Cocoa’s Jayvan Boggs to Ohio State, 7 TD scorer, soph QBs and college standouts | Recruiting Insider
Three days after Cocoa rolled over Sanford Seminole 28-3, one of the best players in all of Florida, Cocoa’s Jayvan Boggs, committed to Ohio State on Monday.
Boggs, a junior receiver, torched the Seminoles’ defense, catching seven passes from standout sophomore quarterback Brady Hart for 170 yards and two touchdowns. Through six games, Boggs has 48 catches for 779 yards and 14 touchdowns. Last season, Boggs caught 41 balls for 722 yards and six touchdowns for the Class 2M state champion Tigers.
For some reason, perhaps because of his 6-foot, 188-pound frame, Boggs is only considered a 3-star prospect. But he still has another year to improve upon that rating, and there will be plenty more eyes on the 2025 standout. I’d give him a 4-star right now. He impressed me that much Friday night in Cocoa.
Week 7 football report: Apopka wins on ricochet; Seminole falls at Cocoa
He will likely run out of the slot at Ohio State. Boggs is a gifted route runner and Hart constantly finds him open. He has great hands, whether in traffic or running free, and his speed is deceiving.
There was a time when Ohio State recruiters weren’t allowed on campus at Cocoa. The way the Buckeyes mishandled the entire Jamel Dean saga in 2015 upset then-Cocoa head coach Johnny Wilkinson so much that he banned the school’s coaches.
Dean, a Class of 2015 prospect, started off at Ohio State out of high school, but once he got to Columbus doctors would not clear him to play due to ACL and cartilage injuries. He never signed his National Letter of Intent, however, and that left him open to go where he wanted, and he chose Auburn. Dean went on to become a Super Bowl champion with the 2021 Tampa Bay Bucs.
I spoke with Wilkinson, now head coach at New Smyrna Beach, about the Dean incident just before the 2021 Super Bowl, in which the Bucs defeated Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9.
“It was bad. Just to think that if he would have signed that paper, his career would have been over. He never even would have had the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl,” Wilkinson said. “It was crazy, but things always work out for good people.”
Dean almost quit football.
“At a certain point, I was really asking myself, ‘Is football really for me?’” Dean told me in 2021. “[My supporters] just kept telling me, ‘Look, you didn’t make it this far just to give up.’ A lot of people believed in me, so it was only right for me to believe in myself and push through.”
Dean is still the starting right cornerback for the Bucs.
At Ohio State, Boggs will join former teammate Cedric Hawkins, a former Cocoa standout who is now a safety for the Buckeyes.
Cocoa, at 5-1, stands a good chance to repeat as state champ this season.
Sophomore QBs battling for supremacy
Speaking of Cocoa, Hart is giving Lake Mary’s Noah Grubbs and Tophopekaliga’s Sabby Meassick a run for the best quarterback in Central Florida for the graduating class of 2026.
Meassick leads the way in the statistical categories. He has thrown for 2,460 yards and 30 touchdowns, completing passes at a 78% clip. He’s throwing balls in the vaunted “Air Diso” attack under head coach Anthony Paradiso, whose offense benefits talented QBs such as former Clemson signee Tucker Israel (Paradiso coached him at Lake Nona). Meassick leads the state — all classes — in passing, according to MaxPreps.
Grubbs is next on the chart at No. 4 in the state. He’s thrown for 1,952 yards and 29 touchdown with 63% accuracy.
Hart is No. 6, and he has thrown for 1,776 yards and 18 touchdowns, completing 68% of his passes.
Central Florida 2024 football Sentinel Super 60 prospects
Grubbs has 12 Football Bowl Subdivision scholarship offers, and Hart has nine. Meassick has just two FBS offers, from Florida and Marshall, and it’s likely because of his size at 6-foot, 160 pounds. Meassick can certainly spin the rock with accuracy,
Hart and Grubbs stand 6-4, making them more appealing to recruiters, but they all have two more seasons to gain even more attention. It should be fun for all three of them.
