Every week during the prep football season, IlliniHQ will give a wrap-up of how Illini commits and targets fared during the previous weekend's games. Here are a few notes from week 14 for the few who are still playing, along with notes about Illini basketball recruits that opened their season last week.

FOOTBALL
THE COMMITS


JARROD CLEMENTS and REON DAWSON of Trotwood-Madison High School (Ohio) will try to claim their second straight Division II state championship this weekend. The Rams narrowly escaped with a 33-32 win against New Albany High School on Friday night in a state semifinal at Piqua High School. New Albany missed a 27-yard field goal as time expired that would have won the game. Clements is a senior defensive end who committed to Illinois in early May. Dawson is a senior defensive back/wide receiver who committed to Illinois in late May. Trotwood-Madison, now 12-2, will face 13-1 Toledo Central Catholic High School at 7 p.m. on Friday at Massillon Washington High School's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in the state championship game. 




MERRICK JACKSON and Belleville Althoff Catholic (Ill.) High School lost 14-7 on Friday to Mercer County in the Class 2A state championship game at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. The Crusaders, who finished 10-4, outgained Mercer County 357-208 in terms of total offense but turned the ball over six times. Jackson, a senior defensive tackle who committed to Illinois in late April, had a strong game on his future home field. He compiled nine tackles, including one tackle for loss, and recovered a fumble.


THE TARGETS



DALYN DAWKINS









The senior running back from Trinity (Ky.) High School and his Shamrocks pulled out a 21-14 win against Scott County High School in a 6A semifinal game on Friday night to advance to the state championship game. Dawkins — who has offers from Illinois, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Purdue and Western Kentucky — scored the game-winning touchdown with less than four minutes left on a 67-yard screen pass. Dawkins finished with 112 rushing yards on 19 carries. Trinity, now 12-1, will face Pleasure Ridge Park High School at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the state championship game at Western Kentucky University's Houchens Stadium. 




DAESEAN HAMILTON









The senior wide receiver from Stafford, Va., and his Mountain View High School teammates saw their season end with a 49-12 loss on Saturday to North Stafford High School in a Northwest Region Division 5 regional final playoff game. Hamilton, a senior wide receiver who has offers from Illinois, Penn State, Duke, Miami (Fla.), Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, did not play. Mountain View closed with an 8-5 record.





NYLES MORGAN






The junior linebacker from Crete-Monee (Ill.) High School and the Warriors held on for a 33-26 win against Cary-Grove High School on Saturday in the Class 6A state championship game at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. Morgan, who has offers from Illinois, Michigan State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Purdue, among others, helped the 14-0 Warriors win their first-ever state championship by compiling 12 tackles and forcing two fumbles.

BASKETBALL
THE SIGNEES
AUSTIN COLBERT, a senior forward/center from Gill St. Bernard's (N.J.) School, and the Knights don't open the season until Friday, Dec. 14, against Our Savior New American (N.Y.) High School. Colbert isn't eligible to play until January as he sits out due to New Jersey state transfer rules.

MALCOLM HILL, a senior guard/forward from Belleville East (Ill.) High School, helped the Lancers win the Centralia (Ill.) High School Thanksgiving Tournament on Saturday after Belleville East knocked off Centralia 53-42 on Saturday night. The Lancers went 4-0 at the tournament, with Hill chosen as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He scored 24 points in the win against Centralia while he added 10 points in a 66-52 win against Jerseyville (Ill.) High School earlier on Saturday. In the Lancers' 59-43 win against Mahomet-Seymour (Ill.) High School last Wednesday, Hill scored 22 points, and in Belleville East's season-opening 64-42 win against Mascoutah (Ill.) High School last Monday, Hill finished with 23 points. Hill and Belleville East are back in action at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 4, at Edwardsville (Ill.) High School.

MAVERICK MORGAN, a senior center from Springboro (Ohio) High School, will begin his season at 7:30 p.m. this Friday against Shroder (Ohio) High School in Springboro.

KENDRICK NUNN and JAYLON TATE, senior guards from Chicago Simeon High School, will start their season at 8 p.m. this Saturday against Milton (Ga.) High School at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion in as part of the Chicago Elite Classic.