Last night I was out at Perry High and watched them defeat Mesquite 34-20 to move to 2-0. One of the reasons I was out there is because they have two young guys that I wanted to see up close.
One of them, a 2018 athlete, is Kenny Fultz. He intercepted both Bryce Perkins and Ryan Kelley last year as a freshman, and I wanted to see how he's progressed. Fultz is listed at 5'10", 175, and last night I watched him launch himself into a 6-0, 210 RB about 17 yards down the field and stop the kid's momentum immediately. It was the first time I'd seen Fultz get truly physical, and it made me start to look at him through the lense of a safety instead of just a cover corner. He didn;t play much after Perry got up bug, but he's a name to remember.
The person I was there to see for the first time was 6'2, 190-pound freshman WR D'shayne James. @Brett Quintyne has been telling me about this kid for two years, and he wasn't exaggerating. The kid is a special combination of size/talent at the WR position. Like any freshman WR on Varsity playing in the city of Chandler (Most notably Hunter Rison at Basha two years ago), he had his moments where he had no idea what side of the field he was supposed to be on, but he looked impressive when it came to pass blocking guys three years older than him on the outside.
The "this kid's going to be something special" moment came in the first quarter, when James ended up with the ball in his hands on a double-reverse. He was nearly brought down 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage, but he pump-faked the defender like he was going to throw, continued running toward the left sideline, and then he actually did throw- firing the ball 45 yards through the air to his brother Nate James, who took it the rest of the way for a 73 yard TD. I suspect D'shayne James is the only freshman in the state with a varsity TD catch, and throw right now. Maybe even in the country.
Another guy that I'm not sure ends up on ASU's radar, but is going to make some college coach out there look like a genius is senior LB Case Hatch. At 6'2, 225 he has the size to play at the next level, and he's completely dominant at the high school level (He won my previous website's Arizona linebacker of the year award fro 2014) He had three sacks and a fumble recovery last night.
One of them, a 2018 athlete, is Kenny Fultz. He intercepted both Bryce Perkins and Ryan Kelley last year as a freshman, and I wanted to see how he's progressed. Fultz is listed at 5'10", 175, and last night I watched him launch himself into a 6-0, 210 RB about 17 yards down the field and stop the kid's momentum immediately. It was the first time I'd seen Fultz get truly physical, and it made me start to look at him through the lense of a safety instead of just a cover corner. He didn;t play much after Perry got up bug, but he's a name to remember.
The person I was there to see for the first time was 6'2, 190-pound freshman WR D'shayne James. @Brett Quintyne has been telling me about this kid for two years, and he wasn't exaggerating. The kid is a special combination of size/talent at the WR position. Like any freshman WR on Varsity playing in the city of Chandler (Most notably Hunter Rison at Basha two years ago), he had his moments where he had no idea what side of the field he was supposed to be on, but he looked impressive when it came to pass blocking guys three years older than him on the outside.
The "this kid's going to be something special" moment came in the first quarter, when James ended up with the ball in his hands on a double-reverse. He was nearly brought down 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage, but he pump-faked the defender like he was going to throw, continued running toward the left sideline, and then he actually did throw- firing the ball 45 yards through the air to his brother Nate James, who took it the rest of the way for a 73 yard TD. I suspect D'shayne James is the only freshman in the state with a varsity TD catch, and throw right now. Maybe even in the country.
Another guy that I'm not sure ends up on ASU's radar, but is going to make some college coach out there look like a genius is senior LB Case Hatch. At 6'2, 225 he has the size to play at the next level, and he's completely dominant at the high school level (He won my previous website's Arizona linebacker of the year award fro 2014) He had three sacks and a fumble recovery last night.
