I woke up to my phone buzzing like crazy. Notifications were going off every few minutes - Instagram, Twitter, text messages, everything. The clock said 7:23 AM, but I felt like I'd barely slept.
Damn, people really saw that game.
I grabbed my phone and started scrolling through the notifications. The first thing I saw was a text from Maya with about fifteen fire emojis.
Maya: BABY BROTHER!!! You're all over Instagram! They posted your one-handed catch! I'm so proud! 🔥🔥🔥
That's wild. ESPN already picked it up.
I opened Instagram and sure enough, my one-handed touchdown catch was posted on ESPN's official account with the caption: "High school magic ✨ Junior WR Jakari Williams with the ridiculous grab for @malibuprep 🤯"
The post already had over 50,000 likes and hundreds of comments. I started reading through them:
"This kid is different 🔥"
"College coaches taking notes 📝"
"That's pro type stuff right there"
"What rank is this kid? He looks like a five-star"
I kept scrolling through my notifications. Twitter was going crazy too. Bleacher Report had posted a video compilation called "California High School Football is DIFFERENT" and my catches were in there along with clips from other games around the state.
My phone rang. It was Grandpa.
"Jakari!" he answered immediately. "Boy, you had your grandmother and me jumping off the couch!"
"Y'all watched?" I asked, sitting up in bed.
"Watched? Boy, we recorded it, rewatched it three times, and called everyone we know! Mrs. Jackson next door came over to see the highlights. You made that boy look silly!"
I could hear Grandma in the background saying something.
"Your grandmother wants to know when the season starts so she can plan her whole schedule around your games," Grandpa said, laughing.
"Season starts in like two months and a half, Grandpa. This was just a scrimmage."
"Well, if this is what you do in a scrimmage, Lord help them when the real games start."
After I hung up with my grandparents, I checked the group chat with the boys back home.
Better Men Group Chat:
Marcus: YO JAKARI IS FAMOUS FAMOUS
Dre: Bro I got kids at my program asking me if I really know you 😂
Rico: My coach showed your highlights to our whole team this morning. He was glazing I can't lie
Me: Y'all are crazy. It's just one game
Marcus: "Just one game" - bro do you remember where you came from?
Dre: #MalibuPrep is trending too. Y'all put that school on the map
Rico: Keep going crazy. Make us all proud
I put my phone down and got dressed for class. As I walked across campus to the dining hall, I could feel people looking at me differently. Students I'd never talked to were pointing and whispering. Some were coming up asking for pictures.
"Yo, you're Jakari Williams, right?" this sophomore asked as I was getting breakfast. "Bro, that catch last night was insane! Can I get a picture?"
"Yeah, sure," I said, still not used to this level of attention.
After the picture, three more students came up asking for the same thing. By the time I sat down with my food, I'd taken like eight pictures.
Tyler walked over with his tray and sat across from me. "Bro, you see all this shit online?"
"Yeah, it's crazy," I said, taking a bite of my eggs. "I didn't expect it to blow up like this."
"Dude, we're all over everything. Joey's touchdown runs are on SportsCenter's top plays. That spin move he did is going viral on TikTok."
That's good for Joey. Kid deserves the recognition.
Cameron and Derek joined us at the table, both looking at their phones.
"Yo, check this out," Cameron said, showing us his screen. "247Sports just posted an article called 'Malibu Prep Announces Arrival with Statement Win.' They're talking about moving us up in the state rankings."
"How far up?" I asked.
"They're saying we could jump from twelve to like seven or eight based on that performance," Derek said. "Serra's still a top-five team even with their injuries."
From ranked twelfth to potentially top eight after one scrimmage. That's wild.
"Coach wants to see us all in the film room at 10 AM," Cameron added. "Says we're watching the tape and talking about what's next."
The rest of breakfast was a blur of students coming up for pictures and asking about the game. Some teachers were even congratulating me and telling me they had high hopes for the season.
In English class, Mrs. Peterson started the period by saying, "I know we're all excited, but let's focus on Shakespeare for the next fifty minutes."
Even she couldn't help but smile when she said it.
During lunch, I was sitting with Isabella when she showed me something on her phone that made me stop eating.
"Baby, look at this," she said, turning her screen toward me.
