Toledo (OH) Central Catholic Top247 2014 QB DeShone Kizer tells me #PennState is the latest to offer. pennstate.247sports.com/Board/18/Penn-… via @247sports

— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong247) November 16, 2012

Just got offered by michigan

— Tay scott (@ArtavisScott7) November 16, 2012

Alabama and South Carolina came to see me today ,, Coach Lance Thompson ,, Coach Sand and Botkins from SC thank you

— Raekwon McMillan® (@Kwon_daTRUTH) November 16, 2012

4-Star WR Tony Stevens will visit Texas A&M this weekend.More on Noles247 -- ow.ly/1PzAN5

— Josh Newberg (@joshnewberg247) November 15, 2012

Top247 lineman Donovan Munger headlines an insane #UCLA visitor list per @jhopkins247 ucla.247sports.com/Article/Donova… via @247sports #Bruins

— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong247) November 16, 2012

Trinity allstar James Quick leaves the game on a stretcher. Our prayers go out to him and his family. He's a great kid with a great future.

— KentuckySportsNews(@KySportsNews) November 17, 2012

Trinity Head Coach bob beatty said WR James Quick was taken to hospital for "precautionary reasons" with neck/shoulder pain

— KentuckySportsNews(@KySportsNews) November 17, 2012

#OhioState commit DT Michael Hill @michaelrealhill confirms he's visiting Columbus next weekend for #THEGAME

— Alex 11W (@alex11w) November 17, 2012

#OhioState QB commit JT Barrett tells me he will be in Columbus for #TheGame next weekend

— Alex 11W (@alex11w) November 16, 2012

• Skai Moore officially visits Wisconsin
• Cornelius Elder officially visits UCLA
• Oklahoma offers Dante Booker
• Wisconsin offers Andy Bauer

Rivals$--Scott talks with North '13 NC WR Marquez North

• Marquez now says he is planning visits to Oregon, tOSU, and possibly a fifth visit. He lists Tennessee, North Carolina, and Clemson in order as his top three.

Rivals$--Hendrix talks Illini, recruiting '14 OH LB Dorian Hendrix

• Dorian enjoyed his visit to Illinois and is hearing from Ohio State, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan St, and West Virginia.

Rivals$--Ohio junior OL holds eight offers '14 OH OL Kyle Trout

• Kyle now has offers from Pitt, Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Bowling Green, Ohio, and Toledo. He plans to be at The Game and is considering every school that is interested.

BN$--McMillian Open To OSU Flip? '13 FL LB Daniel McMillan

• Daniel is very interested in tOSU and plans to give the Buckeyes a good look on his official visit. He is only considering Florida and tOSU.

24/7 $ - Hearns considers four visits '13 FL LB James Hearns

• Plans to visit Florida, OSU and possibly FSU and Louisville...says OSU is recruiting him hard and talking to him about early playing time.

BN $ - JUCO LB Says OSU Official Visit On '13 JUCO LB Auston Johnson

• By BK...spoke to Coach Fickell and still plans on making an official for The Game...offers from Texas A&M and Old Dominion and being recruited hard by Minnesota, Kentucky and BYU. 

BN$--Peppers Plans To Do It All '14 NJ DB Jabrill Peppers

• Jabrill is a straight-A student and wants to be challenged academically. He says tOSU and Stanford are recruiting him the hardest and will receive spring visits. He is also interested in ND, Michigan, Alabama, Florida, Miami, Rutgers and USC.

Alton's Ezekiel Elliott brightest star in John Burroughs galaxy (The Telegraph)

The best prep football player in Alton — and likely the entire area — doesn’t go to high school at AHS or Marquette Catholic. In fact, he isn’t a student at a Southwestern Illinois school.

Ezekial Elliott of Alton goes to high school at John Burroughs in St. Louis and he loves it. Elliott wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s like family to him.

“I’m happy and we are a close-knit group,” he said of the Bombers. “It’s like a brotherhood.”

The 12-0 Bombers feel the same way about Elliott. He’s the centerpiece of a powerhouse team that’s eyeing a Class 3A state championship. John Burroughs plays at Monett on Saturday in the semifinals and if the Bombers win, they’ll be in the state championship game for the third consecutive season.

They made it to the finals at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis the past two years, but lost both times. Elliott wants a different ending in 2012.

“Our goal is to win it,” said Elliott, a 6-foot, 220-pound running back. “We have a group of seniors who have been to the championship game twice. And it wasn’t a good feeling to walk off the field without a state championship.

