Gators' High School Recruit Week One Roundup

Originally posted on Florida Gators on SI | By Cam Parker | Last updated Aug 24, 2025 7:00 AM ET

High school football across the state of Florida officially kicked off the 2025 season on Friday with all of the Florida Gators' 19 commits in the 2026 recruiting class now in action.

Florida Gators on SI takes a look at a few of those commits who had standout performances, including one who broke a state record and another who came up big when his number was called.

Griffin Breaks Tebow's Record

Florida's longest-tenured commit in the 2026 class, Tampa (Fla.) Jesuit four-star quarterback Will Griffin not only found himself on the winning side of a 30-14 game against Bishop Verot, but also atop the state's high school record books.

Going 19-for-28 for 275 yards and three touchdowns, Griffin surpassed 10,000 career passing yards while breaking Tim Tebow's high school record for all-time passing yards in the state of Florida.

#Florida QB commit Will Griffin with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Kaleb Smith to put Jesuit within one.

14-13 Verot 2:56 Q2@WillGriffin__11 pic.twitter.com/1OG0umF07d
— Tyler Harden (@ttjharden8) August 23, 2025

Quiet but Clutch Nights for Williams, Hester

Both Gainesville (Fla.) Buchholz four-star receiver Justin Williams and Cocoa (Fla.) four-star CJ Hester each found themselves in tight battles to open the regular season with relatively quiet nights.

Williams, who played on Friday against Ocala (Fla.) Vanguard) was held to only one catch, but his 12-yard reception came on fourth down and set up a Buchholz field goal. He later recovered an onside kick, sealing a 15-13 win for the Bobcats.

Great catch by #Gators commit Justin Williams to convert a Bobcats 4th and 11 pic.twitter.com/iLX1ClclVu
— Noah Ram (@Noah_ram1) August 22, 2025

Meanwhile, Florida Gators on SI was in attendance for most of Hester's game, a 30-24 win over Merritt Island in double overtime. While rarely tested, Hester did finish with four tackles from the second quarter on (Florida Gators on SI was not there for the first quarter).

Hester showed nice tackling abilities in the open field and strong communication in coverage with his teammates.

"(Florida) likes how I'm physical and how I come down and hit," Hester told Florida Gators on SI after his game.

Another tackle for #Gators commit CJ Hester pic.twitter.com/VobXRZwO1F
— Cam Parker (@camparker25) August 22, 2025

TDs for Bronaugh, Baker

Rounding out highlights for Gators' commits are Fairburn (Ga.) Langston Hughes four-star running back Carsyn Baker and Windermere (Fla.) four-star defensive back CJ Bronaugh, who each had a touchdown.

Bronaugh opened Windermere's 43-3 win over Harmony with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Opening season kickoff, first 27 seconds of the game..@BronaughCj returns a 97yd kick return for a TD That’s our boy! @CoachSmith100 @karlos_sr @WWHS_Football @LockedOnGators @hightopsport @bg9711 @Cory_Bender @GatorsDaily @GatorsOnline @CenFLAPreps @CountyPolk… pic.twitter.com/TbDeRSlLAm
— Kieley Bronaugh (@KieleyBronaugh) August 23, 2025

Meanwhile, Baker added a short rushing touchdown in Langston Hughes' 42-7 win over Mays. Langston Hughes is now 2-0 after a 46-21 win over Westlake last week.

GIMME 6 pic.twitter.com/BMzushiPCq
— Carsyn Baker 'ALL Day' (@carsyn_baker) August 23, 2025

Gators 2026 Recruiting Class

Florida's 2026 recruiting class currently ranks No. 13 nationally, according to the 247 Sports Composite Team Rankings, with 19 total commits. Florida Gators on SI is tracking all of the Gators' major recruiting news, from commits to prospects of note to the official visit schedule, on our 2026 Recruiting Tracker.