2015 GEICO ESPN High School Football Showcase: College Football’s Next Generation

• 12 Games Beginning September 6
• 38 Ranked Players, Including No. 1 Overall and Seven in Top 15
• 18 Verbal Commitments from Ranked Players to Division I Schools
• 13 States, District of Columbia Represented

The 2015 GEICO ESPN High School Football Showcase will feature more than 35 ranked players (ESPN 300 and ESPN Junior 300) throughout the 12-game schedule which begins on Sunday, Sept. 6, and continues through November 6 with games on ESPNU (eight) and ESPN2 (four). More than half of the ranked participating players have committed to Division I schools including Arizona State, Arkansas, Clemson, Georgia, Houston, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Penn State, and Tennessee.  Among those schools, Arizona State, Georgia, Michigan, Ole Miss, and Tennessee will have quarterback commitments on display. The No. 1 ranked player, DT Rashan Gary (Paramus Catholic High School, N.J.) will also participate and currently is uncommitted. Additionally, numerous other potential and verbally committed Division 1 college football players will participate who are not ranked.

The 2015 GEICO ESPN High School Football Showcase will be highlighted by two top teams in the nation going head to head: No. 2 IMG Academy (Fla.) hosting No. 15 Paramus Catholic (N.J.) in a matchup of USA Today Super 25 teams. Additionally, No. 6 DeMatha Catholic (Md.) and No. 13 St. John Bosco (Calif.) will also participate. Throughout the two-month slate, 13 states, plus Washington, D.C. will be represented.

Combined with the previously announced 2015 ESPN High School Kickoff, ESPN will televise 22 high school football games across its networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU).

2015 GEICO ESPN High School Football Showcase Highlights:

• Future Rebel: Ole Miss verbal commitment and No. 2 dual-threat QB Shea Patterson (IMG Academy, Fla.) vs. Paramus Catholic, N.J. on October 23.
• Future Bulldogs: Two quarterbacks who have verbally committed to Georgia will play: No. 3 pocket-passer quarterback Jacob Eason (Lake Stevens, Wash.) vs. Kamiak, Wash., on October 23, and Bailey Hockman (McEachern,Ga.), No. 1 quarterback in the junior class, vs. Hillgrove, Ga., on November 6.
• Future Volunteer: Tennessee verbal commitment and No. 5 dual-threat quarterback Jarrett Guarantano (Bergen Catholic High, N.J.) at DePaul Catholic, N.J., on October 9.
• Uncommitted Top QB: Fourth-ranked pocket passer in the junior class, Hunter Johnson (Brownsburg, Ind.) at Avon, Ind., on September 11.
• 1 Positional Players: Three seniors ranked No. 1 at their position will participate: DT Rashan Gary (Paramus Catholic, N.J.), TE Isaac Nauta (IMG Academy, Fla.), and RB Kareem Walker (DePaul Catholic, N.J.). Gary (No. 1 overall) and Nauta (No. 10) remain uncommitted, while Walker (No. 22) has verbally committed to Ohio State.
• Seven Top 15 Players: In addition to No. 1 Gary, No. 10 Nauta and No. 11 Hockman (junior), four more Top 15 players will participate: No. 5, DT Edward Oliver (Westfield High School, Texas), No. 11, DT Benito Jones (Wayne County High School, Miss.), No. 12, DE Shavar Manuel (IMG Academy, Fla.), and No. 13, DE Shane Simmons (DeMatha Catholic High School, Md.)

ESPN 300 Participants (Seniors)

Rank and Player	Pos.	High School	Verbal College Commitment
No. 1 Rashan Gary	DT	Paramus Catholic High School, N.J.
No. 5 Edward Oliver	DT	Westfield High School, Texas	Houston
No. 10 Isaac Nauta	TE	IMG Academy, Fla.
No. 11 Benito Jones	DT	Wayne County High School, Miss.	Ole Miss
No. 12 Shavar Manuel	DE	IMG Academy, Fla.
No. 13 Shane Simmons	DE	DeMatha Catholic High School, Md.	Penn State
No. 20 Shea Patterson	QB	IMG Academy, Fla.	Ole Miss
No. 22 Kareem Walker	RB	DePaul Catholic High School, N.J.	Ohio State
No. 25 Jacob Eason	QB	Lake Stevens High School, Wash.	Georgia
No. 26 Rahshaun Smith	OLB	IMG Academy, Fla.
No. 29 Julian Rochester	DT	McEachern High School, Ga.	Georgia
No. 35 Kristian Fulton	CB	Archbishop Rummel School for Boys, La.
No. 47 Saivion Smith	CB	IMG Academy, Fla.	LSU
No. 60 Tyrie Cleveland	WR	Westfield High School, Texas
No. 87 Jarrett Guarantano	QB	Bergen Catholic High, N.J.	Tennessee
No. 99 Tyler Gerald	OL	IMG Academy, Fla.	Ohio State
No. 117 Brandon Peters	QB	Avon High School,  Ind.	Michigan
No. 124 Terrance Davis	OL	DeMatha Catholic High School, Md.
No. 145 Briston Guidry	DT	Archbishop Rummel School for the Boys, La.	Arkansas
No. 152 Jake Hausmann	TE	Archbishop Moeller High School, Ohio	Ohio State
No. 199 Dillon Sterling-Cole	QB	Westfield High School, Texas	Arizona State
No. 252 Tavares Chase	WR	IMG Academy, Fla.	Clemson
No. 293 Quayshon Alexander	DE	DePaul Catholic High School, N.J.	Nebraska
No. 295 Freddie Swain	WR	North Marion High School, Fla.

