Central Texas WRs Ellis, lliggins choose schools Cedar Ridge wide receiver Jaylen Ellis, left, signed with Baylor on Wednesday. The 6-foot, 187•pound playmaker held 25 offers, was a participant at the Opening Finals and is ranked No. 31 on the American-Statesman's 2019 Fabulous 55. (RICARDO B. BRAZZJEU/AMERICAN·STATESMANJ By l\fikc Craven meraven@slalesm:in.com Austin Bowie wide receiver Elijah Higgins picked his college destination the day before the early signing period when the four-star picked Stanford over Texas and Florida onTuesday night. The big-bodied 6-foot-3 wide receiver earned second-team all -district as a senior despite missing half of the season with a wrist injury. Higgins was a first- team selection as a sophomore and junior. He participated in the Opening Finals and will play in the Polynesian Bowl before finishing his prep career. Higgins is the No. 24-ranked prospect on the latest 2019 Fabulous 55. He held38 offers andpostedalaser-timed4.57 40-yard dash at The Opening at 214 pounds. "Stanford is a ridicu - lous mix of top football and academics," Higgins said. "It's the whole aroma of the program." Higgins is the second local wide receiver the Longhorns came in second place for in the 2019 cycle. " 1 7" : i star Garrett Wilson chose Ohio State over the Longhorns in April. Higgins is a native of Florida and always main - tained leaving the state was not a concern. Ranked as the No. 97th­ best prospect in the nation by 247Sports Composite, Higgins becomes the top­ rated member of Stanford's current 2019 class. Crandall center Branson Bragg is a fellow Fab 55 member also committed to Stanford. Ellis chooses Baylor: Jaylen Ellis decided it was best to get his decision in the rear-view CENTRAL TEXAS FOOTBALL SIG NEES mirror, sign early and begin a participant at the Opening preparing for college. The FinalsandisrankedNo. 3100 AUSTIN HIGH Garrett Wilson, WR (Ohio State: three-star wide receiver from the American-Statesman's Ben Koch, TE (Army) MCNEil Cedar Ridge was originally 2019 Fabulous 55. BOWIE Jordan Kerley, WR (Arizona scheduled to commit at the He's considered the El ijah Higgins, WR (Stanford) State) Under-Armour All-American 6oth-best wide receiver in CEDAR RIDGE PFLUGERVILLE Game in Orlando next month the nation per 24 7S ports Jaylen Ellis, WR (Baylor) Casey Washington, WR and sign in February. Composite. GEORGETOWN (Illinois) His final three was Baylor, He's a big-play threat who Mason Meyer, DL (Incarnate ROUND ROCK Tennessee and Michigan. emerged as a junior after be Word) Garrett Miller, TE (Purdue) The speedy receiver chose recorded a 10.4 100-meter HENDRICKSON Ryan O'Keefe, QB (Central Baylor on Wednesday morn­ dash time at bis district track Curley Young, DL (California) Florida) ing at Cedar Ridge High meet. HUTTO Reese Watson, DB (Incarnate School. Ellis averaged more than Chase Griffin, QB (UCLA) Word) The 6-foot, 187-pound 20 yards a catch in his high LAJCl!t.l!t...!!S VANDEGRIFT playmaker held 25 offers, was school career. Hunter Henry, DB (Rice) Spencer Jones, LB (Army) North Shore quarterback Dematrius Davis (passing against L ~ s in the semifinals) threw a 45-yard touchdown pass as time expired saturday night to give the Mustangs the Class 6A Division I state championship. [JOHN GUTIERREZ/FOR STATESMAN] North Shore wins state title on Hail Mary By l\tikc Craven Shadrach Banks, who fin­ [email protected] ished with nine catches for 179 yards and a touchdown. ARLINGTON - Hype Carter had caught only rarely fulfills. But Galena one pass all game until the Park North Shore and winner with no time on the Duncanville lived up to the clock. expectations in the Class North Shore junior run­ 6A Division I champion - ning back Zachary Evans ship game Saturday night ran for 96 yards on 21 to close out the 2018 high carries. school football season. Duncanville almost won It took every second of despite passing for just 47 the 48 minutes to decide yards. Jackson had a game­ the game as a Hail Mary high 226 yards rushing pass from quarterback from his quarterback posi­ Dematrius Davis to AJ tion. Running back Trysten Carter from 45 yards out Smith rushed for 152 yards as time expired gave North and three touchdowns for Shore a 41-36 win at AT&T the Panthers. Stacy Brown Stadium. led the Duncanville defense A late touchdown run with nine tackles. by junior quarterback Three players from Ja'Quinden Jackson had North Shore - Keeyon given Duncanville a 36-35 Stewart, Marco Crawford lead with 1 minute, 2 sec­ and Daymond Lewis - onds left in the game. On the registered 10 tackles. The last play, North