Lake Mary’s Grubbs well-traveled
Grubbs has been quite busy on the recruiting circuit. He spent this past weekend in Tallahassee, a guest of FSU for the Virginia Tech game. He’s been to Miami and was in South Bend for the Ohio State-Notre Dame game.
Hart has visited Miami and UCF.
Heads up Max Buchanan, you’re on Prime radar
Colorado does not try to hide that it is challenged along the offensive line. So this week, the Twitter handle @CUBuffsFamily went so far as to put out an advertisement.
This was posted:
“PSA!!!! Calling ALL SEC o-linemen that want to play with a Heisman caliber QB and a winning program. We need you to jump in the portal and transfer to CU as soon as it opens. Must be at least 6-4 310 and a dawg. @DeionSanders ain’t hard to find. Thanks in advance.”
The desperation call-out comes due to Colorado being No. 1 in the country with 31 sacks allowed for a minus-281 yards. I’m pretty sure Deion Sanders — aka Coach Prime — is not going to let his QB son, Shedeur Sanders, go through another season on his back.
One local player is certainly on the Buffs’ radar. I was texting with one Colorado coach last week, discussing Seminole junior Max Buchanan. The coach texted, “I love him.”
The Buffs already have offered a scholarship to the 6-4, 275-pound blocker, who can play several positions across the offensive front. He has tremendous use of his hands and his feet are quite nimble for a big guy. Buchanan is being coveted by numerous major colleges.
He has 19 offers, according to 247Sports, from the likes of Florida, FSU, Miami, UCF, Clemson, Penn State, Auburn and Ole Miss. If I’m reading him correctly, I’d say he’s leaning toward Miami right now, but that remains to be seen. He still has another year of high school to go.
Key’Vell Cooper’s 7 TDs should open eyes
Most players go a whole season without scoring seven touchdowns. Oak Ridge athlete Key’Vell Cooper did it in one game.
He actually had nine scores in a 60-28 victory over Freedom but two were called back by penalties. Still, seven TDs for one player is quite a night.
“Never in my wildest dreams,” Cooper said.
He was honored at the Orlando Touchdown Club on Monday night as one of the four players of the Weeks 6 and 7. Also honored were defensive lineman Preston Watson of Seminole, safety Malik Wright of Dr. Phillips and athlete Jermaine Hardy of Evans.
Cooper, 5-10 and 170, has FBS scholarship offers from UMass and Middle Tennessee and is looking for more.
Speedy 2021 Edgewater receiver Christian Leary picks Alabama over UF, Auburn
Edgewater star makes ‘Canes pay for coaching gaffe
After Miami failed to take a knee and run out the clock against Georgia Tech on Saturday night, the Yellow Jackets took advantage. Quarterback Haynes King guided his offense 74 yards, and former Edgewater star Christian Leary was right there to provide the dagger.
Leary, who signed with Alabama out of high school but transferred to Georgia Tech, got past two Miami defenders and King hit him with the go-ahead touchdown pass from 44 yards out. He scored with two seconds left as the Jackets upset the previously unbeaten and then-No. 17 Hurricanes 23-20.
Cheez-It Bowl: Foundation product LB Danny Stutsman turning heads as Oklahoma captain
Danny Stutsman helps OU take down Texas
Former Foundation Academy linebacker Danny Stutsman is having quite the career at Oklahoma, a showing that will likely have him playing on Sundays in the future.
Stutsman had 9 tackles, 1.5 for loss, Saturday, as the Sooners stunned Texas in the annual Red River Rivalry 34-30. Oklahoma remained unbeaten and will face UCF in Norman on Oct. 21. The Knights are still searching for their first Big 12 victory.
Chris Hays covers high school and college football and college football recruiting. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) @OS_ChrisHays or on Instagram @os_chrishays. Email him at chays@orlandosentinel.com.
