We were at Oak Park High School last night for its showdown with Birmingham Groves, keeping a close eye on two Michigan targets — Oak Park four-star defensive tackle Rayshaun Benny and class of 2022 Birmingham Groves three-star athlete Jaden Mangham.
Benny was the headliner in this one, so we’ll kick off the discussion with him. We knew he wasn’t going to play, due to a meniscus injury stemming from a car accident that has held him out all year. He dressed, however, and said afterward he felt good enough to play, though his coach held him out.
The four-star confirmed to us he’ll be suiting up for next week’s regular-season finale though. We kept a close eye on Benny on the sidelines during the game, and he basically served as a player/coach in a lot of ways.
He was spotted talking strategy with one of the assistant coaches at one point, and was later the first guy over to an injured teammate, asking him what was wrong and offering him water.
Oak Park played very poorly in the first half and trailed 22-6 at the break. It was clear they missed Benny on the interior of their defensive line, as Birmingham Groves gashed them on the ground for much of the night.
In fact, it looked like the Falcons were going to run away with it, but Oak Park made a furious comeback and impressively trimmed Birmingham Groves’ lead to just 22-20 in the third quarter. The Falcons immediately took the momentum back, however, with a 60-yard touchdown run, extending their lead back to 10 at 30-20. They wound up winning 38-20.
Oak Park, on the other hand, fell to 0-5 with the loss. Benny’s absence is part of that winless record, but the Knights shot themselves in the foot countless times by committing a plethora of penalties. There was a stretch in the third quarter, in particular, where a flag was being thrown on seemingly every other play.
One encouraging occurrence surrounding Benny came late in the fourth quarter, when he spotted a Birmingham Groves cornerback wearing Michigan gloves.
“Hey, No. 20, where’d you get those gloves?” Benny shouted excitedly at him. The Falcon defensive back responded by saying he got them when he took a visit to Ann Arbor. It was clear the four-star defensive tackle really liked the gloves.
We asked him about his recruitment and his impending Oct. 25 commitment date after the game, and he said he thought he knew where he was going to commit to, but is now having second thoughts. Take it for it’s worth, but we’ll have more to come from the interview this week.
If Mangham’s name, meanwhile, sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the younger brother of former Cass Tech four-star running back Jaren Mangham, who Michigan recruited lightly and is now at Colorado. Jaden Mangham, however, solely played receiver for Birmingham Groves (though he was inserted into the game as a safety on Oak Park’s final offensive possession of the night, simply because they were airing it out), despite being listed as an athlete by Rivals.com.
He made a minimal impact though, only reeling in two catches for 28 yards. His first reception was a big one, going up over a defender and bringing the ball in at Oak Park’s two-yard line to set Birmingham Groves up for its second touchdown of the night.
The Falcons primarily kept the ball on the ground throughout the evening, and didn’t attempt to feature Mangham. In fact, only one other ball was thrown his way — a deep pass that was picked off by the Knights.
What he told us afterward was a bit surprising though, revealing that the Michigan coaches are in constant contact with him. This would indicate Mangham is one of U-M’s top targets in the 2022 class.
Again, though, most of the focus was on Benny in this one, and whether or not he'll choose Michigan next Sunday. Keep it locked here this week to read everything the four-star defensive tackle told us in the postgame interview.
Benny was the headliner in this one, so we’ll kick off the discussion with him. We knew he wasn’t going to play, due to a meniscus injury stemming from a car accident that has held him out all year. He dressed, however, and said afterward he felt good enough to play, though his coach held him out.
The four-star confirmed to us he’ll be suiting up for next week’s regular-season finale though. We kept a close eye on Benny on the sidelines during the game, and he basically served as a player/coach in a lot of ways.
He was spotted talking strategy with one of the assistant coaches at one point, and was later the first guy over to an injured teammate, asking him what was wrong and offering him water.
Oak Park played very poorly in the first half and trailed 22-6 at the break. It was clear they missed Benny on the interior of their defensive line, as Birmingham Groves gashed them on the ground for much of the night.
In fact, it looked like the Falcons were going to run away with it, but Oak Park made a furious comeback and impressively trimmed Birmingham Groves’ lead to just 22-20 in the third quarter. The Falcons immediately took the momentum back, however, with a 60-yard touchdown run, extending their lead back to 10 at 30-20. They wound up winning 38-20.
Oak Park, on the other hand, fell to 0-5 with the loss. Benny’s absence is part of that winless record, but the Knights shot themselves in the foot countless times by committing a plethora of penalties. There was a stretch in the third quarter, in particular, where a flag was being thrown on seemingly every other play.
One encouraging occurrence surrounding Benny came late in the fourth quarter, when he spotted a Birmingham Groves cornerback wearing Michigan gloves.
“Hey, No. 20, where’d you get those gloves?” Benny shouted excitedly at him. The Falcon defensive back responded by saying he got them when he took a visit to Ann Arbor. It was clear the four-star defensive tackle really liked the gloves.
We asked him about his recruitment and his impending Oct. 25 commitment date after the game, and he said he thought he knew where he was going to commit to, but is now having second thoughts. Take it for it’s worth, but we’ll have more to come from the interview this week.
If Mangham’s name, meanwhile, sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the younger brother of former Cass Tech four-star running back Jaren Mangham, who Michigan recruited lightly and is now at Colorado. Jaden Mangham, however, solely played receiver for Birmingham Groves (though he was inserted into the game as a safety on Oak Park’s final offensive possession of the night, simply because they were airing it out), despite being listed as an athlete by Rivals.com.
He made a minimal impact though, only reeling in two catches for 28 yards. His first reception was a big one, going up over a defender and bringing the ball in at Oak Park’s two-yard line to set Birmingham Groves up for its second touchdown of the night.
The Falcons primarily kept the ball on the ground throughout the evening, and didn’t attempt to feature Mangham. In fact, only one other ball was thrown his way — a deep pass that was picked off by the Knights.
What he told us afterward was a bit surprising though, revealing that the Michigan coaches are in constant contact with him. This would indicate Mangham is one of U-M’s top targets in the 2022 class.
Again, though, most of the focus was on Benny in this one, and whether or not he'll choose Michigan next Sunday. Keep it locked here this week to read everything the four-star defensive tackle told us in the postgame interview.
