How OSU recruits fared in early HSFB action

For the fifth-year running (with some missed weeks in between) I’ll be recapping what how OSU football recruits performed in their high school football games from the previous week. This years’ class has no shortage of offensive talent, so check back here each week to get updated on the future of OSU football.

We’ll keep the same order every week, starting with QB, followed by the RB’s, WR’s, TE, offensive line and defense. All stats taken from Maxpreps unless stated otherwise. This first week will be all-encompassing to this point of the season.

Garret Rangel, Quarterback

Oklahoma State’s lone quarterback commit for the cycle started the season with a bang. The Frisco (TX) Lone Star product passed for 304 yards and four scores on 15-for-18 against San Antonio Cornerstone Christian in a 59-14 win. As a private school, Cornerstone Christian isn’t really built to compete with a 5A powerhouse such as Lone Star, but the next game is where Rangel’s talent really shone through before an unfortunate ending.

Next up was Aledo at home; the Bearkats are ranked No. 1 in Texas 5A-II having won three-straight state titles. Rangel started rough, but bounced back for 238 yards and two scores against one INT on 14-for-27 passing. He added eight carries for 36 yards before exiting the game with a hyperextended knee in the fourth quarter.

Aledo out-lasted Lone Star 45-35 before Lone Star went on to beat Frisco Heritage 51-24 to open district play in Rangel’s absence. Up next is Frisco Independence. However, the Lone Star signal caller will miss a few weeks, but should be back in time for the end of the regular season. Target perhaps late October against The Colony or Denton Ryan.

Ollie Gordon, Running Back

The caption says running back, and that’s what he’ll play at OSU, but Ollie Gordon is starring at quarterback for Euless (TX) Trinity this season.

While he still gets plenty of carries, Trinity makes use of Gordon at quarterback to help get talented backup-turned-starter running back Gary Maddox some touches. Of course, Trinity has never been known to throw the ball a whole lot. Gordon hasn’t thrown more than six passes in a game this year and has totaled 93 yards, two touchdowns and one pick in three games thus far. Now that the passing stats are out of the way...

Gordon has been dominant on the ground this year as expected. The Trojans sprinted past Arlington Lamar 45-27 in the opener with Gordon carrying just eight times, but for 136 yards and three scores. That’s 17 yards-per-carry! But it wasn’t getting easier in week two.

Trinity traveled down to Austin to take on two-time defending state champion Westlake, and lost 34-14. Gordon out-rushed Westlake by himself, totaling 188 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. That was followed by a 30-27 against Colleyville Heritage — in a game where Trinity led 30-6 heading to the fourth — in which Gordon ran for a season-high 201 yards and three scores on 28 carries. Up next is Boswell to open district play.

Trinity dropped from sixth to No. 13 in the state for class 6A following the loss to Westlake, but should move up a little bit this week after a solid win against 5A-I No. 5 Heritage. Gordon and Trinity will have to fight through a talented group of teams in DFW to make a deep playoff run, but that’s where the bar is for the Trojans after a state quarterfinals appearance last season. So far, it looks like Gordon can lead them there.

CJ Brown, Running Back

It’s been a tale of two stories for Beggs (OK) to open the 2021 season.

The first game came against Lincoln Christian and resulted in a 52-14 blowout loss. I couldn’t find reliable stats for Brown in this game. But Beggs bounced back in the next game by scoring a scorching 74 points in a 74-48 win against Rejoice Christian. In that game, Brown carried 22 times for 363 yards and a whopping six touchdowns according to The Tulsa World.

It’s clear that Brown has been impressive to this early point of the season. Next up for the Demons — a 2A team — is Chandler. It may be tough to find stats for Brown this season, but one can only imagine the additional eye-popping stats he will put up against 2A competition.

Talyn Shettron, Wide Receiver

Tabry Shettron, Tight End

Just like last year with the Green twins, I hate to lump twins and/or brothers together, but it’s just easier that way when they play for the same team. So here’s how Talyn and Tabry are doing this season!

Edmond (OK) Santa Fe’s season started with a 45-22 loss to Owasso, but the brothers played well. Talyn finished with seven catches for 86 yards and two scores while Tabry totaled four catches for 41 yards. Also of note, freshman running back Demarius Robinson carried 23 times for 159 yards and a touchdown, so maybe the recruiting staff should take a look.

