OCA set to open Edmond North's new stadium Byers commits to North Texas
A Deer Creek offensive lineman is the latest high school football player from Oklahoma to commit to North Texas.
Senior Daxton
Byers announced late Wednesday night that he was committing to the Mean Green, which is coached by former Oklahoma running back and Muskogee native Seth Littrell.
Byers is a 6-foot-5, 280pound tackle who was once a receiver and tight end. He weighed 195 pounds as a freshman before switching to the line, where he’s grown into a force up front on both sides of the ball.
Byers chose North Texas over offers from Columbia, Eastern Michigan, Missouri State, Navy, Ohio and Texas State. He is No. 15 on The Oklahoman’s Super 30 rankings of the state’s top college recruits in the 2019 class.
Owasso’s Will Kuehne and Broken Arrow’s Demeco
Roland have also committed to North Texas.
Oklahoma Christian Academy will get the honor of playing the first game at Edmond North's new football stadium on Friday.
Class A OCA will host Oklahoma Bible at 7 p.m.
OCA coach Grey Powell said the new stadium won't be the only new look on Friday night.
"We are really excited for the year," Powell said. "We installed a new offense that should be fast and explosive, and we think we are going to surprise some people."
OCA had the best season in school history last season, finishing the year 11-2 with a trip to the Class A semifinals. Powell said this season the Eagles are transitioning from a flexbone offense to a spread option attack.
"We hope to go really fast and keep attacking," Powell said. "We think we have a lot of talented and hard working kids ready to build on what we did last year."
Edmond North is on the road Friday at Yukon to open the season and will play its own home opener next week against Edmond Santa Fe.
Tulsa Washington running back reopens recruitment
Tulsa Washington running back Thomas Grayson is going back to the drawing board.
Grayson announced Wednesday night that he was reopening his recruitment just four months after committing to Nebraska.
A 5-foot-11, 190-pound running back who rushed for 1,332 yards and 17 touchdowns last season, Grayson is a two-star recruit on Rivals.com. He is ranked No. 11 on The Oklahoman’s Super 30 rankings of the state’s top college recruits in the 2019 class.
He still holds offers from Arkansas State, Eastern Michigan, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Tulsa and Colorado.
Lawton’s Burnett retires
Former Lawton star offensive lineman Jalin Barnett is stepping away from football at Nebraska.
Huskers offensive line coach Greg Austin said Wednesday that Barnett had decided to no longer play after recently suffering a concussion. Barnett suffered multiple concussions throughout his college career.
“He's done a great job for us. He really improved his game since we arrived," Austin told reporters. "I was really counting on him to get some quality depth and get some quality backup reps. But when you sustain those too many times, you kind of start thinking about it. And he decided it's in his best interest to step away.”
Barnett never saw much playing time at Nebraska, redshirting in 2015 before playing 11 games mostly on special teams. He did not play in a game last season.
Former Memorial swimmer named Scholastic All-American
Former Edmond Memorial star swimmer Kellie Fischer was named a Scholastic All-American by USA Swimming.
She graduated in May with a 4.16 weighted grade-point average and also qualified for the award based on her times in a short-course 100-yard backstroke and a long-course 100-meter backstroke. USA Swimming requires a 3.5 GPA or higher and a qualifying time in the 2017 Winter Junior National meet.
Fischer will swim next season at Florida Gulf Coast University.