Friday Night Lights Game of the Week: Two of nation’s best programs face off; top recruits to watch
Friday Nights Lights is back, and the first week of high school football season matchups won’t disappoint!
Throughout the season, we will be bringing you all the latest on some of the top high school athletes to watch. Tonight we are kicking things off in Buford, Georgia as two powerhouses collide: No. 6 St. Frances Academy (Maryland) heads down to Georgia to face No. 10 Buford.
You can bet Tom Riden Stadium will be buzzing with plenty of blue chippers and rising talent you will want to get to know. St. Frances closed its 2022 season with a record of 9-1 and finished No.1 in the state of Maryland and No. 8 in the nation.
St Frances’ roster is stacked with Maryland’s top prospects, including future Oregon Ducks commits corner Ify Obidegwu and quarterback Michael Van Buren.
This matchup may be quite the duel of two of the top QBs in the 2024 class. Buford is coming back stronger and has its eyes set on getting back to the Georgia state championship. This time they will run the gauntlet with quarterback and UGA commit Dylan Raiola, the No. 1 recruit in 2024, who transferred in from Chandler (AZ) following his commitment to the Dawgs.
While all the buzz may surround Raiola’s debut for the Wolves, you can’t talk about the Buford class of 2024 players with out mentioning the defense that is anchored by 5-star defensive lineman Eddrick Houston and safety KJ Bolden.
Tom Riden Stadium will be nothing short of play makers especially for the class of 2025. Here are @TheRebelWalk Under The Lights athletes to watch @jbaker1244 @BraydenJacobs77 @MantrezWalker @CarltonSmith25 @iamtrentwilson @34HARRIS_CORTEZ . #RWRecruiting #ComeToTheSip pic.twitter.com/VT10bL9uUU
— LeeAnn Herring (@MissKYUS2011) August 18, 2023
Underclassmen to Watch
While the veterans will have all eyes on them tonight, they are joined by some of the nation’s top underclassmen that Ole Miss fans might want to get to know.
Here’s a look at the class of 2025 impact players to watch tonight in Buford in this marquee match up.
Justin Baker | 3 Star RB | Buford
Check out my Sophomore Highlights!!https://t.co/uMT0x0z8ed
— Justin Nkosi Baker (@jbaker1244) November 22, 2022
Brayden Jacobs | 4 Star OT | Buford
2025 Rivals250 OL Brayden Jacobs working on his craft!@BraydenJacobs77 | @Rivals | @RivalsCamp | @AdamGorneyhttps://t.co/O3i8AP5p9X pic.twitter.com/dzKP0Qudx8
— Rivals (@Rivals) April 16, 2023
Mantrez Walker | 4 Star LB | Buford
Stay Consistent ! 😤 #BDA #Crash @adamgorney @JohnGarcia_Jr @RivalsJohnson @SWiltfong247 @BrianDohn247 @ChadSimmons_ @JeremyO_Johnson @lukewinstel @ErikRichardsUSA pic.twitter.com/4Wo918TBKu
— Mantrez Walker ✞ (@MantrezWalker) August 12, 2023
Carlton Smith |4 Star RB | St. Frances
Full Season Highlight Tape 🎥 https://t.co/vS6AWmAQlY pic.twitter.com/XAdJyY99Fv
— Carlton Smith (@CarltonSmith25) November 23, 2022
Trent Wilson | 4 Star DL | St. Frances
Moving! https://t.co/YrPgOrpNJU
— Trenton Wilson (@iamtrentwilson) May 13, 2023
Cortez Harris |4 Star DE | St. Frances (first season with SFA transferred in from Dematha Catholic HS)
Love going to events in regions I’m relatively unfamiliar with the younger prospects❕🔍
2025 Washington DC Edge CORTEZ HARRIS was Great Start to Finish Sunday at the UA Next Camp❕⬆️
On3 has him ranked among the Top 60 players ➡️ https://t.co/7rO5eFBE1q via @On3USC pic.twitter.com/pqXu4DS6CR
— Scott Schrader (@Scott_Schrader) May 16, 2023
You can bet the Ole Miss staff will keep an eye out on these young men this season. We will keep you posted on their recruitment journey all throughout the fall.
Hotty Toddy!
Lee Ann Herring-Olvedo
Lee Ann serves as the Director of Recruiting for The Rebel Walk. She sees college football the way championship programs do—from inside the personnel room. Every evaluation, every roster move, every recruiting battle tells a bigger story about identity, culture, and how a program is built to win in December, not just July.
With more than 15 years covering the SEC and the national recruiting landscape, Herring-Olvedo has built a reputation as one of the sport’s most respected personnel-driven voices—blending film evaluation, roster construction, and long-term program vision through a true front-office lens. Her coverage of powerhouse brands like Ole Miss Rebels and Kentucky Wildcatshas consistently gone beyond headlines, focusing instead on the blueprint behind winning programs: development, fit, culture, and recruiting strategy.
That foundation was formed early at Brown University, where she worked in player personnel and recruiting while competing as a student-athlete. Inside those recruiting operations rooms, she learned how elite organizations are truly built—through relentless evaluation, relationship building, projection, and trust in the board. Those experiences shaped the way she studies the game today: part scout, part storyteller, part architect.
Her analysis and reporting have appeared across major platforms including ESPN, NFL coverage spaces, USA Today Sports, and Saturday Down South. She also brought her personnel-minded approach to the airwaves as an on-air analyst for the Wake Up 502 College Football Show on Big X Sports Radio 96.1, where she became known for combining film-room detail with a wider understanding of roster identity and program trajectory.
In 2025, covering the rise of Houston Cougars football under Willie Fritz reignited the part of the sport that first drew her into football—the culture, the edge, the belief that a roster can reshape an entire city. That inspiration led to the launch of Coogs 365 Sports, a platform built to cover Houston athletics through a true scouting and recruiting lens while connecting the emotion of the game to the heartbeat of H-Town.
Now, Herring-Olvedo returns to The Rebel Walk where with an even deeper perspective shaped by years inside recruiting circles, national SEC coverage, and hands-on evaluation experience. Her return brings a familiar voice back to Ole Miss coverage—but with an evolved lens rooted in roster architecture, player development, and the modern realities of building championship-caliber football in the NIL and portal era.
For Herring-Olvedo, recruiting has never been about stars beside a name. It is about identifying competitors, projecting growth, and building a locker room capable of sustaining success. Her philosophy mirrors the best front offices in football: stack traits, trust culture, and never stop building.
