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The West held off a late charge from the East to win the 2025 Navy All-American Bowl, 13-7, on Saturday in San Antonio.
The East got the ball to the West’s 11-yard line with one second remaining, but quarterback Bowe Bentley’s heave into the end zone sailed well out of bounds.
Keisean Henderson, a Houston commit, was honored as the game’s MVP. He had a 91-yard touchdown pass to SMU signee Jalen Cooper in the second quarter in which he displayed his impressive playmaking ability out of the pocket.
Not to be outdone, Memphis signee Antwann Hill Jr. had an impressive throw down the sideline to Ohio State signee Quincy Porter in the fourth quarter with the East mounting a comeback bid.
As is always the case with the annual showcase, the action on the field largely played second fiddle to the public commitments from some of its participants.
Cameron Sparks is a 4-star talent and the No. 18 athlete in 247Sports’ composite rankings for 2025. The Tennessee native picked Virginia Tech over fellow finalists Mississippi State and Arkansas.
While Virginia Tech went 6-6 for the second straight regular season under head coach Brent Pry, the Hokies are making incremental progress on the recruiting trail. Sparks’ commitment has them sitting 36th in 247Sports’ composite team rankings, which is up slightly from a 45th-place finish in 2024.
Another 4-star recruit came off the board when linebacker McKay Madsen committed to BYU. Madsen is the 47th-ranked linebacker and is 34th in his home state of California. He’s by far the best recruit in the Cougars’ 2025 high school recruiting class so far.
BYU fans understood what Madsen’s commitment would signify for the program:
Terrell Williams @4Wade2021
If BYU lands 4🌟 LB/RB McKay Madsen today, it sends a clear signal to 5🌟 TE Brock Harris that All-American talent like himself are choosing BYU.<br><br>If we land Madsen & Harris, it sends a crystal clear signal to 5🌟 QB Ryder Lyons that BYU is making MOVES!! All three mission kids…
In a first for the All-American Bowl, juniors were invited to the event, which presented the opportunity for some 2026 standouts to pledge their futures to a school.
Shahn Alston, the No. 14 running back for next year, committed to USC.
“Visits gave me a big layout of what each school had to offer and I’d say USC was by far the best visit I’ve been on,” he said to On3’s Chad Simmons. “This was not only because it was the longest, but it was the most in-depth visit I had and as personal as it could be. I really felt like they made me feel like a priority… USC left their mark with that.”
The Tigers are just 11-14 though Hugh Freeze’s first two years as head coach, but Freeze is living up to his reputation as a great recruiter. He and his staff have assembled the sixth-best class nationally in 2025.
Auburn should be headed for a big jump next year, and Freeze’s seat could be warming a bit if that improvement fails to materialize.