2017 GEICO ESPN High School Football Kickoff Begins Friday, August 25

• Seven-Game Slate on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU
• Kickoff Features 29 Players in ESPN 300
• 10 States Represented, including Six 2016 State Champions

The 2017 GEICO ESPN High School Football Kickoff will conclude Summer of Next, taking place on August 25-27. The seven-game slate will feature 29 players ranked in ESPN 300, including two in the top 10—No. 1 Xavier Thomas (IMG Academy, Fla.) and No. 3 Trevor Lawrence (Cartersville). The annual event, in its eighth year, will have 10 states represented, and 22 players who have already committed to top college football programs, with Clemson, Miami (Fla.) and Ohio State leading the pack with three each. Games will be played on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.

For the first time ever, a same-site doubleheader on Saturday, August 26, will include four of the top quarterbacks in the class of 2018. The first matchup will showcase Saraland High School (Ala.) led by No. 76 Jack West, playing against Heard County High School (Ga.), with No. 22 QB Emory Jones (Ohio State commit). The second game will feature Bartram Trail High School (Fla.) and No. 37 ATH Joey Gatewood (Auburn commit) against the host school, Cartersville High School (Ga.), led by No. 3 QB Trevor Lawrence (Clemson commit).

The 2017 GEICO ESPN High School Football Kickoff preludes the GEICO ESPN 2017 High School Football Showcase.

2017 ESPN GEICO High School Football Kickoff Schedule
Notes: All times are ET. Player rankings from ESPN 300 (Seniors in the Class of 2018)
Team rankings per USA Today Super 25 poll

Friday, August 25
St. John Bosco (Calif.) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.)
7 p.m. on ESPNU from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

• Powerhouse matchup between California and Florida state champions from 2016; these two teams ended last season nationally ranked No. 5 and No. 6, respectively
• John Bosco features the No. 61 ranked player Jaiden Woodbey, a safety who is committed to Ohio State
• Thomas Aquinas is coming off of a win over Bingham (Utah) at the end of last season at the GEICO State Champions Bowl Series. They have a loaded defensive backfield with two players who are the sons of former NFL players: No. 33 Asante Samuel Jr., and No. 44 Al Blades Jr.

DeMatha (Md.) vs. Bishop Gorman (Nev.)
9 p.m. on ESPN from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nev.

• Another “East vs. West” cross-country matchup between DeMatha, who went 12-0 in 2016, and Bishop Gorman, who is currently on a 54-game winning streak with back-to-back seasons ranked No. 1 nationally
• DeMatha finished last season ranked No. 4 nationally, and are led on the defensive line by the No. 148 Austin Fontaine, a Maryland commit
• Bishop Gorman boasts a talented roster, with No. 20 LB Palaie Gaoteote, No. 30 TE Brevin Jordan and No. 51 QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who will be in his first year as a starter at Bishop Gorman

Saturday, August 26
Tulsa Union (Okla.) vs. Broken Arrow (Okla.)
Noon on ESPN from Broken Arrow High School in Broken Arrow, Okla.

• The last time these two teams met was in the state quarterfinals, with Union winning 40-24 on their way to the Oklahoma 6A-I state championship
• Union will look to repeat as state champ, led by No. 185 WR C.J. Moore who is committed to Oklahoma St.
• Broken Arrow returns a young and hungry team from last year, with all but three starters returning

Saraland (Ala.) vs. Heard County (Ga.)
3:30 p.m. on ESPNU from Cartersville High School in Cartersville, Ga.

• In the first game of a double-header, Saraland travels to Georgia from Alabama and will be led by No. 76 QB Jack West, a Stanford commit
• Heard County features the No. 22 QB Emory Jones, who is committed to Ohio State

Bartram Trail (Fla.) vs. Cartersville (Ga.)
7:30 p.m. on ESPN2 from Cartersville High School in Cartersville, Ga.

• Bartram Trail takes on the back-to-back Georgia 4A state champ, Cartersville
• Among the key players for Bartram Trail is No. 37 QB/ATH Joey Gatewood, who is committed to Auburn
• Cartersville is on a 30-game winning streak with two-straight state championships and are led by the No. 3 QB Trevor Lawrence, who is a Clemson commit

IMG Academy (Fla.) vs. Chandler (Ariz.)
10:30 p.m. on ESPNU from Chandler High School in Chandler, Ariz.

• In the night-cap, IMG Academy from Florida travels to Arizona to take on the defending 6A state champion, Chandler
• IMG Academy boasts 11 players ranked in the ESPN 300, including No. 1 overall Xavier Thomas
• Chandler is coming off a win over Valdosta (Ga.) at the end of last season in the GEICO State Champions Bowl Series

Sunday, August 27
Wayne (Ohio) vs. Pine-Richland (Pa.)
1:30 p.m. on ESPN from Pine-Richland High School in Gibsonia, Pa.

• Wayne will look to continue their program’s success after an 11-1 season from last year, and features two ESPN 300 ranked players: No. 149 Alex Reigelsperger, committed to Kentucky, and No. 195 L’Christian Smith
• Pine-Richland is led by No. 116 QB Phil Jurkovec, who is committed to Notre Dame

ESPN 300 Participants

Rank	Pos.	Athlete	High School	College Commitment*
No. 1	DE	Xavier Thomas	IMG Academy	Clemson
No. 3	QB	Trevor Lawrence	Cartersville	Clemson
No. 12	DT	Taron Vincent	IMG Academy	Ohio St
No. 20	ILB	Palaie Gaoteote	Bishop Gorman	USC
No. 22	QB	Emory Jones	Heard County	Ohio State
No. 30	TE	Brevin Jordan	Bishop Gorman	Miami (Fla.)
No. 33	CB	Asante Samuel Jr.	St. Thomas Aquinas	Florida State
No. 37	ATH	Joey Gatewood	Bartram Trail	Auburn
No. 44	CB	Al Blades Jr.	St. Thomas Aquinas	Miami (Fla.)
No. 51	QB	Dorian Thompson-Robinson	Bishop Gorman	UCLA
No. 61	S	Jaiden Woodbey	St. John Bosco	Ohio State
No. 76	QB	Jack West	Saraland	Stanford
No. 77	CB	Houston Griffith	IMG Academy
No. 83	DE	Stephon Wynn	IMG Academy
No. 96	RB	T.J. Pledger	IMG Academy	Oklahoma
No. 107	QB	Artur Sitkowski	IMG Academy	Miami (Fla.)
No. 116	QB	Phil Jurkovec	Pine-Richland	Notre Dame
No. 118	WR	Brian Hightower	IMG Academy	Miami (Fla.)
No. 121	OC	Curtis Dunlap Jr.	IMG Academy
No. 148	DT	Austin Fontaine	DeMatha	Maryland
No. 149	DE	Alex Reigelsperger	Wayne High School	Kentucky
No. 160	WR	Elijah Moore	St. Thomas Aquinas
No. 173	CB	Trenell Troutman	St. Thomas Aquinas	Louisville
No. 174	OLB	Nikolas Bonitto	St. Thomas Aquinas
No. 185	WR	C.J. Moore	Tulsa Union	Oklahoma State
No. 188	ATH	Brendan Radley-Hiles	IMG Academy	Nebraska
No. 195	WR	L’Christian Smith	Wayne High School
No. 200	OLB	Mike Jones Jr.	IMG Academy	Clemson
No. 239	OT	Reuben Unije	IMG Academy

*Please note: No player has signed with a school
All ESPN 300 Rankings and Verbal Commitments are up-to-date as of June 28, 2017

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