 

ESPN Junior 300 Participants

Rank and Player	Pos	High School	Verbal College Commitment
No. 11 Bailey Hockman	QB	McEachern, Ga.	Georgia
No. 40 Hunter Johnson	QB	Brownsburg, Ind.
No. 56 Joshua Kaindoh	DE	IMG Academy, Fla.
No. 60 Anthony  McFarland	RB	DeMatha Catholic, Md.
No. 73 Robert Hainsey	OL	IMG Academy, Fla
No. 87 Cam Spence	DT	IMG Academy, Fla.
No. 89 Wyatt Davis	OL	St. John Bosco High School, Calif.
No. 113 Corey Bolds	DE	Paramus Catholic , Md.
No. 124 Cesar Ruiz	OL	IMG Academy, Fla.
No. 187 Emmanuel Greene	WR	IMG Academy, Fla.
No. 201 Drew Singleton	LB	Paramus Catholic, N.J.
No. 205 Tyler Smith	WR	McEachern, Ga.
No. 244 Blake Vinson	OL	North Marion, Fla.
No. 271 Tre’ McKitty	TE	IMG Academy, Fla.	Miami

 

2015 GEICO ESPN High School Football Showcase Matchups:
Note: Team Rankings are from USA Today. All game times ET

Week 1
Wayne, Ohio vs. Moeller, Ohio
Sunday, September 6: 4 p.m. on ESPNU from Roettger Field in Lockland, Ohio.

• Rematch of the 2014 Ohio State Semifinals which was won by Wayne
• Moeller, who finished 10-4 last season, returns one player in the ESPN 300: TE Jake Hausmann (No. 152), an Ohio State verbal commitment
• Wayne finished 13-2 last season, coming just short of a state title

Week 2
Brownsburg, Ind. at Avon, Ind.
Friday, September 11: 8 p.m. on ESPNU from Avon High School in Avon, Ind.

• Rivalry game featuring two ranked quarterbacks: Brownsburg junior Hunter Johnson (No. 40) and Avon senior Brandon Peters (No. 117)
• Johnson has received numerous Division I offers from Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame and Oklahoma amongst others
• Peters has verbally committed to Michigan

No. 13 St. John Bosco, Calif. at Central Catholic, Ore.
Friday, September 11: 11 p.m. on ESPNU from Hillsboro Stadium, Hillsboro, Ore.

• Rematch from last season, which was won by St. John Bosco
• Coming off a 12-2 season, St. John Bosco returns a player on the ESPN junior 300: OL Wyatt Davis (No. 89).
• Central Catholic won the Oregon 6A state championship last season, with their only blemish on the season coming to St. John Bosco

Week 3
Archbishop Rummel, La. at Wayne County, Miss.
Friday, September 18: 8 p.m. on ESPN2 from Wayne County High School in Waynesboro, Miss.

• Archbishop Rummel finished 11-2 last season and advanced to the state semifinals
• Archbishop Rummel returns two players in the ESPN 300: CB Kristian Fulton (No. 35), and DT Briston Guidry (No. 145). Guidry has committed to Arkansas
• Wayne County also advanced to state semifinals and returns one ESPN 300 player: DT Benito Jones (No. 11), who has verbally committed to Ole Miss

Week 4
Montgomery, Texas vs. Westfield, Texas
Thursday, September 24: 8 p.m. on ESPNU from Leonard George Stadium in Spring, Texas

• Montgomery finished 6-4 last season
• Westfield finished 13-2 last season, advancing to the state semifinals
• Wesfield returns three players on the ESPN 300: DT Edward Oliver (No. 5) who has verbally committed to the University of Houston, WR Tyrie Cleveland (No. 60) and QB Dillon Sterling-Cole (No.199), an Arizona State commit

Zachary, La. vs. Calvary Baptist, La.
Friday, September 25: 8 p.m. on ESPNU from Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, La.

