By: Ross Van De Griek
This week's game of the week takes us to Berkeley Prep, as the Tampa Catholic Crusaders (4-1) head west on Hillsborough Avenue, to take on the Berkeley Prep Buccaneers (4-0) on Friday night at Stanford J. Newman Stadium in Tampa.
Tampa Catholic (4-1) is coming off a 67-0 win over North Port last week, where senior quarterback Dylan McCain went just 8/9, for 128 passing yards & threw for 3 touchdown passes (all in the first half). Freshman Xavier Washington came in, and went 3/3, for 25 passing yards & also had a touchdown pass in last week's win. Tampa Catholic had 252 rushing yards, in last week's win that was led by junior running back Raphael Ekechi, who had 90 rushing yards on 6 carries & had a rushing touchdown.
Sophomore wide receiver Dominic Reeves led the way 60 receiving yards, on 4 catches in last week's win over North Port. Defensive back & Arizona State commit DJ Taylor also had a kickoff return for a touchdown in last week's win over North Port.
Berkeley Prep (4-0) is coming off a 42-7 win over IMG Academy White last week, where junior quarterback Gavin Rupp went just 3/4, for 111 passing yards & had a touchdown pass, and also had 16 rushing yards. Sophomore running back Travis Bates led the way, with 108 rushing yards on 8 carries & had 3 rushing touchdowns in the win. Sophomore running back Xavier Townsend added 2 rushing touchdowns in last week's win over IMG Academy White.
Last two games have been running clock the whole 2nd half. Cardinal Mooney win 35-7 & IMG Academy Varsity 42-7.
Berkeley Prep junior wide receiver RJ Garcia is the primary receiving corp, as Townsend leads the team with 10 catches 190 yards 2 touchdowns, while Garcia has 7 catches for 186 yards & 2 touchdowns.
On defense, Berkeley Prep is led by senior DE/LB Jaylen Harrell who has official visits scheduled for University of Miami Dec 13 and University of Michigan Oct 26. Harrell has just 12 total tackles for the Buccaneers so far this season. Defensive standouts along with Jaylen Harrell are Senior linebacker Manoli Houvardas, junior defensive end Austin Dean & senior defensive end/linebacker Michael Maddalon.
Score Prediction: Berkeley Prep 21, Tampa Catholic 17