Duncanville five-star defensive lineman Omari Abor estimates that he gets eight or nine calls a day from college recruiters. That’s what happens when you are still uncommitted in December and you are the nation’s No. 2-ranked edge rusher.
But Abor refuses to let recruiting become a distraction, so he gives college coaches the same message.
“I tell them I have a big game this week and I’ve got to focus,” Abor said. “Anything that coaches are talking about, I kind of put that on the side a little bit.”
Abor, who is strongly considering Texas A&M, Alabama, Ohio State and Florida — with Clemson trying to work its way into the mix late — isn’t planning to sign Wednesday, the first day of the early national signing period. He is going to wait until the Under Armour All-America Game on Jan. 2 to announce his commitment.
He wants to devote all of his attention to this week’s Class 6A Division I state semifinal against Southlake Carroll at 4 p.m. Saturday at McKinney ISD Stadium. He isn’t the only Duncanville star who is still finalizing his college plans, but will put that aside until the season is over.
Three-star offensive lineman Cameron Williams had been committed to Oregon since July 1, but with head coach Mario Cristobal leaving the Ducks this week to take the head coaching job at Miami, Williams decommitted from Oregon on Wednesday. Like Abor, Williams isn’t planning to sign Wednesday.
In just the last few days, Williams has received an offer from Florida and been reoffered by TCU. And 247Sports reported that Miami could get a second official visit from Williams.
“It’s hard. It’s kind of stressful,” Williams said of the recruiting process overlapping with this week’s state semifinals and next week’s state championship games.
This week’s matchup of nationally ranked teams — Southlake Carroll (14-0) is No. 6 in the latest MaxPreps national poll and Duncanville (12-1) is No. 20 — won’t take a back seat to recruiting. There is a lot on the line, as eight-time state champion Carroll is looking to win its first state title since 2011, and Duncanville is playing in the state semifinals for the fourth straight season and is looking for its first state championship since 1998.
It is an opportunity for Duncanville to avenge a 34-27 loss to Carroll in last year’s state semifinal. That game cost Duncanville a chance to play in its third consecutive state championship game.
“All year, we’ve been looking forward to this game,” said Duncanville star running back Malachi Medlock, who plans to sign with Toledo on Wednesday.
Last year, Carroll had five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers — the No. 1 recruit in the nation — but against Duncanville, Ewers threw for only 168 yards and the Dragons relied heavily on running back Owen Allen, then a sophomore. Allen was up to the task, running for 192 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries as Carroll avenged losses to Duncanville in the regional finals in 2018 and 2019 — and won without head coach Riley Dodge, who missed the game after testing positive for COVID-19.
Allen has already posted his second straight 2,000-yard season, rushing for 2,114 yards and 32 touchdowns. The 5-10, 190-pound junior doesn’t list any college offers or have any stars on his 247Sports recruiting page, but Dodge thinks Allen is the best running back in the state.
“That’s my opinion,” Dodge said. “We wouldn’t trade him for the world. He’s tough as nails, and he has been super consistent for three years. One of these days, someone is going to wake up and see it like we do.”
What can an athletic Duncanville defense do to slow down a running back who is coming off a 144-yard, three-touchdown game against five-time state champion Allen in a 47-21 Carroll win last week? Carroll ran for 288 yards in that game and averages 246.2 rushing yards per game.
“We have to play our gaps,” said Abor, who is among nine area top-100 recruits on the Duncanville roster. “We have to try not to be too anxious to jump gaps. They like to run a lot of inside and a lot of outside zone, so if we just play our game and play safe and sound, I think we’ll be good.”
Carroll no longer has Ewers, who graduated from high school a year early, spent the fall watching from the sideline as freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud led the Ohio State offense and has now entered the transfer portal. In his place, junior Kaden Anderson has thrown for 2,797 yards and 34 touchdowns in his first year as Carroll’s starter, and he said that last year’s win over Duncanville shows “They are beatable. That definitely gives us some confidence.”
His top target has been Boston College pledge RJ Maryland (1,110 yards, 14 touchdowns). Maryland has received advice from his father on how to handle big games after Russell Maryland won three Super Bowls as a defensive lineman with the Cowboys.
“My dad gives me little pep talks. Just like, ‘Get ready, don’t be scared, play as hard as you can,’” said Maryland, who missed last year’s game against Duncanville with a hip injury.
Duncanville has run the ball on 72% of its offensive plays in the playoffs, and it’s coming off a 38-20 win over rival DeSoto in which Medlock ran for 252 yards and scored three touchdowns. Medlock ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns against Carroll last season, but he’ll be facing a defense that has allowed an average of 9.3 points and 93.3 rushing yards per game in the last three games.
“We’re just going to play our brand of defense,” Carroll linebacker Benecio Porras said. “We’re the most aggressive and violent defense in the whole state of Texas, so we’re just going to do what we do and come at them full speed.”
Carroll’s motto this season has been “finish” after it lost 52-34 to Austin Westlake in last year’s 6A Division I state championship game. But that hasn’t been the only motivation.
Carroll is using this season to honor assistant coach Carl Anderson, who died from COVID-19 a month after last year’s state final.
“Every week I’m giving it my all,” Porras said. “I want to make him proud. I want to make his whole family proud.”
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