Each Friday, HawgBeat's Alex Trader will write a Friday Night Lights preview piece that gives a snapshot of the top high school games in the country involving Arkansas commits and targets and provides updates on how they're doing, as well as lists where all of them are playing and other top players in each of those games.

Mansfield (Texas) @ Bentonville West - 7 p.m. CT

What better place to start off the season than at my alma mater, Bentonville West. Coming into town is 2023 Rivals250 prospect Brenden Jordan. Jordan visited Fayetteville this summer and is originally from the state according to his friend Dahyln Jones (DeSoto), making the Hogs an interesting suitor in his recruitment.

For the home team, I’ll have my eye on 2023 prospect Braden Jones, who ran a 4.36 *unofficial* 40-yard dash at an Arkansas camp earlier in the summer. While there’s no Arkansas offer on the table, that type of speed is intriguing for the home-grown linebacker.

Mater Dei (Calif.) @ Duncanville (Texas) - 7:30 p.m. CT

This week’s slate was stacked with non-conference matchups, but this one is as star-studded as you’ll find at the high school level.

At the forefront for Razorback nation is the latest commit in the class, inside linebacker Jordan Crook. Crook flipped to Arkansas after a three-month commitment to Oklahoma State and finds himself in prime position to make national waves as his 14th-ranked Duncanville Panthers host No. 1 Mater Dei.

Mater Dei’s backfield will feature two of the top-50 players in the state of California in running backs Raleek Brown (Oklahoma) and Quincy Craig. Joining them on the offensive side of the ball is Notre Dame wide receiver commit CJ Williams, who is ranked as the fourth-best prospect in the state.

Defensively, the Monarchs may be even more dominant with six top-90 players, including USC defensive back commit Domani Jackson.

With stars all over the field, Crook should be placed in big-play situations throughout the night, and this may be as close to collegiate reps as a kid can get in high school.

Lucky - or not, depending on how you look at it - for Arkansas fans, the game will be streamed exclusively on FloSports, an app the Razorback faithful navigated to watch the baseball team in the 2021 State Farm College Baseball Showdown.

Razorback commits Andrew Chamblee and Nico Davillier kicked off their season Thursday night with a Maumelle victory on the road over Sylvan Hills.

Despite the 31-21 margin, this one came down to the wire. Maumelle closed out a perfect defensive half with their fourth forced fumble of the period coming in dagger fashion for Sylvan Hills. Davillier had himself a day, playing a role in multiple Hornet takeaways and *allegedly* delivering a Jadeveon Clowney-esque hit which the broadcast missed due to technical difficulties. Footage of the performance can be found on the Natural State Sports YouTube channel if you want to see the future Razorbacks in action.

In other news, Razorback target and Rivals100 cornerback Gentry Williams saw his first action of the 2021 season last night as well, slipping and sliding his way to a big gain for the Booker T. Washington offense.

2022

Belleville (Mich.) @ Plymouth (Mich.) - 6 p.m. CT

Commit: Myles Rowser, 4* S (Belleville)

-- Belleville - Christian Rapley, 3* ATH (‘22) - holds offers from Kentucky, Minnesota, Ole Miss, Penn State, Tennessee, others
-- Belleville - Jeremiah Caldwell, 4* ATH (‘22) - previously committed to Kentucky, holds offers from Arkansas State, Iowa State, Michigan, Tennessee
-- Belleville - Deshaun Lee, 3* CB (‘22) - holds offers from Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Syracuse
-- Belleville - Aaron Alexander, 2* ILB (‘22) - Michigan commit

Tucker (Ga.) @ Cedar Grove (Ga.) - 6 p.m. CT

Commit: Rashod Dubinion, 4* RB (Cedar Grove)

-- Cedar Grove - Christen Miller, 4* DT (‘22) - No. 9 DT in 2022, FutureCast to USC
-- Cedar Grove - Joshua White, 4* DE (‘22) - Memphis commit
-- Cedar Grove - Janiran Bonner, 4* WR (‘22) - Georgia Tech commit
-- Cedar Grove - Kayin Lee, 4* CB (‘23) - holds five other SEC offers, FutureCast to Georgia

Clarendon @ Barton - 7 p.m. CT

Commits: Quincey McAdoo, 4* WR & Dax Courtney, 3* TE (Clarendon)

Pulaski Academy @ Joe T. Robinson - 7 p.m. CT

Commit: E’Marion Harris, 4* WR (Robinson)