“We don’t want to walk off the field with a loss.”

If John Burroughs can prevail Saturday, you can be assured Elliott will do everything in his power to ensure a state championship next week. Just check his statistics. They tell the story

He has scored an area-best 44 touchdowns, rushed 161 times for 1,715 yards and snared 11 passes for 308 yards. It’s no wonder Elliott is regarded as one of the most celebrated players in the St. Louis area. He’s going to sign with Ohio State in February and continue his football career at a new level.

The Buckeyes won the recruiting fight for Elliott. Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa and Nebraska were also in the hunt, but Elliott’s future is in Columbus, Ohio.

Obviously, he has come a long way since growing up in Alton. His dad, Stacey, an East Coast native, played football at Missouri. Mom Dawn, ran track at Missouri. Dawn is the one with the deep Alton ties. Her father is Leon Huff, a standout basketball player at Alton High in the late 1960s.

cont...

Evening, folks. Blog content is going to be a bit light this week due to the open week. Today was the only day of availability we had with players and coaches, and i'll have more from that update as the week goes on. For now, let's take a look at recruiting with the big weekend coming up. Make sure to pick up tomorrow's Post-Gazette for an in-depth story about Tyler Boyd, Dorian Johnson and Robert Foster taking official visits to Pitt this weekend. Here are a couple of news and notes that didn't make the story...

- Tra'von Chapman, originally slated to take an unofficial visit this weekend, now isn't sure. Basically, his father (Thad Jemison) is the wide receivers coach at Kent State, and the Golden Flashes play at Bowling Green this weekend, making it difficult for Jemison to make it to Pittsburgh. Chapman wants to take the trip with both of his parents (his mother lives in Cincinnati), so it might be postponed to a later date.
Either way, Chapman said he wants to take one more visit with his parents before Christmas break. He's slated to enroll early in January, so he's only a few months away from being on campus.
"I think coach Chryst is really trying to shape the culture into his type of team," Chapman said. "I look at it as they almost beat Notre Dame, they were a couple of plays away.
"The losses don’t mean much, as long as those guys go out and play their hearts out. I think they’re doing all they can, really. I’m not going to change my mind because they’re losing or anything like that. When you play your heart out and you lose, it hurts. I know those guys are feeling the pain now because that’s a ball club that works hard."

- I caught up with Johnson on the phone today. He said that, if he does end up going to Pitt, he has spoken to the staff about the possibility of playing as a freshman.
"I would have to work hard," he said. "They also talked about redshirting."
Johnson said playing early would be a factor to him, and he wants to get on the field as soon as possible at whatever school he chooses.
He also said he had a good relationship with this staff, and speaks to offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph on a weekly basis.
"I think right now, they’re in a state of rebuilding," Johnson said. "I think they’re going to have a really good program in the next couple of years with coach Chryst and his staff."

cont...

WPIAL recruits visiting Pitt this weekend (post gazette)

Golden Helmet Award: Elyria’s Tracy Sprinkle ends up-and-down year as county’s best player

ELYRIA — It’s been a rollercoaster year for Elyria High’s Tracy Sprinkle.

The defensive end mourned the death of his brother, Jamelro Hicks, last December, was offered a football scholarship by Ohio State a few months later and then put together a stellar senior-season performance for the Pioneers, who let a postseason berth slip through their fingers with a Week 10 loss to Mayfield.

The ride hit another high Thursday night when Sprinkle was named the winner of the 2012 Lorain County Golden Helmet Award, given annually to the top senior football player in the county.

The award has been presented since 1965, and Sprinkle is the seventh Elyria player to win it and first since running back P.J. Mahone in 2005.

“I’m feeling pretty excited,” said Sprinkle. “This is a pretty exciting thing. I give all the honor to God. I’m so happy about it.

“It was one of my major goals, but I didn’t know I could actually reach it. I know P.J. Mahone was the last one from Elyria to win it, and he had a great season that year. I knew I’d have to have a great season to end up doing it.”

The Pioneers learned the good news Thursday morning, hours before their awards ceremony. Coach Kevin Fell was so excited he presented Sprinkle the award as soon as the program began.

“We’re thrilled,” Fell said. “When I was at Amherst, they hadn’t had one since (Brian) Cesear (in 2001), and I know I really wanted to get one of our guys that award because it’s such a huge deal in Lorain County. We had a few athletes come pretty close over there, and I know Dustin Stolarski was in consideration for the award last year.”

cont...