In my district, connections count more than scores and grades. After grade 4, every year is treated as a blank slate, your reputation as a good student does not follow you, you have to prove yourself from scratch. Unless, of course, you have those connections.
(Mark Twain had a point in his observations about Boston versus New York.)
This year especially, depending on where you go to school, you might have had very little class time in person before asking for rec’s.