Shore found defense earned the first a way to steal the Panthers' points of the game when first state title since 1998. Ashton Reynolds recov­ Davis led the Mustangs ered a Duncanville fumble with 333 yards passing and for a score. Jordan Revels, five touchdowns, complet­ a defensive tackle, forced ing 19 of 28. He also rushed the fumble and later caught for 89 yards. His favor­ a touchdown pass ona trick ite target was sophomore play in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TEXAS FOOTBALL SIGNEES AUSTIN HIGH State) Ben Koch, TE (Army) MCNEIL BOWIE Jordan Kerley, WR (Arizona Elijah Higgins, WR (Stanford) State) CEDAR RIDGE PFLUGERVILLE Jaylen Ellis, WR (Baylor) casey Washington, WR GEORGETOWN (Illinois) Mason Meyer, DL (Incarnate ROUND ROCK Word) Garrett Miller, TE (Purdue) HENDRICKSON Ryan O'Keefe, QB (Central Curley Young, DL (catifornia) Florida) HUTTO Reese Watson, DB (Incarnate Chase Griffin, QB (UCLA) Word) LAJU!'tll' VANDEGRIFT Hunter Henry, DB (Rice) Spencer Jones, LB (Army) Garrett Wilson, WR (Ohio Texas may lose two QBs, but gaznsarena and recruit lhkBobls bile I got ya, here are nine W things and one crazy prediction: 1. During my two­ week vacation, Texas gained a wonderful new, cozier basketball arena, free of charge, and perhaps lost two young quarterbacks, the Houston Cougars forgot how to play football, Galena Park North Shore per- fected the Hail Mary, 1 Wes i;:, • 1 ... and Liberty Hill had brilliant seasons that endedtoosoon,and columnist buddy Cedric Golden and bis team­ mate partner Tom Dore won our office fantasy league . ... And then there's Texas signee Jordan Whittington, the four-star Cuero wide receiver who is outstanding. Mike Craven, our r ecruit- ing guru, thinks he's best suited to be a wide receiver who can also play running back and tells me, "I bet he gets a shot at returns, as well. He's just too good with the ball in his hands to put him in a oox. Think of a slot receiver big See BOHLS, CB BOHLS From Page CJ enough to play rwming back on third downs. That's where he's rare. He's 6-foot or 6-11 but he's built like a house and still has the speed. Alvin Kamara may be a good comparison.The kid just loves football, can play anywhere on the field and proved in the title game that a big stage is whe:re he's most comfortable. Texas has lacked true playmakers for years. Whittington is a guy who can create yards and touchdowns off script. He's got all­ conference talent and enrolls early. I expect him to play a lot as a true freshman and could be the Caden Stems of the 2019 class in terms of instant im_pa~t." 2. I'm not the least bit surprised to learn that Texas freshmen quar­ terbacks Cam Rising and CaseyThompson are considering transferring although it's far from a forgone conclusion that both or either will leave. Even though. they've put their names in the NCAA database, both are with the team and practic- ing for the Sugar Bowl I assume at least one will leave, but rm not sure it's very smart for either to relocate. I'm not expecting Sam Eblinger to leave school early for the NFL draft, but you never know ilf he kills it again in 2019. It's dam near impossible to keep multiple quarterbacks happy, and the Shane Buecheles and Jalen Hurts are few and far between. 3. How good is Nick Fales? The Westlake product is the CODSUIIl­ mate professional and epitome of the quintes­ sential selfless teammate. Not only does he guide the Eagles to their first Super Bowl win, he's gone 8-2 the last two seasons fill­ ing in for Carson Wentz and set the franchise's single-game passing record last week. Got to believeFolesleavesfora starting job somewhere else. Hello, Miami, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville. 4. I was less than over­ whelmed immediately by the hire of Matt Wells at Texas Tech. But the utah State coach, who left his alma mater after an 11-win season, could be a much better hire than was KliffKingsbury (who isn't made for recruiting or the media .and made questionable decisions) or Tommy Tuberville (who never wanted to be there). Wells brings energy, pas­ sion and a firm commit­ ment. He may fit in very well and convinced quar­ terback Alan Bowman not to transfer.... If Wells scores big, Texas Tech, as a group, would have the best three coaches and best bread-and­ butter programs overall in football, basketball (Chris Beard) and baseball (Tim Tadlock). Tried to get in to see Texas Tech take on Duke at the Madison Square Garden. Alas, the game was sold out, but maybe 1,000 ofour closest new friends had to wait on security check­ points to open even as the game began.