MORSE: East West Game Results and Final Thoughts

East West Shrine Game Results

The West Team defeated the East Team by a score of 26-11 The Offensive MVP was RB Frank Gore Jr. from Southern Mississippi, and the Defensive MVP was CB Jarius Monroe from Tulane. Gore, the son of former NLF runningback Frank Gore rushed for 87 yards and a TD on just 6 carries. He outshined Maryland QB Taulia Tagovailoa who also impressed in Thursday’s game, completing 9 of 14 passes for 142 yards. He also rushed for a score to help the West All-Stars to victory. Monroe was impressive all week down in Frisco TX. He had a nice Interception.

These awards are based upon performance and production in this game, but it must be noted that Qwan’tez Stiggers didn’t allow any catches in the game. In fact, they only threw at him once and he broke that pass up. The Canadian Football League Toronto Argonauts All-Star CB was named the CFL Most Outstanding Rookie in 2023. He had just one tackle on Special Teams for the game. Stiggers is trying to be drafted despite never having played College Football. I would consider Stiggers for one of the 7th round selections the Patriots have.

Note: Stiggers doesn’t show up in the latest version of PFF Mock Draft Simulator. I bet he will after this weekend during the next update. I will track his progress that should be similar to the way that Marte Mapu suddenly showed up in their database after his performance in the Senior Bowl practices last year.

Practice Players of the Week

EAST SCHOOL POS WEST SCHOOL

John Rys Plumlee	UCF	QB	Dan Leary	Kentucky
Blake Watson	Memphis	RB	Tyron Tracy	Purdue
Malik Washington	Virginia	WR	Isaiah Williams	Illinois
Isaac Rex	BYU	TE	Tip Reheim	Illinois
Mason McCormick	South Dakota State	OL	Christian Mahogany	BC
Logan Lee	Iowa	DL	Kristian Boyd	Northern Iowa
Darius Muasau	UCLA	LB	Easton Gibbs	Wyoming
Jarius Monroe	Tulane	CB	Josh Wallace	Michigan
Darion Taylor-Demerson	Texas Tech	S	Omar Brown	Nebraska
Cam Little	Arkansas	K	Hanson Mevis	Missouri

Outstanding Players in the Game

The first player of interest in this game for the Patriots was TE Dallin Holker, Colorado State. An older player (23) Holker played for BYU in 2018 season in Provo before embarking on his LDS mission during 2019-20. Holker transferred to Colorado State and had one of the most productive seasons by a tight end in college football this season with 64 catches for 767 yards and 6 TDs. He won the Mackey Award for the best Collegiate TE in 2023. In the game he was targeted 5 times and had three catches (one was broken up by DB) for 28 yards.

RB Blake Watson, Memphis was outstanding during the game. He is an excellent receiver out of the backfield and was 6 for 6 receiving for 65 yards. He also rushed 12 times for 46 yards. His best run of the game was 18 yards near the end of the game. Watson had a clear path to the end zone but pulled up and kneeled down to run out at the clock and seal the game. If he had continued it would have put him over the 100-yard mark for total yardage for the game.

PR Anthony Gould, Oregon State had a dynamic 80-yard Punt Return for a TD. The diminutive (5’8” 165 lbs) WR / PR was 1^st team All-PAC 10, and AP All-American as a Punt Returner. He is another older player (24) and has 4.45e speed.

ED Grayson Murphy, UCLA was a force on the outside with 2 sacks in the game.

Seeing Double

This was a unique game with two pairs of twins playing. I thought WR Janke was having a great game until I realized there were two of them. Jadon and Jaxon Janke from South Dakota State. Jadon was targeted 4 times and had 2 catches for 58 yards. He had a deep catch for 52 yards from Taulia Tagovailoa. Jaxon was 2 for 2 for 22 yards.

Same thing on the defensive side. Grayson and Gabriel Murphy from UCLA are identical twins, and the coach can’t tell them apart except for a small scar on one of their faces.

South Dakota State Jackrabbits Were Well Represented

FCS Champions South Dakota State were well represented in this game with 5 participants. O- lineman Mason McCormick and Garrett Greenfield, TE Zach Heins and the Janke twins, Jadon and Jaxson.

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About Mark Morse

Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.

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