Friday Night Lights
By: Gavin Oliver November 23, 2019

Each week throughout the season, The Clemson Insider keeps you posted on the performances of Clemson’s commitments in their respective high school football games.

Many of Clemson’s pledges took the field Friday night for postseason action. In our Friday Night Lights feature, we look at how the future Tigers fared in the playoffs:

Five-star Clemson defensive line commit Bryan Bresee came up big for Damascus (Damascus, Md.) on the offensive side of the ball Friday night.

On fourth-and-4 with a little more than a minute remaining in Damascus’s game against Franklin (Reisterstown, Md.) in the 3A state quarterfinals, Bresee took a handoff and rumbled through a bunch of defenders en route to a 34-yard touchdown run that sealed his team’s 30-13 victory.

In other action, five-star quarterback commit DJ Uiagalelei completed 11 of his 19 passes for 192 yards and four touchdowns, including three in the first half, to lead St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) to a 52-14 rout of Centennial (Corona, Calif.) in the CIF Southern Section Division I semifinals.

With the win, Bosco advanced to the Division I championship game Nov. 30 against Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.).

Four-star running back Phil Mafah helped Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) double up East Coweta (Sharpsburg, Ga.) 42-21 in the second round of the Class 7A state playoffs. Mafah rushed for 126 yards and three touchdowns on just 13 carries.

Meanwhile, five-star running back Demarkcus Bowman broke off a 46-yard touchdown run for Lakeland (Lakeland, Fla.), though Lakeland lost to Armwood (Seffner, Fla.) by a score of 23-10 in the Florida Class 7A, Region 2 final.

Four-star wide receiver E.J. Williams hauled in four receptions for 166 yards and had a 58-yard touchdown catch for Central (Phenix City, Ala.) in its 38-0 shutout of Auburn (Auburn, Ala.) in the Class 7A state semifinals.

Clemson safety commit R.J. Mickens shined on offense Friday, recording three receptions for 84 yards –including a 10-yard diving touchdown catch — for Southlake Carroll (Southlake, Texas) in its 37-15 win against DeSoto (DeSoto, Texas) in the Class 6A Division I area-round game at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium.

On the defensive side of the ball, four-star linebacker Kevin Swint tallied six tackles while helping Carrollton (Carrollton, Ga.) to a 21-10 win over Veterans (Kathleen, Ga.) in the second round of the Class 5A state playoffs.

On Thursday, Clemson safety commit Tyler Venables, who plays quarterback for Daniel (Central, S.C.), threw for 327 yards and two touchdown passes while also rushing for a pair of scores. However, Daniel fell to Ridge View (Columbia, S.C) 35-28 in the third round of the Class 4A state playoffs.

Here are other scores from this past week’s games involving Clemson commits:

LB Sergio Allen, Peach County (Fort Valley, Ga.) – 35-0 win vs. Calhoun (Calhoun, Ga.) – Second round of Class 3A state playoffs

WR Dacari Collins, McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) – 42-14 win vs. North Forsyth (Cumming, Ga.) – Second round of Class 7A state playoffs

OL Mitchell Mayes, Leesville Road (Raleigh, N.C.) – 43-7 win vs. Hoke County (Raeford, N.C.) – Second round of 4AA playoffs

OL Walker Parks, Frederick Douglass (Lexington, Ky.) – 44-8 win vs. Southwestern (Somerset, Ky.) – Regional championship game of Class 5A state playoffs

OL Paul Tchio, Milton (Milton, Ga.) – 38-24 loss vs. Marietta (Marietta, Ga.) – Second round of Class 7A state playoffs

LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr., St. Joseph’s (Philadelphia, Pa.) – 45-24 win vs. Nazareth (Nazareth, Pa.) – Class 6A state quarterfinals

DL Tre Williams, St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) – vs. Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.), 6 p.m. Sunday – WCAC championship game at Catholic University (Washington, D.C.)

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