• New Jersey prospects on display in Florida

  • By Roger Brown | September 16, 2011 9:36:18 AM PDT
There will be plenty of Division I recruits on the field at Hawkins Stadium in Bradenton, Fla., Friday night. There's nothing unusual about that, except for the fact that most of those recruits will be from New Jersey.Florida will face New Jersey in a doubleheader that features Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) against Manatee (Bradenton, Fla.), followed by Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) vs. Plant (Tampa, Fla.).Don Bosco has three of the 10 four-star recruits from New Jersey: cornerback Yuri Wright (No. 3 cornerback overall), defensive end Darius Hamilton (No. 6) and safety Elijah Shumate (No. 150). All three players are uncommitted.Three other players on the Don Bosco roster have committed: three-star offensive guard Tyler Samra (Connecticut), three-star linebacker Michael Strizak (Boston College) and three-star wide receiver Leonte Carroo (Rutgers). Don Bosco opened its season by beating Mission Viejo (Calif.), 35-7. Manatee quarterback Cord Sandberg, a junior, has offers from Auburn, Clemson, Iowa State, Cincinnati and Western Kentucky.Plant running back Antonio Crawford has committed to Georgia Tech, and Plant wide receiver Austin Aikens has offers from Boston College, Missouri, Temple. Florida International, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky.Holy Spirit forfeits victoryIt's been a tough couple of months for linebacker Dan Mastromatteo (Absecon, N.J. /Holy Spirit). First, North Carolina fired coach Butch Davis shortly after Mastromatteo committed to UNC. Then Mastromatteo's Holy Spirit team was forced to forfeit last weekend's 41-16 triumph over Oakcrest for using a player who was academically ineligible.Two-star running back Nigel Jones is the other Division I recruit on the Holy Spirit roster. Jones has offers from Miami (Ohio), Temple, James Madison and Western Michigan.Clax eligible to playThree-star linebacker Jazzmar Clax (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) was ruled eligible this week after he had to sit out Neptune's 28-7 victory over Bishop Ahr last weekend because of questions regarding his transfer from Freehold to Neptune in June.Clax transferred after former Freehold coach Mark Ciccotelli resigned to become the head coach at Neptune in the offseason.

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