Nokoi Maddox is going Ivy! @NokoiM @GHHS_athletics @granitehillsfb @DartmouthFTBL pic.twitter.com/ABjsRQT81L
— Prep Pigskin Report (@KUSIPPR) December 20, 2023
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And here's a best guess of the Dartmouth recruiting class to date:
• DT Jackson Ashford, 6-2, 250, IMG Academy/Bradenton, Fla.
• WR James Elliott, 6-2, 195, Williston-Northampton/Leeds, Mass.
• DT Taylor Faalele, 6-2, 325, IMG Academy/Plymouth, Minn.
• ILB Tyler Kessel, 6-1 ½, 215 Summit HS/Summit, N.J.
• NB Lou Lamar, 6-2, 185, Concordia Lutheran/Magnolia, Texas
• WR Jordan Leslie, 6-1, 180, Mullen HS/Denver, Colo.
• QB Kyle Meier, 6-3, 225, Whitesboro HS/Whitesboro, N.Y.
• DB Nokoi Maddox, 6-1, 200, Granited Hills/El Cajon, Calif.
• OL Anthony Ndika, 6-4, 290, Loomis Chaffee/Nigeria
• ILB Johnny Riley, 6-3, 210, Delbarton/Morristown, N.J.
• WR Luke Rives, 6-0, 170, Stratford HS/Houston
• TE Kristian Strong, 6-4, 225, Avon Old Farms/Avon, Conn.
• OL Julian Sutton, 6-4, 306, Loomis Chaffee/Hamden, Conn.
• QB Noah Trigueros, 6-2, 180, Notre Dame Prep/Scottsdale, Ariz.
• OL Ryan Turk, 6-4, 280, Loyola HS/Los Angeles
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Add Nevada to the growing list of schools offering Dartmouth tight end Jace Henry as a grad transfer.
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Speaking of grad transfers Charlie Looes decision to continue his career at Rice makes him one of at least 13 Ivy League grads moving up a level next fall. Here's a preliminary list by school. Expect the list to grow, perhaps substantially, in coming days.
Columbia - OL Luke Painton to UMass
Cornell - DB Paul Lewis to Akron
Harvard - DB Kaleb Moody to Kent State
Harvard - DL Thor Griffith to Louisville
Harvard - LB Matt Hudson to Memphis
Harvard - OL Spencer Cassell to Rice
Harvard - TE Tyler Neville to Virginia
Penn - DL Will Seiler to Duke
Penn - DL Joe Slackman to Florida
Penn - DB Kendren Smith to Virginia
Yale - TE Jackson Hawers to Georgia Tech
Yale - OL Jonathan Mendoza to Louisville
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Former Dartmouth corner Isaiah Johnson did not play last night in the final game of his second season at Syracuse as the Orange dropped a 45-0 decision to South Florida in the Boca Raton Bowl. A 'Cuse captain this fall, he finished theyear with 62 tackles, six breakups and one interception while starting all 12 games in which he played. An NFL Draft Scouting Report writes of the 6-3, 205-pound grad transfer (LINK):
Isaiah Johnson’s physical traits will have many coaches and scouts very interested, but beyond that he’s a very well-rounded corner that can contribute in both phases on defense. He’s built like a Man-to-Man corner but right now he has a better feel for Zone with his instincts & ability to contribute better playing with play in front of him. Johnson will need time to grow at the next level, but with time, if he can continue to develop, Johnson has all the abilities to become a quality starter at the next level.
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A little more background on Merrimack, which is replacing Army on next year's Dartmouth football schedule:
• The Warriors were 5-6 last year.
• Last year's record included a 14-12 loss to 2023 Dartmouth opponent Lehigh, and a 35-24 win over 2024 Dartmouth opponent Central Connecticut.
• Merrimack took Harvard to overtime in 2022, falling in Cambridge, 28-21. But the Warriors could claim a 31-25 win over Sacred Heart, which three weeks earlier had beaten Dartmouth in overtime.
• Merrimack fielded its first football team in 1996, moved up from Division III to DII a year later, and joined the FCS in 2019.
• Perhaps the biggest victory in the program's short FCS history came in in 2021 when the Warriors topped Holy Cross, 35-21, for their first win against a Top-25 FCS team. No. 24 Holy Cross had defeated FBS Connecticut in its previous game.
• The Warriors had been in the Northeast Conference since joining the FCS but they are joining Sacred Heart in moving to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), which does not sponsor football. They are currently classified as an independent while considering options for next fall.
• Next season will be the first for longtime assistant Mike Gennetti as head coach at Merrimack. He was promoted after Dan Curran stepped down to accept the head coaching position at Holy Cross just weeks after signing a multi-year contract extension with Merrimack.
• Merrimack's home is Duane Stadium, which is listed as having a capacity of 4,000. Per the NCAA the average home attendance was 6,346, which translates to a nation's best 158.65 percent of capacity. Interestingly, Merrimack's stats list home attendance at 4,505, which is still SRO.
• Merrimack has an enrollment of about 5,700 at its campus in North Andover, Mass, about 20 minutes from Boston. It was founded in 1947 and per its website, is "driven by our Augustinian Catholic mission."
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EXTRA POINT
It's a big day here at our Vermont hillside with That Certain Dartmouth '14 arriving home on a holiday break from her duties as a planner at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. I'm not sure about you, but I'd have to spend most of the day catching up on my zzz's if I'd spent the night on a red-eye flight and then hopped on the Dartmouth Coach to Hanovet. But TCD'14 is a world champion when it comes to sleeping while in transit. I wouldn't be surprised if she had a better night's sleep than I did. ;-)
