DaMarkus Lodge gave everyone a good look at what he could do on Thursday night, on a nationally-televised game against top-ranked DeSoto.
Lodge — who curiously didn’t get two-man blanket coverage all night, at times isolated one-on-one with a cornerback — ran roughshod over DeSoto, catching seven passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns, in a 65-42 win.
It’s evident that the nation was watching; Lodge was named this week’s U.S. Army All-American Player of the Week for his performance.
Cedar Hill coach Joey McGuire said after the game that Lodge’s performance should squash any bad press the senior had received after decommitting from Texas A&M — with naysayers calling him out for not wanting to battle for playing time in A&M’s loaded, and young, receiving corps.
“He’s got a lot of bad press. You have people saying he might not be able to compete,” McGuire said. “I think he showed the nation, on national TV, that he can compete with anybody.”
Here’s the press release:
Cedar Hill High School Wide Receiver Damarkus Lodge named the U.S. Army All-American Player of the Week
ROCKAWAY, N.J. (October 27, 2014)—Wide Receiver Damarkus Lodge of Cedar Hill High School (Cedar Hill, Texas) was named the U.S. Army All-American Bowl High School Player of the Week, for the week ending October 25th. In a 62-42 victory over DeSoto High School (DeSoto, Texas), Lodge recorded 235 yards and scored three touchdowns. The senior receiver is ranked 7th in the state by 247 Sports.The U.S. Army All-American Bowl High School Player of the Week was designed to recognize the nation’s top high school performance of the week. Football players possess a similar set of mental, emotional and physical strengths to Army Strong Soldiers. The winner will be announced each Monday, throughout the season.
For more than a decade, the U.S. Army All-American Bowl has been the Nation’s premier high school football game, serving as the preeminent launching pad for America’s future college and NFL stars. Andrew Luck, Patrick Peterson and Jamaal Charles all made their national debuts as U.S. Army All-Americans. In the 2012 NFL Draft Andrew Luck became the first U.S. Army All-American Bowl alumnus to be selected with the first overall pick. The 2014 U.S. Army All-American Bowl drew a record crowd of 40,017 to the Alamodome, and was the most-watched sporting event on television over the weekend, excluding the NFL playoffs.
The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is owned and produced by All American Games, a New Jersey-based sports marketing and event management company. The U.S. Army is the title sponsor of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, and American Family Insurance is the lead national sponsor and presenting sponsor of the telecast on NBC. Other national sponsors include adidas, Gatorade, San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau, 247Sports, XOS Digital, NCSA, Lockheed Martin, Xenith, Battle Sports Science, TapouT, Evoshield, 23 Blast Movie, NewTek, Football University and YFBCA. National sponsors of the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band include NAfME: The National Association for Music Education, Drum Corps International, DeMoulin Uniforms, and Jupiter Winds.