Then came a 30-20 loss against Stillwater (Roll ‘Neers, I guess). These set of stats might deserve an asterisk; it notes QB threw a touchdown pass but doesn’t list any receiver as having caught a touchdown. That being said, Talyn grabbed eight passes for 87 yards while Tabry reeled in four for 24 yards, which may not be accurate according to Cody Nagel:

The Wolves got in the win column for the first time in 2021 this week with a 35-14 win against Edmond North. Reliable stats could not be found, but Talyn did take a punt 80 yards to the house:

In any case, the Shettron brothers are having a good go of it so far even if Santa Fe has just a 1-2 record to show for it. Up next is Edmond Memorial. We love that Santa Fe pipeline!

Braylin Presley, WR / Athlete

Presley is listed at just 5-foot-7 on 247sports.com, but that doesn’t particularly matter in terms of his athletic ability. He’s got the ability to play all over the field, so get ready for a lot numbers.

Bixby (OK) opened its season with a 69-14 thrashing of Mansfield (TX) Timberview in the Boarder Battle. Presley was Bixby’s leading rusher (7 for 54 yards) and receiver (6 for 78 and a touchdown).

After gaining bragging rights over Texas, Bixby conquered bragging rights against a Tulsa-area rival in a 23-15 win against Jenks. Presley racked up 120 yards and a score on 14 carries while also reeling in five catches for 56 yards. Up next is a tilt with Stillwater. (Roll ‘Neers?)

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Cameron Epps, Cornerback

Epps plays at a football, I mean basketball, okay, maybe both (?) school at Chaminade in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition to a perennially strong football program, Chaminade has also produced basketball stars such as Jayson Tatum and Bradley Beal.

Chaminade opened with a 34-20 win against Jefferson City before losing to Lutheran 46-6 in week two. Epps plays on both sides of the ball and had a fantastic week three, going for 104 yards and two scores on five receptions, plus two rushing touchdowns and 217 all-purpose yards according to his Twitter:

Chaminade still lost that game 35-26 to rival St. Louis University HS. He’ll play at corner for Oklahoma State, but clearly has the versatility to do much more if needed. He could be a great special teams player in Stillwater as well. Next up is De Smet Jesuit.

Dylahn McKinney, Cornerback

McKinney and Colleyville (TX) Heritage are rolling to start out. The 5A Panthers beat rival Grapevine 42-7 on opening night and McKinney recorded two picks and two PBU’s, including this pick-six. Yeah, their first game was televised. Pretty neat!

That was followed by a 52-0 win against 6A Boswell where McKinney recorded three tackles. Then there was the competitve 30-27 loss to Ollie Gordon and 6A Trinity which yielded a tackle for McKinney. Next up is Richland at home.

Other News and Notes

Finding stats, especially for small schools, isn’t always reliable. But every member of this class deserves some shine, so I’ll throw whatever I can find on the remaining recruits in this section.

• WR Mason Gilkey and Pawhuska (OK) are off to a 1-1 start with an opening night 55-21 win against Perry before falling to Victory Christian 39-33 in OT. Stats could not be found for Gilkey, but there are some awesome videos:

• OT Austin Kawecki and Frisco (TX) Lebanon Trail beat Richardson Berkner 20-14 in overtime in week one, before losing to Corsicana 49-35 and Frisco Memorial 41-14 last week. Next up is at Lake Dallas.
• DL Landon Dean and Frontenac (KS) got off to a great start with a 20-0 win against Columbus. That was followed up with a 42-6 loss to Coweta (OK). Dean had a great opening night though, as the Frontenac defense dominated Columbus. Here’s some highlights of that, he’s wearing No. 77 in this video.

• DL Jaleel Johnson and Putnam City (OK) North have gotten off to a good start. First came a painful — albeit encouraging — opening night loss to Putnam City, 36-35 in OT. Johnson had three tackles in that game. Then, PC North took down Piedmont 26-10 in a game that Johnson dominated. He racked up 11 total tackles — seven solo — and a sack in that one. Next up is Putnam City West.
• Last but not least... Roll ‘Neers! LB Gabe Brown and Stillwater (OK) are off to a fantastic 2-0 start with a 30-20 win against Santa Fe and a 32-28 win over Mustang. Stats could not be found but there are a few highlights. Next up is the biggest test the ‘Neers will have all season against Bixby.

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That will (finally) do it for this weeks’ recap. Most won’t be this long because this will be a weekly recap rather than a three-week recap. Check back next week to find out how each OSU commit performed in their high school games.