PEORIA — Makai Hill looks like a winner on a team that hasn’t been to the win column yet this season.
The senior wide receiver for Manual is drawing college recruit interest and has had a fine season. The Rams, not so much, as they were walloped, 67-24, by visiting Notre Dame in a Big 12 Conference matchup Friday at Peoria Stadium.
The Irish led 37-6 just 13 seconds into the second quarter, and a running clock was not far behind. By halftime, it was 58-12 as Notre Dame piled up eight touchdowns on just 19 plays. PND’s junior running back Ronin “Pickle” Spinks had three of those scores, while senior running back Blake Maxwell had two.
Hill, meanwhile, brought 14 catches for 350 yards and three touchdowns into Friday’s game, and was averaging 25 yards per catch.
‘It’s been incredible’
Hill is a 6-foot-1, 170-pound receiver who has stood out on a team that now is 0-6 overall and 0-5 in conference.
Colleges can see him.
“It’s been incredible,” Hill said. “That first phone call, the invites to visit, it’s everything you hope for.”
Hill’s first visit happened last week, to University of Tennessee-Martin. He’s also gone to Upper Iowa. And he is scheduled for an Oct. 18 visit to McKendree.
“It makes me work harder,” Hill said. “I want to earn a chance to play in college. It’s all the work I’ve put in at the weight room, all the practices, all the years of playing. This is where I need it to come together.”
The Rams know they are lucky to have him. He was playing at Peoria Heights before transferring to Manual under head coach Dennis Bailey.
“He fell in our lap from Peoria Heights,” Bailey said. “The first game he played for us, as a junior, he had six catches for 150 yards. I knew we had a player.”
And one to which he could relate. Literally.
“We are distant cousins on my mother’s side,” Bailey said, laughing. “He’s a great kid. It all kind of came together. On the field, he’s tough, he blocks, he catches.
“I think he has a good college future. I’m excited about seeing how he turns out.”
A tough one for the Rams
The last time Manual won in the series against Notre Dame, was a 36-28 victory on Oct. 15, 2010. Rams quarterback Khyree Jones threw for 313 yards in that game and put the team into the playoffs. Friday marked Notre Dame’s 15th straight win in the series.
The Irish rolled up eight touchdowns on just 19 plays in the first half for a 58-12 lead. Maxwell opened the scoring with a 38-yard TD run in the first quarter. He added another, from 8 yards, while Spinks added TD runs of 25 and 27 before the quarter ended.
In the middle of all that, Manual got a an 82-yard TD catch from Hill to close within 15-6 with 7:01 left in the quarter.
Notre Dame made it 61-12 on a 44-yard field goal from Braden Pinkston with 49 seconds left in the third quarter. Then junior defensive back Christian Johnson delivered a 34-yard pick-6 for 67-12.
Manual got fourth-quarter TD runs from quarterback Tyree Porter (25 yards) and running back Brandon Maxison (46 yards).
The Irish host Bloomington next week. Manual is at Normal West.
From JFL to Julio Jones and the Seahawks
Football runs in the family for Hill. His uncle is Micha Gordon, who caught 46 passes for 860 yards and 11 touchdowns for Woodruff as a senior, and went on to play at Illinois State.
Gordon’s sister, Michaura, is Hill’s mother. Hill’s father is Anthony Davis. Hill is the middle of three boys with siblings Cruz and Anthony.
Hill was born in Georgia, but grew up in Peoria and fell in love with football when his parents put him into the Richwoods JFL program.
“I was 6,” said Hill, now a two-sport athlete at Manual who will compete in long jump during track and field season. “I loved everything about it. I saw I was good at it right away and I wanted to keep playing it.”
He watched the Seahawks in the 2014 Super Bowl and decided to make them his NFL team to follow.
He saw great NFL receiver Julio Jones and wanted to emulate him. “I saw how he worked, how he played on the field,” Hill said. “He was the guy I always watched.”
And if he could step onto an NFL field, what quarterback would he want to catch a pass from, and what defensive back would he like to challenge?
“Lamar Jackson is the guy I’d want throwing to me,” Hill said. “And covering me? I’d like to go against Patrick Surtain II.”
There’s just a handful of games left in Hill’s prep career. Maybe he’ll get a win with Manual. Maybe he’ll get that chance to play college football.
“We want to finish it off, be strong,” Hill said. “Some things are unpredictable. I’ll just be waiting to see what all comes.”
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Manual doesn’t have a victory, but this potential NCAA Division-I receiver is a winner
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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