-- Robinson - Daryl Searcy Jr., RB (‘22) - holds offers from Arkansas State, Memphis, North Texas, visited Fayetteville in February 2020

Byrnes (S.C.) @ Chapman (S.C.) - 6:30 p.m. CT

Commit: Eli Henderson, 3* OL (Byrnes)

Cordova (Tenn.) @ Haywood (Tenn.) - 7 p.m. CT

Commit: Jaylen Lewis, 3* S (Haywood)

-- Haywood - Camron Douglas, 3* DT (‘22) - holds offers from Akron, Illinois, Memphis, Vanderbilt

Jackson (Ga.) @ Lee County (Ga.) - 6:30 p.m. CT

Commit: Tyrus Washington, 3* TE (Lee County)

-- Lee County - Jaron Willis, 4* OLB (‘22) - Georgia Tech commit
-- Lee County - Qaeshon Sapp, 4* OG (‘22) - Florida State commit
-- Lee County - Quavian Carter, 3* S (‘22) - Michigan State commit
-- Jackson - Felix Hixon, 3* DT (‘22) - South Carolina commit

Sheffield (Tenn.) @ Christian Brothers (Tenn.) - 7 p.m. CT

Commit: Patrick Kutas, 3* OL (Christian Brothers)

-- Christian Brothers - Dallan Hayden, 4* RB (‘22) - Ohio State commit, his older brother, Chase, played in 23 games for Arkansas from 2017-19

Greenland @ Elkins - 7 p.m. CT

Commit: JJ Hollingsworth, 3* DE (Greenland)

Conway @ Fayetteville - 7 p.m. CT

Commit: Mani Powell, 3* LB (Fayetteville)

-- Fayetteville - Isaiah Sategna, 4* WR (‘22) - Oregon commit, No. 1 player in the state of Arkansas in 2022
-- Fayetteville - Kaiden Turner, 3* ILB (‘22)Indiana commit

Shiloh Christian @ Pea Ridge - 7 p.m. CT

Commit: Kaden Henley, 3* ATH (Shiloh Christian)

Cambridge (Wisc.) @ Deerfield (Wisc.) - TBD

Commit: Eli Stein, 2* LS (Cambridge)

2023

Ashdown @ Hamburg - 7 p.m. CT

Commit: Shamar Easter, 4* TE (Ashdown)

2022

Manassas (Tenn.) @ Milan (Tenn.) - 7 p.m. CT

-- Milan - Anthony Brown, 3* WR (‘22) - visited Fayetteville in June, Arkansas in Top 5, commitment date set for Sept. 14

2023

Westlake (Texas) @ Temple (Texas) - 7:30 p.m. CT

-- Temple - Mikal Harrison-Pilot, 4* WR/S (‘23) - Arkansas offer, Rivals250 player in the class of 2023, visited Fayetteville in early June
-- Temple - Naeten Jeremy-Mitchell, S (‘23) - Arkansas offer, frequent visitor to Arkansas’ campus this summer
-- Westlake - Cade Klubnik, 5* QB (‘22) - Clemson commit, No. 1 QB in 2022
-- Westlake - three Power-5 offensive linemen (Connor Robertson, Bray Lynch, TJ Shanahan Jr.)
-- Westlake - Jaden Greathouse, 4* WR (‘23) - Rivals250 player in the class of 2021, holds offers from Arkansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Penn State, Texas

DeSoto (Texas) @ Judson (Texas) - 7 p.m. CT

-- DeSoto - Johntay Cook II, 4* WR (‘23) - Arkansas offer, No. 66 in Rivals100 for 2023
-- DeSoto - Dahlyn Jones, WR (‘23) - Arkansas offer, also holds an offer from Kansas, visited Fayetteville in late July
-- Judson - Anthony Evans III, WR (‘23) - Arkansas offer, also holds offers from Iowa State, TCU, Texas Tech, and G5 schools, visited Fayetteville in June

Liberty North (Mo.) at Bentonville - 7 p.m. CT

-- Bentonville - Joey Su'a, OL ('23) - Arkansas offer, also holds offers from Georgia, Maryland, Michigan State, Oregon
-- Bentonville - Charles Nimrod, 3* WR ('22) - Tennessee commit

2024

Hot Springs Lakeside @ Lake Hamilton - 7 p.m. CT

-- HS Lakeside - Braylen Russell, RB (‘24) - sole offer from Arkansas
-- Lake Hamilton - Chase Jessup, 3* OT (‘22) - committed to Arkansas State over Kansas, Vanderbilt