The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Incoming class of Bulldogs’ recruits filled with potential
NEW HAVEN — Only time will tell if Yale’s football recruiting class holds another immediate impact game-changer like Zane Dudek, the freshman AllAmerican who led the Ivy League in rushing last fall.
Chances are most of the 30 incoming freshmen — members of class of 2022 were announced by Yale on Monday — will need a bit more time to develop. But there’s plenty of potential, and that’s good news for the defending Ivy champions.
Among the names to watch is Trenton Charles, a speedy running back out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who turned down scholarship offers from Power Five schools Arizona, Northwestern and TCU for a chance to study biomedical engineering at Yale.
Charles, at 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds, rushed for 3,400 yards with another 1,100 receiving during an all-state career at Scotlandville Magnet School.
Nick Henkel, a 6-foot-5 quarterback from Greenwich, was a three-time AllNew England pick at Brunswick. He’s also got deep Yale bloodlines. His grandfather, Oliver “Pudge” Henkel, played on the Bulldogs first Ivy championship team in 1956. His father, Peter, played baseball at Yale while older sister Lexi was a lacrosse player for the Bulldogs.
Another quarterback recruit, Griffin O’Connor of Huntington Beach, California, was set to attend UNLV until changing his mind last summer. He threw for 7,205
yards and 73 touchdowns in his career.
Offensive lineman Tate Goodyear of Cincinnati, at 6-4, 275 pounds, chose Yale over Iowa State; running back Elliott McElwain of Trussville, Alabama gained over 2,000 all-purpose yards last fall.
On defense, the Bulldogs picked up safety Brian Abraham of Brockton, Massachusetts and cornerback Miles Oldacre of Spring, Texas, both with the potential to make an early
impact. Abraham, at 6-4, 205 pounds, was the Catholic Conference defensive player of the year at Xaverian Brothers; Oldacre passed on offers from Boston College, Kansas and Tennessee.
Jack Biestek, a 6-foot-3 wide receiver from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is from a football family. His grandfather is Geno Cappelletti, MVP of the American Football League in 1964 and a member of the New England Patriots Hall of Fame. His father, Jim, and uncle, Bob, played at Boston College in the 1980s. His uncle, Tom Waddell, was a
receiver for the Chicago Bears.
Other Connecticut recruits are Bristol’s Datan Hickey and Uncasville’s Nick Tibbetts.
Hickey was a New Haven Register All-State pick last fall at Bristol Central, where he played running back and defensive back. He’s listed as a defensive back by Yale. Tibbetts was a captain in football, wrestling and lacrosse at Montville who joins the Bulldogs as a long snapper.
Wide receiver Jaylan Sandifer is from Centerville, Georgia but spent last season at Choate, where he
earned first-team all-New England honors.
Osorachukwu Ifesinachukwu — whose first and last names combine for 11 syllables (awe-sor-uh-chewku e-face-een-nah-chew-ku) — made 28 career sacks and 40 tackles for losses as a defensive lineman in Austin, Texas. He’s joined by fellow defensive line recruit Adam Raine, a native of Basingstoke, England who spent last fall at the Berkshire School in Massachusetts.
Yale opens next season on Sept. 15 at Holy Cross.