It is opening day of high school football in Michigan. Camp season is over, 7-on-7 season is over and we can now have a chance to evaluate recruits in a game setting.

Here are some things we are looking for from a recruiting evaluation standpoint on opening day.

Two of the state’s best have early kickoffs

There are two notable 4pm games as Harper Woods heads to Chelsea and Detroit Catholic Central takes on Chippewa Valley at Wayne State in the Amazon Prep Kickoff Classic.

That means two of the state’s best are in action with Harper Woods receiver Dakota Guerrant and Catholic Central’s Gideon Gash. Harper Woods may be breaking in a young quarterback in Austin Mitchell. He has arm talent but Guerrant may also see some time at quarterback so we will see how much he is at which position.

This is a big season for DeAndre Bidden also. The four-star junior is Harper Woods’ big-play guy but this is a season where we hope to see more consistency out of him. Harper Woods has multiple other heavily recruited juniors. Safety Jayden Evans and defensive lineman Jeremiah McCall both have Power Four offers but may still be a little under-valued in my opinion.

The C.C.-Chippewa game is not expected to be all that competitive. Gash has the physical tools though to move higher than his current No. 61 national ranking, so this is the beginning of that push for him. The interesting recruits for C.C that I am keeping an eye on though are junior EDGE Josiah Neal and freshman WR/DB Amari Dorsey. Those are two potential breakout guys.

Big test for Michigan commit

The night cap at Wayne State is Kenowa Hills against DeWitt. Kenowa has three college commits in Michigan running back commit Lundon Hampton, Central Michigan receiver commit Will Fussman and Michigan Tech quarterback commit Grayson Fellows.

For Hampton, this is the first game he will play as a Wolverine commit. He ended last season as a Power Four recruit but his recruitment took off a lot in the off-season. So the target is on him more today than ever before. And the Knights are taking on a DeWitt team that went 14-0 a season ago.

A lot of schools saw Hampton as a defensive recruit. Michigan was one of the few that recruited him as a running back and by all accounts, are adamant he is a big time guy there. This season — and this first game in particular — will be the first time the rest of the state gets a real good look at him and a Kenowa team that is emerging as a contender.

Blue-chip junior QB meets Clemson commit

Traverse City West’s Brayden Tillman emerged this off-season as a high-major recruit. He looked very good in recent scrimmages and workouts. But game one is a different animal as West plays a very tough Howell team with a defense that includes Clemson commit Bryce Kish.

Tillman has offers from Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin and Florida State, but a lot of schools are evaluating him this season. This will be a stiff first test but also an opportunity for him.

One interesting matchup will be whether or not Kish — who is very good in coverage — ever sees one on one responsibility on West tight end Aidan Jacobs. Jacobs is a Kent State commit, and a good one. Power Four schools are still poking around Jacobs.

Other Games to Watch

– Portage Central will take on Toledo Central Catholic. PC has four-star, Top 100 national recruit Camden Noe at running back and linebacker. Central Catholic has Syracuse commit Amari Eliano, a really good back in Jeremiah Fuller, and lots of good young talent including 2029 quarterback Lincoln Sellers and 2030 defensive back Troy Yharbrough. Portage Central also has a Division I offer guy in 2028 linebacker Brady Putnam.

– Rockford is at Saline in a massive matchup. Saline has big goals this season and a talented roster. Their pre-season scrimmage with Cass Tech was not as smooth as the Hornets hoped but this is a chance to see if that was just an off-day or maybe Cass is a juggernaut. Rockford may not have as much star power, but the Rams are tough, well coached and have a very good offensive line that has a couple of future college prospects on it. For us, we’re watching Saline’s 2029 quarterback Case Campbell, Michigan OL commit Louis Esposito, 2028 defensive back Marquis Ray, 2027 defensive back Jernaro Gilford Jr. and others.

– Brighton and Dexter will feature two of the state’s top recruits. Brighton offensive tackle Jack Carlson is committed to Michigan State and Dexter tight end Holden Niemi is committed to Texas A&M. Both are high three-star recruits at the moment but will be guy we want to keep evaluating as seniors. Carlson was still developing as an offensive tackle last season and made further strides this off-season. Niemi missed his sophomore year but came back strong last season.