Area players stand out in All-American Bowl

Several South Florida players and recruits for state schools stood out in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio on Saturday afternoon.

Miami-Dade County running back James Cook scored two touchdowns while Hurricanes quarterback signee Jarren Williams was up and down and American Heritage’s trio of defenders made plays in the East team’s 17-16 loss to the West.

Cook, who played at Miami Central but transferred to Northwestern after the football season and is Dalvin Cook’s younger brother, scored the first touchdown of the exhibition from 16 yards out in the third quarter to give the East a 10-3 lead. After 14 unanswered from the West, he caught a touchdown with under three minutes remaining, but the East went for the two-point conversion and failed.

Williams made a firstdown throw on his first series with a sharp pass on an out route, and in the second half, he hit a receiver with a bullet pass over the middle where his team picked up 15 yards on a third-and-18. Williams also showed his dual-threat ability by scrambling for a gain of 10 on one first-half play.

Then there were the throws that Williams missed on. He had fellow UM signee Mark Pope, a receiver out of Miami Southridge, with a step on his defender deep down the sideline but underthrew him and the pass was deflected. Williams looked for Pope again on the ensuing play and missed him short there too. Williams was 3 for 6 for 35 yards, was sacked twice and had two delay-of-game penalties.

Miami signee Brian Hightower, a Bradenton IMG Academy receiver who played for the West, had four catches for 50 yards; Pope had one 5-yard reception.

American Heritage cornerback Tyson Campbell was on the coverage for a first-and-goal pass that fell incomplete on the East’s first defensive series. Patriots defensive tackle Nesta Silvera, a Hurricanes commit, applied pressure on the quarterback on third down two plays later to force a field goal attempt that missed.

Silvera also delivered a big hit on Ole Miss-signed quarterback Matt Corral, formerly a Florida Gators commit, on a pass that fell incomplete. Heritage corner Patrick Surtain II had a decent punt return in the first half, gaining doubledigit yards after backing up on a long kick. Neither of the Patriots’ five-star defensive backs, Surtain or Campbell, was thrown at much as they had solid coverage on the receivers they were defending.

FSU signee Jaiden Woodbey intercepted the first pass of the game on a tipped ball deep down the sideline.

Hurricanes-signed running back Lorenzo Lingard barely saw action, gaining a yard on two carries.