Hodgson Vo-Tech vs. Thomas McKean Review

Hodgson Vo-Tech hosted Thomas McKean High School on Saturday afternoon for Homecoming in what should have been a win for the home team. Unfortunately, Murphy’s Law came into affect and Hodgson lost 14-6 in an extremely sloppy game.

Hodgson Vo-Tech was coming off of two straight losses to very tough teams leading up until Saturday and the general consensus was that they would walk all over Thomas McKean, despite the absence of senior wide receiver Jamal Merrill, who had to sit because a slight knee injury, however players were not executing consistently and a sloppy game turned into a third straight loss.

Jamil Merrell lined up at defensive end, defensive tackle, linebacker, fullback, tight end and wide receiver in the game, showing why he has offers from programs like Florida State, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Maryland, Iowa, Virginia and others. While Merrell is definitely an impressive physical specimen and shows that raw ability to be a top-flight player at the collegiate level, he will definitely need to work on getting stronger and learning to shed blocks while sifting through traffic at the next level, something he struggled with on Saturday. He ended up with two catches for 33 yards in the game and had a few tackle assists.

Junior running back Jamaal Jackson is a player to watch. Hodgson didn’t execute well on the offensive line, especially on the inside, however the 5-foot-10, 160-pound ball carrier was able to pump out 140 yards on 27 carries. He scored the teams’ lone touchdown on an 85-yard punt return and ended up with roughly 300 yards in the game. He also intercepted a pass on defense and had a number of tackles. Jackson is again, a raw specimen, however with some more time at the position he could become a very solid player down the road. Right now he holds written offers from Boston College and Rutgers.

In the end Hodgson certainly had more talent on the field, however after the score remained 7-6 for the majority of the game, McKean broke off a big run which set up a 1-yard quarterback sneak to take an eight-point lead. Hodgson came back downfield near the end of the game, however a turnover sealed their fate.