• Zachary finished 14-2 last season, advancing to the state semifinals
• Calvary Baptist won the state championship, finishing 12-1

Week 6
Bergen Catholic, N.J. at. DePaul Catholic, N. J.
Friday, October 9: 8 p.m. on ESPNU from DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, N.J.

• Bergen Catholic finished 8-3 last season, returning their senior QB Jarrett Guarantano, who is the No. 5 ranked dual-threat QB (No. 87 overall) and has committed to Tennessee
• DePaul Catholic won the Public Group 2 title last season and returns the No. 1 RB in the ESPN 300: Kareem Walker (No. 22 overall). Walker has committed to Ohio State
• Senior DE Quayshon Alexander (No. 293), a Nebraska verbal commit, also returns for DePaul Catholic

Week 7
Gonzaga, D.C. at. No. 6 DeMatha, Md.
Friday, October 16: 7 p.m. on ESPN2 from Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, Md.

• Gonzaga finished 10-3, winning the DCSAA Class AA championship
• DeMatha returns two players in the ESPN 300: DE Shane Simmons (No. 13), who has committed to Penn State and OG Terrance Davis (No. 124). Junior RB Anthony McFarland (No. 60) also plays for DeMatha.

Week 8
No. 15 Paramus Catholic, N.J. at No. 2 IMG Academy, Fla.
Friday, October 23: 7 p.m. on ESPN2 from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

• Matchup of nationally ranked reams
• Paramus Catholic finished 10-2 last season, advancing to the Non-Public Group 4 championship
• ESPN 300’s No. 1 overall player, senior DT Rashan Gary, returns for Paramus Catholic and remains uncommitted
• Paramus Catholic also has two players in the ESPN Junior 300: DE Corey Bolds (No. 113)  and OLB Drew Singleton (No. 201)
• IMG returns a loaded roster, with seven players in the ESPN 300: TE Isaac Nauta (No. 10), DE Shavar Manuel (No. 12), QB Shea Patterson (No. 20) OLB Rahshaun Smith (No. 26), CB Saivion Smith (No. 47), OG Tyler Gerald (No. 99) and WR Tavares Chase (No. 252)
• Patterson has verbally committed to Ole Miss,  Saivion Smith to LSU, Tyler Gerald to Ohio State, and Tavares Chase to Clemson
• IMG also has six ranked juniors: DT Cam Spence (No. 87), DE Joshua Kaindoh (No. 56), OL Robert Hainsey (No. 73), OL Cesar Ruiz (No. 124), WR Emmanuel Greene (No. 187), and TE Tre’ McKitty (No. 271) a Miami commit

Kamiak, Wash. at Lake Stevens, Wash.
Friday, October 23: 10 p.m. on ESPNU from Lake Stevens High School in Lake Stevens, Wash.

• Rematch of last season which Lake Stevens won 37-34
• Lake Stevens is led by senior QB Jacob Eason (No. 25), who has committed to Georgia

Week 9
North Marion, Fla. at Hoover, Ala.
Thursday, October 29: 8 p.m. on ESPN2 from Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Hoover, Ala.

• North Marion has two ranked players: senior WR Freddie Swain (No. 295) and junior OT Blake Vinson (No. 244)
• Hoover won the 7A State championship last season, finishing 12-2

Week 10
Hillgrove, Ga. at McEachern, Ga.
Friday, November 6: 8 p.m. on ESPNU from McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Ga.

• Hillgrove advanced to the state quarterfinals last season
• McEachern is coming off a 10-4 season which they advanced to the state semifinals
• McEachern returns three ranked players: Senior DT Julian Rochester (No. 29) and juniors QB Bailey Hockman (No. 11) and WR Tyler Smith (No. 205). Both Rochester and Hockman have committed to Georgia

RecruitingNation.com:  
ESPN’s recruiting site will provide fans with in-depth analysis of the entire ESPN 2015 GEICO High School Football Showcase, including features on teams and recruits, as well as updated player profiles.

The 2015 GEICO ESPN High School Football Kickoff and 2015 GEICO ESPN High School Football Showcase are produced in conjunction with Paragon Marketing Group.

All player ranks and verbal commitment information is as of August 12, 2015

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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; Derek.Volner@ESPN.com and @DerekVolner