Friday Night Lights

The high school football regular season got underway Friday night for many states across the country.

Each week throughout the season, The Clemson Insider will keep you posted on the performances of Clemson’s commitments in their respective games. In our Friday Night Lights feature, we look at how the future Tigers fared in Week 1:

TCI attended a couple of Clemson commit’s games this weekend as part of our Tour of Champions. We were live Friday for both four-star wide receiver E.J. Williams’ game in Alabama as well as Tyler Venables’ game in Liberty, S.C.

Williams recorded several catches, including a 13-yard touchdown reception, though Central (Phenix City, Ala.) fell to Hoover (Hoover, Ala.) 17-14 at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. Venables, meanwhile, completed 17 of 19 passes for 189 yards and threw for two touchdowns while rushing for another score in Daniel’s 44-0 win at Liberty.

In other action, five-star Clemson quarterback commit D.J. Uiagalelei led St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) to a big win over DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) on Saturday night in a game televised by ESPN2.

Uiagalelei missed on nine of his first 11 pass attempts but settled down nicely to finish 17-for-36 with 322 yards passing and two touchdowns in Bosco’s 35-7 victory. Uiagalelei also flashed his dual-threat ability at times and had a 21-yard run in the second half.

One of the running backs Uiagalelei will hand off to in the future at Clemson, five-star Demarkcus Bowman, rushed for nearly 200 yards and scored an 80-yard touchdown in Lakeland (Lakeland, Fla.)’s 45-0 win at Manatee (Bradenton, Fla.).

The other running back pledge in the Tigers’ 2020 class, Kobe Pryor, also found the end zone on a 21-yard run for Cedartown (Cedartown, Ga.). He also had a 92-yard return after a blocked field-goal attempt, but it was called back by penalties in Cedartown’s 31-12 loss vs. Rockmart (Rockmart, Ga.).

Clemson tight end commit Sage Ennis of Lincoln (Tallahassee, Fla.) helped his team to a 32-12 victory vs. Godby (Tallahassee), hauling in a 30-yard touchdown catch. Ennis also picked up some valuable rushing yards for Lincoln while serving as a wildcat quarterback.

Here are other scores from this week’s games involving Clemson commitments:

WR Ajou Ajou, Clearwater Academy International (Clearwater, Fla.) — 68-6 win vs. Immokalee (Immokalee, Fla.)

DT Demonte Capehart, IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) — 46-7 win at Venice (Venice, Fla.)

CB Fred Davis, Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.) — 38-7 loss at Columbia (Lake City, Fla.)

OL Mitchell Mayes, Leesville Road (Raleigh, N.C.) — 37-6 win vs. Wakefield (Raleigh, N.C.)

OL Walker Parks, Frederick Douglass (Lexington, Ky.) — 43-0 win vs. Bryan Station (Lexington, Ky.)

LB Kevin Swint, Carrollton (Carrollton, Ga.) – 14-10 win at Bremen (Ga.)

OL Bryn Tucker, Knoxville Catholic (Knoxville, Tenn.) — 48-0 win vs. Chuckey-Doak (Afton, Tenn.)

OL John Williams, Creekview (Canton, Ga.) — 27-3 win at Cambridge (Milton, Ga.)

DT Tre Williams, St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) – 48-0 win vs. Southridge (Miami)

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