Sidwar Shatters Records — Is He the Next Big Star of All-USA Football Team East?

When a quarterback inches toward a school record, you’re usually rooting for the win and the milestone to go hand-in-hand. But Friday night spun a different tale at La Salle, where Gavin Sidwar stepped onto the field just 48 yards shy of shattering his coach Brett Gordon’s career passing yardage record. Sidwar nailed that feat—no question—but the victory slipped through their fingers in a nail-biter loss to Roman Catholic, fueled in part by Semaj Beals’ impressive arm. Now, with Sidwar closing in on another legendary mark—Gordon’s career passing touchdowns—he’s got that next challenge staring him down, just a few scores away. Both quarterbacks, shining bright on USA TODAY’s 2025 ALL-USA Football Team Watchlist for the East region, represent just a slice of the talent lighting up high school fields from Connecticut to Virginia. Ready for a closer look at these rising stars and their standout performances? LEARN MORE

It wasn’t the type of game that either Gavin Sidwar or his coach wanted to see the record fall in.

The La Salle quarterback entered Friday’s game against Roman Catholic needing just 48 passing yards to top his coach Brett Gordon’s school record of 6,837 career passing yards. Sidwar did that, but La Salle fell to Roman Catholic, 39-36, partly thanks to a big game by quarterback Semaj Beals.

This week Sidwar will go after Gordon’s school record of 84 career passing touchdowns. He is just a couple short.

Both Sidwar and Beals were on USA TODAY’S 2025 ALL-USA Football Team Watchlist for the East region. The final All-USA region teams, and overall national team, will be unveiled in December.

Here’s an update on how some of those top players have been doing. The East Watchlist is made up of players from Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.

Quarterbacks

Grant Lawless, East Lincoln (N.C.) – Lawless had seven total touchdowns on Friday in a 49-0 win over North Lincoln. He was 22 of 29 for 268 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for touchdowns of 25 and 11 yards. On the season, he has thrown for 1,487 yards in five games with just one interception.

Ethan Royal, Hough (N.C.) – Royal threw for 305 yards and four touchdowns this week in a win over New Bern. His team is 5-0 and he has 909 passing yards with eight touchdowns. He has also rushed for 278 yards and seven touchdowns.

Derek Zammit, DePaul Catholic (N.J.) – Had a game where he threw for 312 yards and two touchdowns. Overall on the season, his team is 4-1 with 1,125 passing yards and 10 touchdowns for a QB rating of 119.7. He also has 403 rushing yards.

Honorable mention

Semaj Beals, Roman Catholic (Pa.) – Beals had a six touchdown passing performance this year in a win over Cardinal Newman. In that game, he threw for 336 yards. He also had five passing touchdowns this past weekend against LaSalle College. On the season, he has thrown for 845 yards and 15 touchdowns in five games.

Osiris Lopez, Sr., Leominster (Mass.) – Lopez threw for 277 yards and three touchdowns against Milford this year. He also had a four touchdowns game against St. John’s. In three games, he has 695 passing yards with seven touchdowns and a QB rating of 105.4. He also has 155 rushing yards and two scores.

Lukas Prock, Hun (N.J.) – In six games, Prock has thrown for 2,454 yards and 27 touchdowns. His QB rating is 152.5. He had a 651 passing yards, eight touchdowns game against Hawlett Sports Academy.

Running backs

Elijah Kimble, Canisius (N.Y.) – Kimble opened the season with a 315 yard, three touchdown performance against Scranton Prep. This past week against St. Joseph’s College, he rushed for 254 yards and three touchdowns. On the season he has 684 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in four games.

Amare Glover, Middletown (Del.) – This past week, trailing by a point, Glover’s Middletown team was attempting a game-winning 34-yard field goal. The kick was blocked, but bounced backwards. Glover scooped it up and ran it into the end zone to give his team a 33-28 win. He also had a four-yard rushing touchdown in the game.

Jayson Franklin, Seventy-First (N.C.) – Franklin has gone over 100 rushing yards in all four games this year, including a 211 rushing yards five touchdown performance against Terry Sanford. On the season, he has 561 rushing yards with eight touchdowns.

Honorable mention

Crew Davis, Iona Preparatory School (N.Y.) – Davis had a 196 rushing yards, three touchdowns game against Paramus Catholic earlier this year. On the season, he has 429 rushing yards and six touchdowns in four games. He is averaging 9.8 rushing yards per game.

Jamal Rule, Charlotte Christian (N.C.) – Rule had 23 carries for 293 yards and two touchdowns in a game this year against Independence. In three games, he has 479 yards and five touchdowns.

D’Antae Sheffey, Sr., State College (Pa.) – Sheffey had a 200 rushing yards, two touchdown performance against Altoona earlier this year. On the season, he has 721 rushing yards on 115 carries, for an average of 6.3 yards per carry, with six touchdowns in five games.

Wide receivers

Elias Coke, Harrisburg (Pa.) – Coke’s top game was against Chambersburg, when he had six catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. His team is 6-0, and he has 34 catches for 499 yards and six touchdowns.

Gordon Sellers, Providence Day School (N.C.) – Sellers had a 10 catch, 110 yards game against Charlotte Catholic. On the season, he has 33 catches for 435 yards and five touchdowns in six games.

Jaden McDuffie, South River (Md.) – McDuffie has had three straight games in which he has gone over 100 receiving yards for his 4-0 team. On the season, he has 16 catches for 415 yards and five touchdowns.

Honorable mention

Messiah Hampton, James Monroe (N.Y.) – Against Brockport, Hampton had seven catches for 102 yards. On the season, he has 15 catches for 301 yards with two touchdowns in three games.

Connor Salmin, Sr., The Bullis School (Potomac, Md.) – Salmin went over 100 yards receiving in each of his team’s wins, with 124 against Gilman and 154 against Loudoun Sports Academy. In five games this year, he has 23 catches for 398 yards and four touchdowns.

Davion Brown, Trinity Episcopal School (Va.) – Brown has had at least one touchdown in each of the past three games for his 5-0 team. On the season he has 16 catches for 333 yards and four touchdowns.

One more worth mentioning

Kamari McDonald, linebacker, Lexington (N.C.) — This past week, McDonald broke a state record with three interceptions returned for touchdown in his team’s 40-0 win. The returns were for 60, 55 and 30 yards.