Weekend Wrap - Week 2
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Every Monday during the prep football season, IlliniHQ.com will give a wrap-up of how Illini commits and targets fared during the previous weekend's games. Here are a few highlights from week two.
THE COMMITS
- REILLY O'TOOLE stole the spotlight in a nationally televised game on ESPNU between his Wheaton Warrenville South squad and Maine South. In a matchup of last year's Class 7A and 8A state champs, O'Toole and the Tigers ran away with a 44-7 victory. O'Toole threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns to help his top-ranked 7A team improve to 2-0.
- J.T. THORNTON and the Glades Day (Belle Glade, Fla.) defense couldn't slow down Jupiter Christian in a 38-14 loss. Thornton, a cornerback, committed to Illinois in early August.
- First Coast High School (Jacksonville, Fla.) and CARL WILLIAMS defeated American Heritage, 26-17, to improve to 2-0. Williams, a three-star defensive back according to Rivals.com, committed to Illinois in early August.
- Offensive lineman CHRIS BOLES again opened up big holes for his backfield teammates, as the Central Catholic Irish (Toledo, Ohio) churned out 354 yards on the ground in a 56-6 win against Bishop Timon St. Jude. Boles committed to the Illini in mid-July.
- JOSH FERGUSON and Joliet Catholic beat Providence for the first time in 21 years on Friday night. The Hilltoppers (2-0) trailed 7-6 at the break after running only 10 offensive plays in the opening half but rallied for a 25-13 win. Ferguson had 100 yards and a touchdown on the ground on nine carries.
- HUNTER WELLS and Canton (Ill.) put their first offensive points of the year on the board, but it wasn't enough as the Little Giants fell to 0-2 with a 49-33 loss to Lincoln. Wells, an offensive tackle, was the first player to verbal to Illinois in the Class of 2011 when he committed in early March.
- TONY DURKIN and CHRIS O'CONNOR of Andrew helped the Thunderbolts improve to 1-1 on the season with a 24-14 nonconference win against Lincoln-Way Central. Durkin is an offensive lineman who committed to Illinois in July. He will likely get a chance to play center. O'Connor is a three-star defensive end according to Rivals.com who committed in June.
- DANIEL RHODES and Independence (Charlotte, N.C.) suffered a tough 34-27 loss after a blocked punt set up the winning touchdown late for Rock Hill South Pointe. Rhodes is a tight end who committed to Illinois in late July.
THE TARGETS
- DEMETRIUS WILLIAMS, a Class of 2012 running back from Bamberg, S.C., ran for 157 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries helped lead Bamberg-Ehrhardt to a 32-3 win against Edisto. Williams has an offer from Illinois according to scout.com and Rivals.com, and the local paper has reported he has committed to Illinois. His teammate, safety ZEPH GRIMES, has already committed to the Illini in the 2011 class. B-E improved to 2-0.
- JAMES ADEYANJU and the Chicago Curie defense played better than last week but still came away empty-handed. The Condors lost 21-19 at Sterling when their two-point conversion with less than 30 seconds left was unsuccessful. Adeyanju, a defensive end, is still considering Illinois among a host of schools, including Nebraska, Wisconsin and Boston College.
- Defensive end ZACH COLVIN and the Minooka Indians improved to 2-0 with a 43-6 win against Zion-Benton. Colvin had an offer from Illinois but it is currently on hold. He is hoping to attend a Big Ten school and has interest from Iowa, Purdue and Michigan State as well.
- CALVIN PHILLIPS and Kankakee hung on for a 28-26 win against Thornridge on Saturday afternoon. Phillips is a 6-foot-1, 205-pound running back who said he is likely to choose between Illinois and Minnesota.
- SCOTT MCDOWELL and Hinsdale Central picked up their first win of the year with a 28-0 shutout of Proviso East on Saturday. McDowell is an offensive lineman who said he would like to make a decision between Illinois and Cincinnati soon.
Is this true??
llini Land Another
By: Ryan Snyder
6-foot-5, 280 pound Hinsdale Central standout Scott McDowell came to a difficult decision earlier this weekend. The offensive line prospect trimmed his list down to Illinois and Cincinnati before deciding to stay in-state to play for Ron Zook and the Fighting Illini.
"Yesterday I made my decision to commit to Illinois," McDowell said. "The main other school I was looking at was Cincinnati. I also had a bunch of MAC offers, but it was mainly between Illinois and Cincinnati at the end."
When asked what led him to select to play for the Fighting Illini instead of the Bearcats, McDowell said, "A lot of it had to do with the fact they play in the Big Ten. The school itself is great too. I'm interested in studying business in college. Their business school is great. I think they're going to have a good team down there real soon too. I wasn't able to watch their game against Missouri this weekend, but I heard they looked a lot better. They showed a lot of improvements from what I was told, so I'm confident in them for the future."
Illinois assistants Joe Gilbert and Paul Petrino teamed up to close the deal for McDowell. "I definitely got to know Coach Gilbert and Coach Petrino the best so far. They seem like good coaches and good guys. Coach Petrino was my recruiting coach, so I talked to him a lot at first. It was nice having Coach Gilbert recruit me too though because he'll be my position coach in college."
McDowell has yet to schedule an official visit with Illinois, but sounded confident the trip to Champaign-Urbana would be his only one. "I'm not sure when I'll visit there officially, but I'd like to get down to a game soon. I think when I do officially visit that will be my only one. I'm a solid commitment."







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