Nash’s Recruiting Notebook: Deerfield Beach vs. St. Thomas Aquinas

This past Friday I was at the Deerfield Beach vs. St. Thomas Aquinas game. Both schools are known for always producing top tier talent. Deerfield Beach is known around the state for being an area filled with incredible athletes and almost known as a “recruiting honey-hole”. On the other side, St. Thomas Aquinas, a football powerhouse for the past 30-plus years that produces numerous Division-I players every year. For the last week of the regular season, their couldn’t have been a better game.

St. Thomas Aquinas:

2015 OLB Christopher Hart – 6’3″ 225 LBS

The junior standout was a presence all night. He did a good job of diagnosing the run and stopping a lot of run plays behind the line-of-scrimmage. Hart registered 1.5 sacks in the game vs. the Bucks. Early on in his recruitment Hart has been offered by Western Michigan and Pittsburgh and is receiving interest from Miami, USF, USC, and Alabama. A nice blend of athleticism and ideal size, Hart will be one of the best linebackers in the state next season.

2015 WR Jawuan Harris – 5’10” 185 LBS

Easily one of the biggest breakout stars in Broward county this season. Harris, just a junior, is leading the defending class 7A state champions in receptions (27), receiving yards (394), and tied for the lead in receiving touchdowns (4). He is a very shifty and smart receiver with a good pair of hands of him. He does a good job of making defenders miss and specializes in yards-after-catch. He can line up at either slot or X for the Raiders but I feel he fits better at slot and working the middle of the field. Come Spring, Harris’ recruitment will blow up.

2015 SS Tyson Cisrow – 6’0″ 175 LBS

This is a very intriguing prospect to many. Cisrow, The Raiders strong safety just received his first offer this past week from Western Michigan. Cisrow has pretty good size for playing the ball in the air. He is very mobile and aggressive. He can excel in Cover 2 assignments and also play man-to-man on those bigger tight ends if needed. Cisrow, a very versatile player will soon be making a big impact on Saturdays.

Deerfield Beach:

2014 ATH Justin Morgan – 5’11” 175 LBS

Here is one of the Deerfield Beach “honey-hole” kids. A phenomenal athlete who plays both sides of the ball. While most of his college looks have been at wide receiver, I feel he could play his second position, free safety, in college. Being able to match a receiver step-for-step is a trick that is very hard to teach. Morgan has a good sense of where the ball the ball will be when defending opposing receivers and doesn’t fall for a quarterbacks eyes. He is a born football player, plain and simple.

2016 OL Roodney Leon – 6’3″ 270 LBS

Although the saying is overused, you can’t teach size. Leon has always been one of the biggest kids on the football field and one of the most dominant. During the spring, Leon started at right tackle but this season he made the move to the interior at right guard. However, Leon will more than likely be playing college on the outside at tackle. He has very nice footwork for his size and to be that young and have that ability to explode up and out like he does is just remarkable.

2015 DE Jason Strowbridge – 6’3″ 240 LBS

One word to describe this prospect? Monster. I feel like Strowbridge still hasn’t grown into his body yet. He has wonderful swim move a which is preceded by a good first bull rush. Most anything you ask Strowbridge to do he will excel at. He isn’t afraid to be out in space and asked to contain an edge-rusher and he can drive through the interior and break off the bigger lineman to make a nice stop. He had a safety early in the fourth quarter to take the lead in this game that would eventually help the Bucks beat the Raiders 22-7.