WATCH: USC WR Commit Makai Lemon Among the On3 Standout Performers
On3 Director of Scouting a rankings published a list of the standouts from week one of 2022 high school football season. 4-Star USC wide receiver commit Makai Lemon made the list. This was the result of his exceptionally impressive performance vs American Heritage Saturday in Fort Lauderdale (FL).
Makai Lemon’s a Certified Dawg
What made Lemon’s performance at receiver standout even more than it already did, was the fact he played every down Saturday. In fact, he played every down in a game that kicked off at 4pm ET with the temperature hovering around 95 degrees. As you can imagine, the humidity was also hitting hard that afternoon in South Florida.
In my opinion, Lemon was the best offensive and defensive player on the field vs American Heritage. Below are a few highlights of Lemon at wide receiver. Let me say it again, this dude is a dawg! He was fighting off cramping several times and sucked it up.
Lemon, Zachariah Branch and Ja’Kobi Lane is one hell of a wide receiver haul for Lincoln Riley, Dennis Simmons and the Trojans.
Several games were nationally-televised, including some big showcase contests. So, On3 had the opportunity to watch many prospects from the 2023, 2024 and 2025 cycles over the course of the weekend.
As was the case last week week, a number of those prospects turned in impressive showings. Here’s a rundown of some prospects who caught my eye.
WR Makai Lemon – USC
Makai put forth a yeoman’s effort for Los Alamitos (Calif.) High in a nationally-televised game against Fort Lauderdale American Heritage. The USC commit was the obvious bright spot in what was an otherwise tough afternoon for Los Alamitos in a 56-27 loss that saw a running clock instituted in the second half. Lemon seemingly did whatever he wanted against an American Heritage secondary full of Power Five prospects and finished with over 200 yards receiving and three touchdowns. He also had a 65-yard touchdown on a catch-and-run and another score on a kickoff return called back due to penalties.
Lemon showed off his polished, well-rounded skills over the course of the afternoon. He’s an advanced route-runner and has the ability to separate at multiple levels. The burst and quickness after the catch presented issues even against top talent. We also saw some ball skills on display, with Lemon coming down with an impressive back shoulder grab. The competitive nature was also notable. As noted, Los Alamitos was trailing by multiple scores for most of the game. Lemon’s teammate and fellow USC commit, Five-Star Plus+quarterback Malachi Nelson had a very up-and-down game – much more so than his final stats would indicate. Still, Lemon was competing at max effort even when the game was far out of reach.
