Josh Harris’ son among Falcons’ 13 football signees

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Bowling Green State University football announced 13 early period signees, including the son of former standout BGSU quarterback Josh Harris, Jacob Harris.

A four-year letterman from 2000-04 at BGSU, BGSU hall of famer and NFL draftee, Josh Harris is second in BGSU history with 9,976 career total yards and third in program history with 284 points.

“BG is where I grew up,” Harris said. “I really learned how to play the game while I was at BG. I learned what it meant to be a really good teammate and a leader. I learned that the game is bigger than me.”

If that’s not enough pedigree for son Jacob, his mother Tami holds the indoor and outdoor high jump record at Ohio State, where she is a track and field hall of famer.

Son Jacob played tight end and wide receiver for coach Ed Miley at Westerville Central in suburban Columbus.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Jacob Harris, a two-time first team all-conference honoree, made 29 receptions for 427 yards and eight touchdowns over nine games in 2022.

“Obviously I’ve known Josh a long time,” said BGSU football coach Scot Loeffler. “His son Jacob is a talented guy. We are more than likely going to try and put weight on him and move him to the positions of (tight ends) Harold (Fannin) and (Christian) Sims. That is what our plan is.

“We’ll start him out at wide receiver, like we normally do with those guys. If they don’t gain weight, they stay at wide receiver and if they gain weight, they will move to that hybrid position.

“We always like starting them at wide receiver because with our tight ends we play them everywhere. We play them at tight end, wide receiver, at the slot and we play them in the backfield.”

A second legacy player is 6-3, 210-pound linebacker Jabari Mitchell from Reynoldsburg, whose father Kinta played football at BGSU from 1995-2000.

Mitchell played linebacker for coach Mark Philmore at Reynoldsburg, also in suburban Columbus, earning first team all-conference in 2020 and 2021. His mother Tiffany also attended BGSU and cousin, Jermaine Edmondson, played football at Michigan State from 2013-16.

Another issue brewing in the BGSU football program is how to replace senior quarterback Matt McDonald, a three-year starter who will be playing his final game in the Quick Lane Bowl on Monday.

“It’s urgent as urgent can be,” Loeffler said. “We had a very talented high school player commit to us. He’s a diamond in the rough. I really believe that. He’s super intelligent and I’m very impressed on his visit.”

The new option Loeffler is talking about is signee, 6-3, 190-pound Lucian Anderson III, who hails from Athens, Georgia (Clarke Central).

Anderson, who enrolls at BGSU in January, threw for 3,294 yards and 28 touchdowns for his prep career, while rushing for 936 yards and 19 scores.

As a senior, he passed for 1,382 yards, 10 touchdowns, rushed for 732 yards and scored 11 times. His father, Lucian, played football for Georgia.

“He’s a great athlete, can run like no other. The kid wants to be great and that is why he came to Bowling Green is to be developed,” Loeffler said.

“He had just committed to two other teams who lost their head coach through job changes, so we’ve known who this kid has been, and he’s been on our radar, but God has a funny way of working so we were able to get him, which is great, and we’ve obviously looking for some older kids, too, in the transfer portal who can come in here and help us with the changing of the guard, I would say.”

Ten more signees

Other signees include David Ofogho, outside linebacker, 6-3, 220, Boston, Mass. (Catholic Memorial) — a safety and linebacker who helped his high school team win back-to-back state championships, including a 12-0 season ending in the MIAA Division 2 Super Bowl title at Gillette Stadium over King Philip Regional in 2022.

Brody Bolyn, outside linebacker, 6-3, 275, Uniondale, Ind. (Norwell) — led Norwell to three-straight 10-plus win seasons and a 31-6 record playing offensive line, defensive line and punter.

Shamoun Duncan-Niusulu, defensive back, 6-1, 195, Union City, Calif. (James Logan HS/College of San Mateo) —Helped San Mateo go 12-1 and win the state championships. Made 23 stops, 22 interceptions, 1½ tackles for a loss and broke up a pass in 2022 and 21 tackles and three pass break-ups in 2021.

At James Logan, Duncan-Niusulu rushed for 2,600 yards and threw for over 2,000 yards with 58 touchdowns. Led team with four interceptions his senior year, and in 2019, he passed for 642 yards and seven touchdowns while rushing for 655 yards and 11 scores.

Jackson Kleather, kicker, 5-10, 170, Tipp City Tippecanoe, was 12-for-15 on field goal attempts in 2022 with a long of 47 yards, and also punted and kicked off.

Keather broke three high school records, including field goals in a season, field goals in a career 916) and most conversion kicks (62). He was first team All-Ohio in Division III in 2022 and helped Tippecanoe go 13-2 and reached the state final four.

Justin Lynch, defensive back, 6-0, 175, Dublin, Calif (Laney) — He played in 10 career games at Laney Community College in Oakland, Calif, where he was teammates in 2021 with current BGSU defensive lineman Kitione Tau. In 2022, he made 25 tackles and broke up two passes and also caught one pass.

Tracy Revels, safety, 6-1, 180, Texarkana, Texas (Liberty-Eylau)—was a first team defensie back and two-time all-district in basketball. Brother Tavion played college basketball at Crowley’s Ridge.

Shawn Thigpen, wide receiver, 6-4, 170, Springfield, Ohio—made 28 receptions for 439 yards and seven TDs as a senior, caught 54 passes for 780 yards and five TDs as a junior, and notched 19 receptions for 265 yads and three TDs in 2020.

Thigpen’s father Shawn ran track at Toledo and played basketball at Charleston, and his cousin Kierstan Bell plays in the WNBA for the Las Vegas Aces.

James Thomas Jr., defensive lineman, 6-5, 290, Fairfield, Ohio — made 23 tackles, including 8½ tackles for a loss, one-half sack, and forced a fumble in 2022. In 2021, he made 27 stops and 1½ sacks, and in 2020, he caught two passes for 50 yards.

Dalyn White, defensive lineman, 6-4, 280, Lewisville, Texas (Hebron)—a first team all-district pick in 2022 after notching six sacks, 39 QB hurries, 40 tackles and 10 tackles for a loss, plus he returned a fumble for a TD.

Alijah Williams, outside linebacker, 6-2, 225, Buford, Georgia, was part of three state championship teams at Buford. He posted 55 solo tackles and 23 assists in 2022, including nine sacks, seven TFLs and 13 QB pressures. Also recovered a fumble, broke up a pass and blocked a field goal.

A first team all-county selection, his father played college football at Central State and is related to two other college players, Mario Williams (USC) and former player Robert Halieback (Florida State).

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