UGA Honor roll: Junior commit’s move to QB highlights Friday’s action
UGA commitment Deejay Dallas is one of the nation’s top athletes for 2017. The 6-foot, 190-pounder is so skilled it can be debated whether his best spot at UGA will be at receiver on in the secondary.
Well, the junior flashed another side of his skill set last Friday night. His coaches at Glynn Academy felt the team’s best shot going forward this season was to install him at quarterback and see what he could do.
The early returns turned out great Friday night. He had a strong debut under center in a 49-7 win at Richmond Hill. He had eight carries for 113 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Dallas also completed 8 of his 14 pass attempts for 118 yards. He even threw a 50-yard touchdown pass that featured a spiral that traveled more than 50 yards in the air.
“I think I did pretty good for my first start,” Dallas told DawgNation.com. “The coaches didn’t put me in any bad situations and I was really comfortable in the pocket and throwing the ball.”
Not bad for a prospect who can also bench press more than 300 pounds.
How did the rest of UGA’s commitments and major targets fare? Check out the roll call below:
UGA’s 2016 commitments
— QB Jacob Eason, Lake Stevens (Wash.) — Eason had an impressive 25-yard touchdown run in his game Friday night. The nation’s No. 2 quarterback also completed 12 of his 15 passes for 202 yards and four touchdowns.
— CB Chad Clay, Peachtree Ridge (Ga.) — The 3-star recruit had three tackles, broke up two passes and added an interception in a 35-7 win against Mountain View.
— WR Davion Curtis, Temple (Tex.) — According to the Temple Daily Telegram, Curtis caught a 42-yard touchdown pass for the first touchdown of a rousing 69-20 win against University on Friday night.
— WR Randrecous Davis, Mays (Ga.) — He had four catches for 130 yards in a 32-4 win against Lovejoy.
— LB Chauncey Manac, Clinch County (Ga.) — Manac had five tackles on Friday night in a 66-18 rout of Wilcox County.
— DB Tyrique McGhee, Peach County (Ga.) — McGee had 10 carries for 26 yards and two touchdowns in a 36-0 win against Rutland. He played a little bit on defense, but didn’t see much action after Peach got up to a 30-0 lead at the half. He also completed 5 of his 12 passes for 57 yards.
UGA’s 2016 uncommitted targets
— DL Derrick Brown, Lanier (Ga.) — Brown continues to have a monster season. He had eight tackles, one sack and four tackles for losses on Friday night. He picked off a pass and returned that grab for a touchdown. He even lined up at fullback and cleared the way for two rushing touchdowns and another first down.
He told Dawgnation.com recently that he plans to shuffle his official visits. UGA, Auburn, Alabama and Tennessee are currently seen as the major contenders in the race to sign Brown.
— DE Brian Burns, American Heritage (Fla.) — The 4-star defensive end has been a force all season and kept that up on Friday night. He had 1.5 sacks, two tackles for losses and three quarterback pressures when he was taken out halfway through the third quarter.
UGA, Florida, Florida State, Alabama and LSU are seen as the primary landing spots for Burns.
— ATH Marquez Callaway, Warner Robins (Ga.) — Callaway had five catches for 91 yards on Saturday night. He now has 85 catches in his high school career. That’s one shy of the school record set of 86 that’s held by Mike Styles.
— WR Kyle Davis, Archer (Ga. ) — The Gwinnett Daily Post reported that Davis had four catches for 77 yards in a 42-14 win against Parkview. The 5-star WR plans to make his commitment on Oct. 23.
UGA, Auburn and Tennessee would have to be considered the schools with the best odds in earning his commitment.
— ATH Mecole Hardman, Jr., Elbert County (Ga.) — The Anderson Independent-Mail credited Hardman with 22 carries for 155 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-14 win against Hart County.
— WR Grant Holloway, Grassfield (Va.) — The Virginian-Pilot reported that Holloway was held to just three catches for 33 yards in a 34-3 loss to Indian Creek. Holloway really likes UGA. He took an official visit to Florida this weekend, but that program had yet to offer him a football scholarship as of last week.
UGA and Virginia Tech seem to be trending well with Holloway. He’s a national champion in the hurdles and an elite athlete in that sport. Those two programs are the only two schools which have offered him the ability to run track and play college football. He’s told DawgNation.com that what he aims to do in college.
— ATH Demetris Robertson, Savannah Christian (Ga.) — Robertson scored two touchdowns in a 44-0 win against Montgomery County on Friday night in Pooler. He covered 51 yards on the ground for one of those scores and also caught a 15-yard touchdown pass.
Stanford is his leader, but UGA, Alabama, Cal, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech should also go down to the wire in Robertson’s recruiting process.
— DB Nigel Warrior, Peachtree Ridge (Ga.) — Warrior had six tackles and recovered a fumble in a 35-7 win against Mountain View. He’s going to take official visits to Ohio State and Oregon at this point. UGA, Alabama and Tennesse are also seen as major contenders to get his signature on scholarship papers in February on National Signing Day.
— RB Devwah Whaley, Beaumont Central (Tex.) — Richard Davenport of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Whaley had 29 carries for 210 yards and three touchdowns in Friday night’s 35-21 win against Goose Creek.
UGA’s 2017 uncommitted targets
ATH Richard LeCounte III, Liberty County (Ga.) — LeCounte made the play of the game in a 12-3 win against Wayne County. The 4-star prospect flew in from his free safety spot, stole the ball and was credited with a forced fumble, fumble recovery and an approximate 40-yard touchdown return.
That helped Liberty County register a historic victory. It marked the first time that Panthers (coached by former UGA tight end Kirk Warner) had beaten their rivals from Jesup. LeCounte very interested in both UGA and Ohio State and he also has Clemson and Auburn in his top group.
RB Trey Sermon, Sprayberry (Ga.) — Sermon had 20 carries for 70 yards and a touchdown in a 37-7 win against North Atlanta. He’s strongly considering Ohio State, among others.
UGA is in the mix, but will have to gain some ground on the 4-star back who’s rated the No. 4 RB in the nation for 2017.
ATH Jamyest Williams, Archer (Ga.) — Williams had an astounding game Friday night in a 42-14 win against Parkview. The game story from the Gwinnett Daily Post credited him with four total touchdowns on the night. He had three of those on the ground among his 14 carries for 60 yards. He also returned an interception 88 yards for another touchdown.
Official stats in last night's game for Arkansas target @devwah_whaley 210 yards on 29 carries and 3 TDs
— Richard Davenport (@ArRecruitingGuy) September 26, 2015
.@Jamy0602 with his 4th TD of the night, this time a 23 yard run. @Archerteam7 up 42-7 with 1:37 left in 3rd. #ArcherNation
— Archer Athletics (@Archer_Sports) September 26, 2015
Here are a few clips of how Dallas performed on Friday night against Richmond Hill: Jeff Sentell covers UGA recruiting for AJC.com and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on who’s on their way to play Between the Hedges. Follow @JeffSentell_