Completed 20 of 25 passes for 249 yards with three scores, and also contributed 123 yards and two touchdowns on 14 rushing attempts, in a 49-21 triumph over State College (Pa.) High in the quarterfinals … Finished the season 245-of-337 passing (72.7 percent) for 3,969 yards with 39 touchdowns and six interceptions, as well as 135 rushing attempts for 1,224 yards and 24 scores. Season completed. • DT Jacob Lacey: Bowling Green (Ky.) South Warren (11-3) lost 43-7 to Park Hills (Ky.) Cov- ington Catholic (14-0) in the semifinals of the Kentucky Class 5A playoffs. Season completed. • DB Paul Moala: Mishawaka (Ind.) Penn (13-2) lost 63-14 to Indianapolis Ben Davis (14-0) in the Indiana Class 6A championship game … Finished the year with 79 tackles. Season completed. • ROV Shayne Simon: Jersey City (N.J.) St. Pe- ter's Prep (9-3) fell 44-7 to Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic (10-2) in the New Jersey Non-Public Group 4 championship game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. … Led the team in recep- tions (52), receiving yards (522) and receiving touchdowns (six), plus contributed 53 total stops, 14 tackles for loss, two sacks and five intercep- tions. Season completed. Season completed: DB Derrik Allen of Marietta (Ga.) Lassiter (6-4), WR Kevin Austin of Coco- nut Creek (Fla.) North Broward Prep (7-3), DT Ja'Mion Franklin of Ridgely (Md.) North Caroline (10-1), WR Micah Jones of Gurnee (Ill.) Warren Township (8-4), LB Jack Lamb of Temecula (Calif.) Great Oak (5-6), OT Cole Mabry of Brentwood (Tenn.) High (10-2), QB Cade McNamara of Reno (Nev.) Damonte Ranch (11-1), LB Ovie Oghoufo of Farmington Hills (Mich.) Harrison (11-4), RB Jahmir Smith of Sanford (N.C.) Lee County (12-1), TE George Takacs of Naples (Fla.) Gulf Coast (4- 3) and CB Joseph Wilkins Jr. of North Fort Myers (Fla.) High (9-1). Follow @BGI_CoreyBodden and @BGI_DMcKinney on Twitter for daily recruiting updates available on BlueandGold.com! Notre Dame has made a big push for Washington (D.C.) H.D. Woodson cornerback Noah Boykin and could be close to landing him. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM Commitment Updates Recruiting Notes

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