Friday Night Lights: Clemson commits shine in Week 1
By: Gavin Oliver September 5, 2020

Several Clemson commits shined on the gridiron for their respective teams in Week 1 of the high school football season.

Playing on Thursday night, future Tiger Barrett Carter put on a show while leading North Gwinnett (Suwanee, Ga.) to a 35-7 win over McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.).

The four-star linebacker tallied eight tackles, including two for loss, and recorded a 78-yard pick-six on defense. Offensively, he scored on a 7-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat formation and also showed off his quarterback skills with a completed two-point conversion pass.

On Friday night, four-star Clemson tight end commit Jake Briningstool had a big first half to help his Ravenwood (Brentwood, Tenn.) team to a 42-21 victory at Franklin (Franklin, Tenn.).

In the first two quarters, Briningstool registered 43 receiving yards on four catches, two of which went for touchdowns (13 and 8 yards). He did not play in the second half due to vision issues caused by his contact lens.

On the defensive side of the ball Friday night, four-star defensive end Cade Denhoff set the tone for Lakeland Christian School (Lakeland, Fla.) early in its 50-0 rout of St. John Paul II (Tallahassee, Fla.).

Denhoff set up Lakeland Christian’s first score of the game when he tackled St. John Paul’s punter at the 11-yard line following a bad snap. Denhoff later showed off his ability in pursuit, chasing down the opposing quarterback for no gain on the final play of the first quarter.

In other action, Clemson four-star quarterback commit Bubba Chandler found the end zone on an 11-yard touchdown run, but it was the lone score of the night for his North Oconee (Bogart, Ga.) squad in its 27-7 loss at Oconee County (Watkinsville, Ga.).

Meanwhile, a couple of other future Tigers helped their team to victory Friday night. Four-star running back Phil Mafah and Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) defeated Jones County (Gray, Ga.) by a score of 51-13, while four-star offensive lineman Dietrick Pennington and Evangelical Christian School (Cordova, Tenn.) blanked Harding Academy (Memphis, Tenn.), 44-0.

Stay tuned to TCI each week as we will keep you posted on the performances of Clemson’s commitments in our “Friday Night Lights” feature.

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