Coming into Friday’s game, everyone knew Dominique Douglas
wasn’t just one of the best players on the field on Friday night, but rather
one of the best players in the entire state of Michigan, after a breakout senior
season has launched him up the rankings of the best in the state.
The only problem for Douglas and his Murray-Wright teammates: Rochester Adams
knew it too.
It was clear from the get-go that Adams was going to make sure that if they
got beat, it wasn’t going to be on the back of Douglas, who found himself facing
constant double and sometimes triple-teams.
When asked for comment about Douglas and Adams’ defensive strategy, a defensive
assistant remarked, “Oh, we made sure we knew where he was at ALL times.”
The Murray-Wright coaches tried their best to come up with ways to get the ball
into their playmaker’s hands, moving him from wideout to quarterback, using
him on reverses, screens, option plays, and everything else under the sun. Douglas
was involved on the team’s lone touchdown of the evening, throwing for a touchdown
Brad Parker on a wide receiver pass.
But in the end it wasn’t nearly enough, as the undersized but attacking Adams
team overwhelmed the Pilots in their 45-7 rout.
Murray-Wright coach
Andre Harlan though wouldn’t take anything away from his star. Despite the loss,
Harlan was emphatic in his praise of Douglas, both on and off the field.
“He’s a special player, he just does everything well,” stated the Pilots’ coach,
continuing, “He can catch, he can run, he can block, he can tackle, he’s just
the complete package.”
As far as his off the field credentials, besides being a good guy and someone
that refers to everyone as ‘sir’, Douglas has made sure to take care of business
in the classroom as well in preparation for the next level, carrying a 2.8 GPA
with a 23 on his ACT.
Prior to his breakout year, Douglas had been mainly receiving attention from
MAC-level schools, receiving offers from Bowling Green, Cincinnati, and Eastern
Michigan. But now, many Big Ten schools have come calling, looking to get involved
late in the game for the 6’ 1”, 185 pounder’s services.
“Lately I’ve been hearing from Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, plus Michigan”
said Douglas.
As for what he’s looking for in a school at the next level, “I’m not trying
to go too far, I just want to go somewhere that fits me, and somewhere that
I can win.”
Douglas was on the field for virtually every play for Murray-Wright, but at
the next level, he’ll obviously be moved to one spot. “A lot of schools have
been looking at me at safety, but I’ll play receiver too, really wherever the
coaches want me to play is cool, I just want to play football.”
Douglas is being recruited by Michigan wide receivers coach Erik Campbell, who
he’s been hearing from more and more recently. “I love Coach Campbell, he’s
a good guy. We’ve been talking a lot lately about getting me up to see a game
this year. Right now I’m looking at taking my official the second or third weekend
of December, but nothing is set yet.”
Douglas, who will also likely take official visits to Bowling Green and Ohio
State, is still being coy on a leader. When asked about a favorite, Douglas
stated defiantly, “I’m not ready to give that up just yet.”
Whether Douglas ends up with a Michigan offer is still up in the air (Ed. Note:
this weekend’s official visits of Greg Mathews
and Percy Harvin may go a long way in settling
things in this regard). But whichever team ends up getting Douglas to sign on
their dotted line, they’ll be assured of getting not only an excellent player
on the field, but an excellent student and person off it.