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Friday Night Highlights: Horn Lake’s Trio puts on a show

Another year, still crootin. Every week we’ll take a look at how Ole Miss commits and targets perform in their high school games.

By Zach Berry
Student Sports

The Horn Lake Eagles finally had their chance to open up their season after a preseason chock full of hype and high expectations for the first time in years. The 6A school in DeSoto County has three very talented 2019 Ole Miss targets that suit up for them and they did not disappoint in their first game of 2017 in a convincing 56-14 win over Shannon (Miss.) Red Raiders.

Rebel Grove’s Russell Johnson was on site to view Nakobe Dean, Tyler Grim and Raydarious Jones live and in color and the three did not disappoint. Dean, a four-star outside linebacker who holds offers from Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Michigan among others, is an in-state prospect that Ole Miss MUST get. Plain and simple.

The 6’2, 215-pounder who is ranked as the No. 7 outside linebacker in the country is an athletic specimen who will only get better with two full years of high school left to grow and get better. The Rebels will need to ensure that Dean knows that he is a priority for their 2019 class or he could leave the state and go elsewhere.

Tyler Grim, a 5’10, 192-pound running back who is rated as the No. 23 back in the country, had a big night as well for the Eagles. Grim had three touchdowns before the gun went off for halftime and pretty much had his way with the Shannon defense. As of now, he currently only holds one offer from Central Arkansas, but that will soon change if he continues to march through defense like he did on Friday.

The third and final prospect that Ole Miss fans need to know is three-star cornerback prospect Raydarious Jones. The dynamic athlete is listed as a corner on 247Sports, but he also plays quarterback for Horn Lake. He will definitely play on the defensive side of the ball in college but his athletic prowess is really on display on offense. After he ran a blistering 4.37 40-yard dash at Ole Miss’ Elite Camp earlier this summer, he was offered on the spot by the Rebels and LSU and Southern Miss soon followed.

Could Dean, Grim and Jones be a package deal for next year’s class. Probably not. But, it certainly doesn’t hurt to treat it like that in order to make sure you get at least one and maybe two jump on board Ole Miss’ 2019 class. These three will be fun to watch this season and will be names to know for the next year and a half. They have already visited Ole Miss for camp and unofficially and might be down again later this year when Ole Miss starts hosting official visitors.

This Olive Branch RB is getting folk’s attention after another big week.

In week one, the Conquistadors opened with a statement win over the Collierville (Tenn.) Dragons to the tune of 42-12. One year removed from a 0-10 year, Demarcus Ware II seems to be a man determined to erase all memories of a disastrous 2016. In week one, Ware toted it for 223 yards and four touchdowns, earning him Player of the Week honors from Memphis’ Commercial Appeal. So how did he follow that up?

In week two’s rivalry game against the Southaven (Miss.) Chargers, the 5’11, 185-pound back ran for 121 yards and scored two touchdowns en route to a 31-14 win to improve OB to 2-0. The 2018 product is yet to be offered by Ole Miss, but if he continues to put up performances like this week in and week out, Derrick Nix will notice.

Matt Luke offered Maurice Washington, III last week.

The former California prep star transferred to Trinity Christian School in Cedar Hill, Tex. and will start his 2017 season this Friday against Episcopal School of Dallas. Washington, a three-star running back target, received an official Ole Miss last Monday and could be a name to watch moving forward at the position with several of their targets either moving on or still having cold feet because of the NCAA uncertainty.

The 6’0, 175-pounder currently holds offers from Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Ohio State and Southern Cal and is predicted to choose the Buckeyes according to 247Sports Crystal Ball predictor. But, one might think that Washington might have to look elsewhere since Urban Meyer already has three running backs committed.

The nation’s No. 14 running back croot spoke with 247Sports’ David Johnson and told him “I’m a signing day guy,” giving Ole Miss plenty of time to get in on this talented prospect before he makes a decision. So it is not entirely out of the realm of possibility that Maurice hears Ole Miss out, especially if they get a positive response from the NCAA later this fall.