Spring Practice Tour: Cambridge Bears

Featured, Football, High School, Rankings, Recruiting | May 7, 2025 by | 0 Comments

Another spring practice tour is in the books, and this time I had the chance to visit the Cambridge Bears, a team under the tutelage of offensive guru Tyler Jones. The Bears finished the 2024 season 10-3 and are looking to build upon the impressive season where they made history, winning the most games in a season (10) with their deepest playoff run in program history (quarterfinals). Let’s take a deeper look at Cambridge this spring.

Players to watch: 

WR Craig Dandridge- Dandridge was torching defenders throughout spring practice with highlight-reel catches in 1-on-1 drills while also running with the ones. An area where he’s improved tremendously is his route running and ability to separate at the top of the route. The separation he was getting from opposing defensive backs caught your eye instantly. Clemson, who is expected to get an official visit from Dandridge on May 30th, was in attendance to watch and assess his performance. It’s safe to say he put on a show. Coach Jones sums it up well about the areas where Dandridge has improved.

“He’s done a really good job in the weight room, putting on strength and a little bit of mass. And so he’s always moved well, but now he’s moving with even more fluidity. He’s just stronger. So like those breaks, he’s even more explosive. And he’s moving differently than he did last year. So we’re really pleased with that,” said Jones.

There is one play (below) where he popped and showed why he is one of the best receivers in the state and deserves that acknowledgement.

 

WR Hudson Cocchiara- You can’t help but be impressed with the young man. He wants to win and do whatever it takes to help his team. He is known for his ability in the slot and is a route-running technician. Cocchiara has taken his skill set to another level with the ability to line up in the backfield and be equally as effective as lining up at the wide receiver position. He’s also gotten bigger and is filling out well. You look at his lower body, and he’s able to bounce off opposing defenders and get up the field quickly. Cocchiara is a name that should be more popular among college coaches, but I think when they are coming to visit the Bears, they are seeing just what he can bring to the table at the next level. I think it is only a matter of time before he has surpassed double-digit offers.

WR Grant Campbell- Campbell made plays throughout practice and is beginning to make a name for himself. Campbell was approached by a college coach after his stellar practice. He showcased his deep threat ability with several big catches of 20+ yards, and also the ability to catch the ball in the middle of the field and extend them for longer gains. He caught your eye throughout practice with his ability, 6’4″ frame, and the speed with which he got vertical up the field.

“Grant Campbell, like I told you, is my sleeper. He’s 6’4″, and he can run really well. He’s gonna go do the high jump at State on Saturday,” said Jones.

RB John Orefice- This kid runs the ball hard. It takes a lot to bring him down, and he keeps his legs churning and often bounces off the first contact. His physicality will be invaluable throughout the season, especially when Cambridge looks to put opponents away. Ofrus is more than just power, though, he also has a burst that allows him to reach the second level quickly and break away from defenders. He will be another weapon to watch on offense for Cambridge.

 

TE Drew Hardwick- Hardwick is a very impressive blocker for the tight end position. He was moving people throughout practice with his 6’5″, 230-pound frame. He also showcased his receiving ability, and a thing that caught your eye was his physicality. There was one play where he caught the ball out of the flat, made a move inside, and bulldozed a defender into the ground.

“Drew, Hardwick at tight end, it’s gonna be tough to match up with,” said Jones.

Cambridge has been battling through a few injuries to a couple of starters but young guys have been fitting in well and getting much-needed reps early in spring as the evaluation process heats up. Coach Jones talked about where his team is at currently in the second week of practice.

“Well, we’re a little banged up, but I mean, that happens when you preach playing a physical brand of football. So we’ve got some guys banged up, but that’s a great opportunity for those young guys to get reps,” said Jones. “Overall, pleased, guys are doing what we’re asking them to do. We return a lot of experience, so that’s positive to see those guys just kind of hit the ground running. I love our skill group on both sides of the ball.”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s getting a lot of guys reps. You know, we’ve got a lot of new faces on defense, but we’re also doing a little bit of a new scheme. And so it’s taking some adjustment, but the kids are flying around with great effort. We have to sure up our tackling. But of course, when you take a long break like that, that’s going to take some time.  But it’s a fine line of tackling and keeping yourselves healthy too. So I think once that comes around, we’re going to be pretty good on defense. Seeing the new guys, the new additions do some really good things. So it’s been a good four days,” said Jones.

Storylines to watch:

1. The quarterback battle will go on throughout the summer. 

“Yeah, so number 19 is Jordan Higdon. He was a sophomore for us last year,” said Jones. “Yeah, it’s definitely an open battle right now. The quarterbacks know that. They know they’re in a competition. And they know that whoever is the best guy is going to play. I mean, it’s as simple as that. So we’ve been preaching, don’t try to do too much. Just play your game. Let the game come to you. For us, quarterback play is a lot about knowing what you’re doing with the ball and delivering it there on time. So all three of those guys are doing some really good things. They have different skill sets. Within their skill sets, they all bring something unique to the table. It is still very much an open battle. We’re going to utilize every bit of spring to assess that through the summer, and it may even extend into the regular season. We would like to name a guy at some point, but right now it’s still very open.”

2. The running back room will be intriguing to watch in 2025 with physicality and versatility at the position. 

“So, you know we lost Tyler Blalock who was a dynamic player,” said Jones. “I mean, he was a big play threat, just the speed, the contact balance, all those things. And so replacing him is not easy.  But like you said, we’ve got a group that just runs extremely hard and that’s what we need them to do. You know, we feel really good about our skill group on the outside.  So if we can kind of pound away at defenses inside the tackles, you know, we feel like we’re going to be really tough to match up with. And we got guys that’ll stick their foot in the ground and run. John Orfus was number 20. We’ve got number three,  Brooks Malone and Hudson’s a Swiss Army knife. We call him Hudson McCaffrey sometimes. So we’re putting him in the backfield just because one, he’s good with the ball in his hands, but we may be able to create some matchups in the backfield with him as well. Tyler’s going to be a hard person to replace, but we feel like we’ve got a variety of weapons to do that.”

3. Cambridge has a great culture that was established before Coach Jones, but going to practice, you can’t help but see that the kids are super receptive to him and respect him not only as a coach but as a human being. After practice, all the kids came to have a conversation with Coach Jones and dapped him up. 

“Yeah, I don’t know. Our kids have just been super receptive to me, the new staff,” said Jones. “That was kind of a thing that they were doing before I got here, so I can’t take full credit. We try to make sure we prioritize the person and not just the football player. I think the kids appreciate that. And so we also try to have fun and try to make sure that this is the place that they wanna be. They seem appreciative of what we’re doing, and I’m happy to be here too.”

4. The offensive line has a lot of experience and will be a strong factor in Cambridge closing out games

“We return a lot of experience there,” said Jones. “We lost two guys up front so we returned three starters, but we really returned five. We had a couple of injuries and some young guys that got a lot of starts, especially down the stretch in the playoffs. We feel really good about our line group.”

 

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