It was a tweet from a verified account - @RecruitingNation: "Keep an eye on Malibu Prep WR Jakari Williams (2022). Kid looked like a man among boys vs Serra. College coaches are definitely taking notice. 👀"
"Recruiting Nation tweeted about you," Isabella said. "They have like 200,000 followers."
Recruiting Nation. I've heard of them. They break news about commitments and recruiting.
"You know what this means?" Isabella continued. "College coaches are probably already looking at you. Like, really looking."
I felt a mix of excitement and pressure. This was what I'd been working toward, but it was happening faster than I'd expected.
"That's good, right?" I said, trying to play it cool.
"That's amazing, baby. You're about to have options."
The rest of the day went by in a blur. Every class, every hallway, every conversation somehow came back to Friday night's game. Teachers were congratulating me, classmates were asking for pictures, and my phone kept buzzing with notifications.
At 10 AM, the whole team met in the film room. Coach Rivera had the highlights from Friday night queued up on the big screen.
"Alright, men," he said as we all found our seats. "Before we start celebrating too much, let's watch this tape and see what we did well and what we need to work on."
The first clip was Cameron's opening drive touchdown pass to Tyler. Clean pocket, perfect route, good throw.
"Good execution," Coach said. "Cameron, you read the defense perfectly there."
Then came my first touchdown catch - the one where I beat Watson on the comeback route.
"Jakari, talk us through this route," Coach Rivera said.
"I sold the go route to get him to turn his hips," I explained. "When I broke back, I had separation because he was still recovering."
"Exactly. That's route running at a high level. Young guys, watch how Jakari sets up his routes."
The clips continued - Joey's jet sweep touchdown, Mason's crossing route, Brady's interceptions. Coach broke down every play, praising good execution and pointing out areas for improvement.
"Overall, this was a dominant performance," Coach Rivera said as the highlights ended. "But we can't get comfortable. Serra was missing some key players, and we caught them off guard. Teams aren't going to underestimate us anymore."
He pulled up the state rankings on the screen.
"We're getting buzz. People are talking about moving us up in the rankings. Recruiting websites are mentioning our players. This is good, but it also means we're going to have a target on our backs."
Antonio raised his hand. "Coach, what does this mean for the season?"
"It means we better be ready to back up what we showed Friday night," Coach replied. "Every team we play is going to be coming for us now. They're going to study this tape, see what we do well, and try to stop it."
He looked around the room at all of us.
"The good news is, we know we can play at this level. The question is, can we do it consistently? Can we do it when teams are prepared for us? Can we do it when the pressure's on?"
That's the real test. Anyone can have one good game. Sustained excellence is what separates good players from great ones.
"Practice starts at 3 PM," Coach Rivera continued. "We're going to start preparing for our first real opponent. I want everyone locked in and ready to work."
As we filed out of the film room, I felt a mix of pride and pressure. Friday night had been incredible, but Coach was right - it was just the beginning.
Joey caught up with me as we walked out.
"Yo, Jakari," he said. "You see all the stuff online about us?"
"Yeah, it's crazy," I replied. "How you feeling about it?"
"Feels good, man. But also kind of scary, you know? Like, now people expect us to be this good all the time."
Smart kid. He gets it.
"That's the price of success," I said. "When you play well, people notice. But they also expect you to keep playing well."
"You think we can do it? Keep playing at this level?"
I thought about it for a second. The team chemistry, the coaching, the talent we had across all positions.
"Yeah, I think we can," I said. "But we gotta stay hungry. Can't let the attention go to our heads."
As I walked to my next class, I couldn't help but think about how much had changed in just three days. Friday night, we were ranked twelfth and trying to prove we belonged. Now, we were getting national attention and being talked about as potential contenders.
This is what I came to California for. This is what I've been working toward. Now I just gotta keep building on it.
My phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number:
Unknown: Hi Jakari, this is WR Coach Simmons from USC. Saw your performance Friday night. Very impressive. Would love to have a conversation when you're ready. Keep up the great work.
I stared at the text for a moment, then screenshot it and sent it to my mom.
USC. One of the biggest programs in the country. They're already reaching out.
The dream was becoming reality, but I knew this was just the first step. Time to get back to work and prove that night wasn't a fluke.
This is just the beginning.