Northmont High School in Clayton, Ohio, has been a program that Michigan Wolverines football coach Jim Harbaugh has landed prospects from on two separate occasions in the past, first in the form of current redshirt freshman defensive end Gabe Newburg in the 2019 class and then more recently three-star wideout Markus Allen, who pledged to the Maize and Blue on April 28.
Northmont head coach Tony Broering helped lead the Thunderbolts to an impressive 10-2 campaign in 2018 before stumbling to a 6-5 record last year; Allen, however, put up monstrous numbers in the latter, reeling in 51 receptions for 1,099 yards and 15 touchdowns.
“He’s bigger in person than on film,” Pickerington North head coach Nathan Hillerich recalled, whose Panthers squad fell to Northmont last year, 37-17. “We realized it was a little more of a mismatch once we actually got out there. When Allen is around 5-9, 5-10 defensive backs, he looks significantly taller.
“Northmont had a really good team with a really good quarterback last year, and their skill position players were good too. Our defensive line was our strength with a defensive end in [five-star] Jack Sawyer who’s going to Ohio State, so we tried to win with pressure, leaving Allen in one-on-one matchups a few times.
“Our DBs were oftentimes in great position, but Allen was able to go up and make contested catches over the top of some of our better players. He’s strong too, so we could tell even in warmups that he’d been in the weight room.
"We usually try to play physical on the line of scrimmage and jam and re-direct receivers, but he did a great job of getting off the line and not getting bullied by defensive backs.
“We doubled him quite a bit as a result, just so he wouldn't beat us. Northmont’s slot receiver wound up having a really good game because of it, and he’s now at a Division II school.
"Allen is a guy who every opponent tried to stop by putting two guys on him.
