Army All-American Bowl 2017: Score, Recruit Commitments and Twitter Reaction

The East ended the West's three-game winning streak at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Saturday, as it prevailed 27-17 in the 2017 edition at the Alamodome in San Antonio. 

East quarterback and Clemson commit Hunter Johnson took home MVP honors on the strength of a 61-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring.

Here is a full recap of how Saturday's clash played out, as well as a look at the seven recruits who made their collegiate choices during the game.

Game Recap

Despite the offensive talent on both teams, the early portion of the contest was a defensive struggle, particularly in the first quarter.

Neither team moved the ball with rhythm, with each failing to score. But there was one standout in the form of UCLA defensive line commit Jaelan Phillips.

He made multiple impressive plays, and according to Adam Gorney of Rivals.com, the East couldn't block him:

Following a missed field goal by West kicker Brandon Ruiz during the second quarter, the East put the first points on the board when Johnson found wide receiver Henry Ruggs for a 61-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 after the extra point.

While Ruggs is uncommitted, Woody Wommack of Rivals.com offered the following prediction regarding the Montgomery, Alabama, native's potential college choice:

The West cut the lead to 7-3 when Ruiz connected on a short field goal, but the East took its biggest lead of the day to that point with less than two minutes remaining in the half.

Georgia commit Jake Fromm hit speedy wide receiver and future Florida State Seminole D.J. Matthews from 76 yards out to help increase the West's deficit to 14-3.

As Josh Helmholdt of Rivals.com pointed out, Fromm showed a great deal of toughness and elusiveness by standing in the pocket and delivering a strike:

The East added to its lead on the final play of the opening half when Georgia Tech commit Joseph Bulovas booted a field goal through the uprights to make it 17-3 entering the locker room.

Bulovas tacked on another field goal in the third quarter to make it 20-3, but the West found the end zone for the first time shortly thereafter.

Ohio State quarterback commit Tate Martell showed off his dual-threat abilities, as he got out of the pocket and scampered 18 yards for a touchdown to help cut the East's lead to 20-10.

Per Mike Roach of HornSports.com, the 5-star signal-caller was the beneficiary of a big-time block on his way to the end zone:

The East answered with a short touchdown run by Florida State running back commit Cam Akers, which stretched the lead back to 27-10 after the extra point.

After recovering a fumble by West quarterback and TCU commit Shawn Robinson deep in the West's territory, the East seemed poised to put the game away with a few minutes remaining.

The West had fight left in it, however, as safety Bubba Bolden made a remarkable special teams play after committing to USC earlier in the day.

Bolden jumped over the center and kicked the ball away from the holder on a field-goal attempt before picking it up and returning it for a touchdown.

According to Andrew Lind of 11 Warriors, Bolden has made a habit of excelling in the third phase of the game:

"

Just like he did in Bishop Gorman's win of Aquinas, Bubba Bolden comes up big on special teams. Blocks field goal and scores touchdown.

— Andrew Lind (@AndrewMLind) January 7, 2017"

Although that play helped close the gap to 27-17 and made things interesting, the East ran the clock out on its ensuing possession.

Recruit Commitments

Player	Position	Scout.com Star Rating	Scout.com Overall Ranking	School Choice
Jamire Calvin	WR	4	No. 231	Oregon State
Eno Benjamin	RB	4	No. 106	Arizona State
Chuck Filiaga	OT	4	No. 125	Michigan
Bubba Bolden	S	4	No. 38	USC
Darnay Holmes	CB	5	No. 9	UCLA
Jeffrey Okudah	ATH (CB)	5	No. 12	Ohio State
Foster Sarell	OT	5	No. 2	Stanford

On a day when seven recruits announced their commitments, it started with a significant upset when 4-star wide receiver Jamire Calvin revealed his intention to play at Oregon State.

Rivals.com provided a photo of Calvin donning a Beavers hat during the first quarter:

According to Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports, Calvin made a late change from Nebraska after doing some soul searching: 

"

Around Thursday everything kind of switched from Nebraska to Oregon State. Everything just kind of hit me at the time and feels like the better decision and best place for me. ... It was just an overall thing. Just everything put together, environment, coaches, getting to play with my best friend (teammate and Oregon State commit Arex Flemings), everything kind of came together.

"

After Calvin, 4-star running back Eno Benjamin made his commitment to Arizona State during the second quarter, as seen in the following photo:

Per Greg Powers of Scout, the Wylie, Texas, native loved a combination of factors about the Sun Devils:

"

[First head coach] Todd Graham. I have a great a great relationships with him and he has the Texas mentality that I am already used to. [Secondly running backs coach] John Simon. He's played in the NFL and it would be great to learn from someone who has been there and done it before. ... Lastly when I'm looking at a school for a place where I can attend as just a student. Arizona State is the place for me.

"

Offensive tackle Chuck Filiaga was next on the slate, opting to go to the Big Ten and Michigan:

Filiaga, who is a native of American Samoa, added to what was already a massive haul for the Wolverines along the offensive line in their 2017 class, according to ESPN's Craig Haubert:

After previously committing to play at USC, 4-star safety Bubba Bolden reiterated that commitment Saturday:

Bolden also considered a flip to Ohio State or Arizona State, but the Nevada native instead stuck with the Trojans and head coach Clay Helton.

One of USC's chief rivals received a significant boost to its secondary shortly thereafter, as 5-star cornerback Darnay Holmes committed to UCLA:

Bleacher Report tweeted the following video of Holmes announcing his choice in style:

Ohio State was among Holmes' finalists, and although the recruit passed on the Buckeyes, OSU head coach Urban Meyer didn't come away from the U.S. Army All-American Bowl empty-handed.

Athlete and likely cornerback Jeffrey Okudah announced he would bring his 5-star skill set to the Buckeyes in 2017:

According to Jeremy Birmingham of Landof10.com, Okudah felt Ohio State gives him the best chance to develop into an elite player and play winning football:

"

They just had the best plan for me. With football and life after football. I just had to take it and run with it. It's a pretty good chance to get away from home, but also in a place that has a family feel. We're looking at all that kind of stuff. It was a no-brainer.

They're going to always have guys come in and develop guys, it's always going to be on top. I think as long as Meyer is there, they'll always be on top.

"

Offensive tackle Foster Sarell, Scout's No. 2 overall recruit, closed out the proceedings Saturday. The Graham, Washington, native had several intriguing options but decided to stay on the West Coast and attend Stanford:

Per Greg Biggins of Fox Sports, Sarell already has NFL written all over him:

The Cardinal have produced some of the best offensive linemen in recent years, and head coach David Shaw ensured Saturday that his line once again has a solid foundation for years to come.

*All recruit information courtesy of Scout.

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