DEER CREEK FOOTBALL OPENING LIKELY TO BE POPULAR
PREP PARADE
HIGH SCHOOLS Deer Creek continues to blossom on the athletic front. And with the right coaching hire, the future could be unlimited for the Antlers.
EDMOND — James Edwards probably had a tedious job filtering through his new emails Wednesday morning.
The Deer Creek athletic director, Edwards likely began receiving emails, phone calls and everything else from people interested in his suddenly vacant head football coaching position.
Grant Gower resigned after eight seasons to take the offensive coordinator position at Oklahoma Baptist, opening the door on the most intriguing coaching vacancy so far.
The Tulsa Washington job has a strong draw because of the Hornets’ track record of success. Del City offers similar intrigue as well.
But neither of those jobs has the other perks Deer Creek presents.
We’re talking about a school that won the Class 3A football title in 2000, and now has risen to 6A Division II. Their growth from a small community to the large-school level has been compared to the way Jenks grew up on the edge of Tulsa a few decades ago.
The Deer Creek community is funneling money into the growth of the school, and the facilities are as nice as any around.
The Antlers were a regular in the 5A playoffs under Gower, and through two years, 6A-II hasn’t proven to be much more challenging than the top of 5A.
The west side of 6A-II will be loaded with playoff-caliber teams next year with Deer Creek’s rise coinciding with Putnam City dropping from the upper division of 6A.
That drops the Antlers into a district with Midwest City, Lawton, Choctaw, Putnam City, Stillwater, Enid and a much improved Putnam City West team.
But Deer Creek continues to blossom on the athletic front.
With the right coaching hire, the future could be unlimited at Deer Creek.
MUSTANG’S BLAKE WILLIAMS HEADED TO CANADA
Prep school isn’t uncommon in some sports, like basketball, but in football, it’s a more unique phenomenon.
That makes Mustang tight end Blake Williams’ already fascinating journey even more interesting.
The 6-foot-5, 225-pound senior — who played his first and only varsity season with the Broncos last fall because of a rare medical condition — has passed over a couple of Division I scholarship offers, as well as multiple preferred walk-on spots, to continue his football career at Canadian Prep Football Academy.
The Oklahoman chronicled Williams’ battle with Dysautonomia, a rare condition that hinders the body’s automatic functions. It kept him off the field for most of his high school career and caused him to miss an entire year of school.
Finally healthy, he played his entire senior season in a tight end/fullback role and gained college attention because of his combination of size and athletic ability, as well as his soft hands as a receiver.
At Canadian Prep, Williams will play for coach
Greg McArthur, who caught passes from Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers while they were in college together at Cal.
Williams had multiple options this year, but reclassifying to the 2017 class will give him more on-field experience before he tries to make his way to the college level.
Prep school might not be a common path for high school football players, but nothing else about Williams’ journey has been common.
RUNNING BACKS HOGAN, LEWIS MAKE COLLEGE CHOICES
Two of the state’s most heavily recruited running backs chose not to sign letters of intent two weeks ago on National Signing Day, but both of them have now found college homes.
Norman North’s Quan Hogan, a versatile 6-foot1, 220-pound senior, announced his commitment to Southeast Missouri State on Monday.
He had multiple Division I offers, but those schools filled their running back spots in this recruiting class before Hogan made his decision. Lone Grove running back
who led the state with 2,966 yards, is planning to sign with Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas, later this week. The school is located southeast of Dallas.
Lewis had been verbally committed to Arkansas State and has offers from Nebraska and a few other schools.