Scouting Texas recruits in the HS playoffs
The higher levels of Texas high school football had some big games over the weekend in the semi-finals for the State Championships. Naturally several Texas Longhorn commitments were prominently involved and a few will be playing for State next weekend.
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Nothing beats watching full games when it comes to evaluating players. Highlights can tell you a fair bit about how a player moves and what they do best but a full game tells you how they fit into gameplans, exposes weaknesses avoided in highlights, and ultimately whether they are a winning player. This is particularly true at quarterback, where you are always heavily involved in a game, but it can also be true at a position as removed as cornerback.
I’ve watched the semi-finals with Longhorn commitments and can relay some impressions of the events.
North Shore over Westlake
The North Shore Mustangs have gone to the State Championships four times in the last five years and had a few clashes with Westlake along the way. When Cade Klubnik was a junior and Jaden Greathouse a sophomore, they took down the Dematrius Davis-lead Mustangs in the semifinals but this year the Chaps took it on the chin, 49-34.
The game was characterized by the normal, ultra-aggressive 4-3 quarters stylings of the North Shore defense shutting down the Westlake run game and daring them to attempt throws down the field in man coverage. The Chaparrals managed a pop pass to their tight end for a score but otherwise struggled to beat the North Shore defensive backs, often due to misfires from quarterback.
Westlake played a solid game on defense but were trucked a few times in the run game, which conspicuously tended to go away from Colton Vasek, and gave up a punt return touchdown while the game was still in question. In the next round North Shore will face the Duncanville Panthers for the fourth time in the D1 final, they’ve yet to lose that matchup.
Notable recruits
Colton Vasek, Westlake Edge, committed to Texas
Vasek was really quite good, despite the disappointing outcome for the Chaps. Here was a standout moment:
The Mustangs tried to read him on a power-option play and the quarterback took a little too long to read his intentions. Vasek clearly recognized the play from the Diamond formation (a good tell for power-read) and just exploded into the backfield, nearly tackling both the running back and the quarterback.
He routinely blew up pulling blockers as well and strung out plays for his teammates to stop. His length (6-foot-6) and good use of his hands make me think he’s destined for Jack once he reaches his college weight. Vasek is a strong pass-rusher but what he does best is use his power and hands to cave in the edge. If deployed at Jack he could restrict access to the wide side of the field against the run and still regularly get involved in the pass-rush from the edge.
Jaden Greathouse, Westlake receiver, committed to Notre Dame
Westlake needed a big game from Greathouse and he was battling an injury during the game in addition to some hurried passes and the Mustang secondary. I have the same impression of Greathouse I’ve had in the past, he is shockingly quick and effective at his size and seems likely to be an exceptional weapon at receiver.
DeSoto over Guyer
Denton Guyer was the favorite in this game and brought 5-star quarterback Jackson Arnold and 5-star safety Peyton Bowen into the contest yet were outclassed overall by the Eagles 47-28. DeSoto had a pair of Longhorn commits in 4-stars Johntay Cook and Tre Wisner.
The Guyer offense this season has a really nasty construction, mixing a power run game often involving Arnold in quarterback power run concepts with loads of RPOs and shots outside. Their ability in a playoff game to spread out an opponent and use Arnold both to launch bombs down the field and serve as the ballcarrier in the power run game creates tremendous spread stress.
Didn’t work though. DeSoto played off-man coverage outside and challenged Guyer’s athletes while keeping numbers around the box to handle the run game.
Meanwhile Guyer’s Flyover defense still struggled to handle the various underneath stressors of DeSoto’s spread-option run game. The Eagles ran the ball 53 times for 447 yards, mostly with sophomore Deondrae Riden who already has offers from Texas A&M and other schools in the state, but Wisner added seven carries for 92 yards. Cook caught seven balls for 58 yards, generally getting his work on quick hitches attached to runs.
Notable recruits
Johntay Cook, DeSoto receiver, committed to Texas
Cook was plainly one of the fastest skill athletes on the field, but his usage was a touch limited by the nature of the DeSoto offense as more of a spread-option system. He nearly took a few deep on Guyer late before the half but overall faced a lot of off coverage with Bowen hovering nearby to discourage anything easy down the field. They had a number of interesting clashes which tended to be one-sided, with Bowen laying some big hits, yet Cook didn’t back down and was an active blocker.
He reminds of Xavier Worthy with his tenacious play yet smaller build. Cook is plainly a terrific athlete who should be a good fit at Z running post routes and deeper patterns for Texas.
Tre Wisner, DeSoto running back/wide receiver, committed to Texas
Wisner also has a somewhat limited role in the DeSoto offense. He’s one of two running backs and not at the top of the list for receivers, but he does a lot with a little in his role. The future for him is curious, he’s really built more like a receiver (5-foot-11, 185 pounds) but he definitely has natural vision, quicks, and balance for handling the rock out of the backfield. As a hybrid back, his path to playing is obvious. He could be the next Keilan Robinson if that’s a role Texas feels should be a mainstay in the system, or he might become a slot receiver who gets into the backfield at times.
Peyton Bowen, Denton Guyer safety, committed to Notre Dame
Guyer had Bowen playing Cook-side safety in the Flyover scheme, which allowed him to help bracket any in-breaking routes from Cook either from depth or underneath and to close and be an extra hat in the run defense.
Safety looks like the right position for him, he effortlessly covers ground and is a confident tackler and big hitter in the open field. It’s be easy to see why Oklahoma would be desperate to try and pry him from the Irish, they badly need him on their roster.
Jackson Arnold, Denton Guyer quarterback, committed to Oklahoma
The Guyer offense at this point is already close to being the Veer and Shoot, which is great news for Oklahoma who will probably want to start Arnold by his second year if not sooner. He’s strong in the run game but seems faster than quick, meaning when he hits a crease he can really get going but he’s not exactly impossible to catch in the backfield. One of his better traits is an ability to quickly get set and fire off throws deep down the field or with reasonable accuracy underneath. He’s got the exact skill set to run an RPO offense, excelling at pulling the ball and throwing an accurate ball on quick reads.
I don’t think he sees the field very well, which is fine in the Veer and Shoot, nor is he particularly adept at feeling pressure in the pocket. He basically reminds me of how Bryce Petty looked as an upperclassman at Baylor and his upside is probably arriving at that caliber of player early in his career.
DeSoto and their Longhorn commits will face Vandegrift in the D2 State Final and will likely be heavily favored.
