UA All-American Bowl: Jones struggles in limited action
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ORLANDO, Fla. | The 11th annual Under Armour All-American Game may have been the Maurice Washington Show, but University of Florida targets and signees still made their presence known on Thursday at Camping World Stadium.
UF-signee quarterback Emory Jones had a couple nice offensive plays, wide receiver target Jacob Copeland had one catch for seven yards, and linebacker target Xavier Peters notched three tackles and had a 44-yard kickoff return to lead Team Highlight to a 23-21 victory on a bitter cold, blustery night at Camping World Stadium.
The trio’s efforts were sandwiched around a record-setting effort by Washington, an undeclared running back out of Cedar Hill, Texas, who was named team MVP after running for 69 yards and two touchdowns, catching a 27-yard touchdown pass and tallying 63 yards in kickoff returns to finish with 159 total yards. He became the first player to score three touchdowns in the game, and the first player to rush for two scores.
“I was disappointed I didn’t get the opportunities,” said Jones, who played only two series in the first half and watched Dorian Thompson-Robinson, a UCLA commit, steal the show with 118 yards passing and one touchdown, and 23 yards rushing on six carries.
Still, Jones showed flashes of his great potential with a sharp 9-yard out pass and a five-yard nifty scramble up the middle.
Copeland, meanwhile, showed great elusiveness when he caught a short pass from Thompson-Robinson, reversed field and ended up with a nice seven-yard gain. Peters was even more impressive with three tackles, a pass breakup, a quarterback hit, and a monster kickoff return down the right sideline.
Peters is a Kentucky commit, but still is considering the Gators.
For Team Spotlight, UF-signee Evan McPherson went 3-for-3 on extra-point kicks, and wide receiver target Justyn Ross had two catches for 13 yards.
“I thought I did good under the wind conditions,” McPherson said.
Joey Gatewood, who is headed to Auburn, was Team Spotlight MVP after rushing for 52 yards and one TD, and passing for 79 yards and another score.
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