Friday Night Lights: Oct. 23 2020

California commits Kai Millner‍, J Michael Sturdivant‍‍, Hunter Barth‍, and Bastian Swinney‍  took the field again Friday for another week of high school football. Sturdivant made several big plays in undefeated Marcus’s big win over Flower Mound. Millner was dissapointing, getting just one touchdown in a really bad loss to Chandler.

J Michael Sturdivant‍ 

Sturdivant tallied a team-high 10 receptions for 93 yards and 1 touchdown in a 55-14 victory over Flower Mound, continuing a hot start to the 2020 campaign. Marcus high school is now 4-0, ranking 25th in Texas. Here’s a highlight of his lone touchdown grab. 

Here’s the same play from another angle, demonstrating the college-level foot-placement by Sturdivant and his excellent hand-eye coordination. 

In another dynamic play, Sturdivant executed a similar sideline toe-tap for what looks like a 30-yard grab.

Sturdivant has built a great connection with LSU commit Garrett Nussmeier, leading the team with 5 touchdowns this season. Joseph Hoyt, sports reporter for Dallas News, calls their connection “one of the best” in Texas high school football. Sturdivant has shown to be fast, elusive, and relentless in his four games this season. He’ll look to continue to impress next week against Plano. 

Kai Millner‍ 

Millner passed for only 104 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions in a 63-7 loss against Chandler, the number 1 ranked team in Arizona. The dominant Chandler offense was tough to handle for the Higley defense, and Millner failed to help much, completing just 54% of his passes and rushing 3 times for 5 yards.

The landslide loss comes as a surprise after Higley took down Desert Ridge 42-21 last Friday, but Chandler showed their worth. Chandler’s team is talented with 12 three-star recruits and 3 two-star recruits, including Cal target RB Quaron Adams.

Millner and the 2-2 Higley Knights move on against Williams Field next week.

Hunter Barth‍ 

Barth accumulated 3 total tackles (1 solo, 2 asst) and 1 pass breakup in a 28-35 loss against Liberty. He made some dynamic plays, including a nice solo tackle to stop a breakaway run and a tremendous pass-breakup on what could’ve been a 26-yard pass. On both plays, Barth showed speed, physicality, and vision.