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Freak of the Week: Pearce Spurlin III

The first tight end projection to collect Freak of the Week honors is committed to Georgia

John Garcia, Jr.

"Freak" is a term thrown around too much in the sports world, but sometimes, it's the first phrase that crowds the cranium when a gaudy athletic feat takes place.

What about an entire game's worth of head-turning and gasps?

SI All-American continues its salute to these dominant high school football players in a weekly feature, aptly titled 'Freak of the Week,' going out to a remarkable Friday night performance. 

For the first time in the two-year history of the FOTW feature, the award is going to a tight end. 

Class of 2023 Pearce Spurlin III was unstoppable on Friday night, to the tune of 13 catches for 318 yards and 5 touchdowns. The Georgia commitment runs away with this week's honor. 

A junior out of Santa Rosa Beach (Fla.) South Walton High School helped the Seahawks take Baker (Fla.) High School to the brink in a 49-48 shootout. Scoring nearly every touchdown for his team, Spurlin was electric no matter where he was aligned, making chunk plays lined up split out, at the point of a bunch set and even after flexing in motion. He caught screens that went for big gains and showed polish at the catch point down the field as well. 

The grab of the night, though, came via just one hand. Split out pre-snap, he worked to gain inside leverage on a defender at the top of a bang-8, or skinny post. The ball from quarterback senior Kemper Hodges, who threw for six scores on the evening, was a bit out in front and his favorite target picked him up. 

"I mean I have been doing it since I was little," Spurlin said of the one-handed catch. "And I saw where the ball was and it all kind of was a blur."

The QB-TE duo have increased production in 2021 and steady one of the area's highest-scoring offenses. The Seahawks average just under 40 points per contest thus far in the season. 

"Getting me the ball in space worked really well," Spurlin told SI All-American. "Me and my quarterback worked really hard this offseason on getting our timing on my post routes better and I feel we took full advantage of that on Friday. Other than that, I just got hot and kept rolling." 

On the recruiting front, it's all Dawg for one of the top junior pass catchers in the country. Spurlin was back in Athens for the Georgia win over South Carolina. 

"So pumped every time I'm up there," he said. "I'm just itching to get there for college."

Watch Spurlin's Freak of the Week performance below. 

2021 Freak of the Week Archive

Week 0 - Pike Road (Ala.) Quarterback Iverson Hooks

Week 1 - Port St. Lucie (Fla.) Running Back Eden James

Week 2 - Gautier (Miss.) High School Quarterback Kaden Irving

Week 3 - Millville (N.J.) High School Running Back LeQuint Allen

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John Garcia, Jr.
JOHN GARCIA, JR.

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