The Next Level

It seems like just yesterday that the images of Jared Glover, Dominique Franks, and Popsie Floyd dominating high school fields all over the region flooded our televisions, newspapers, websites, and magazines. These players and a number of others have moved on and now roam the fields with the big dogs of our in-state Division I programs. They have embraced the challenge of competing at the highest level of collegiate sports and the national spotlight has become their friend. OU Dominique Franks has continued to see more and more playing time during his red-shirt freshman season. While at Union, Franks was a stellar athlete, playing on offense, defense, and on special teams. Currently he is splitting time returning punts with another fellow Oklahoman, Reggie Smith, from Edmond Santa Fe, but just recently head coach Bob Stoops was quoted as saying, "Franks will get more opportunities to return punts." While listed as a defensive back, he has been all over the field as a cornerback and as a free safety in practice. Quentin Chaney, of Booker T. Washington, has been working hard for the past three seasons to get on the field. Since red-shirting for the Sooners in 2004, Chaney has continued to slim down and add muscle. His work in the gym is paying off. He is seeing more and more time on the field especially in short down situations. "Man, it's a whole other ball game up here," he commented. "The players are bigger, faster, stronger, and smarter. Everyone has to know where they are going and who they are blocking on each snap. It's a full team effort. You can't coast here." One of the greatest stories is Sand Springs' Derek Shaw. At 6-1 and 210 pounds, he wasn't the biggest kid on the offensive line or even in the backfield, but he had something that few kids have; an ability to deep snap the ball on a consistent basis. Deep snappers have long been the guys no one talks about unless there is a bad snap. This isn't the case with Shaw. He was hardly recruited at all out of Sand Springs, but when special teams coach Kevin Sumlin and Chris Wilson saw him, they knew he had what it takes to play at this level. Shaw handled all of the deep snaps for OU in his true freshman season in 2006. Carter Whitson, from Broken Arrow, has been making strides on the practice squad and even saw quite a bit of playing time in a couple of games this season catching his first collegiate pass during the North Texas game. Former Muskogee Rougher, Jonte Bumpus, is a true freshman this season and has been working with the defensive line to hone his technique and to ease his way during this transition from high school to college. Bumpus recorded 92 tackles and nine sacks as a senior in high school and hopes to continue that success at the University of Oklahoma. Other eastern Oklahoma kids that are currently on the Sooner roster include Ryan Allgood (Grove), Tola Jimoh (Union), Jarred Kopepasah (Union), Matthew Moreland (Bishop Kelley), and Earl Parker (Hilldale). OSU The Cowboys seem to be going in the right direction. Helping them to achieve their success is big Nathan Peterson from Union. Peterson is in his senior season and has been quite impressive thus far. At press time, he has 16.5 sacks, which ranks him seventh in the Cowboys career list. Peterson also had a career high of nine tackles in their game against Troy, including two tackles for loss. Fellow senior, Jeremy Nethon, has elevated his game this season. Nethon, from Beggs, has logged 38 tackles so far, including seven tackles, a pass broken up, and a fumble recovery against Nebraska. He matched his career high of 11 tackles against Texas A&M in early October. Big time prospect from Muskogee, Derek Burton is making strides on the defensive line with 12 tackles in only his sophomore season. Burton was considered the #3 player in the state in 2006 and has made well on that ranking. Jared Glover is another kid that will be patrolling the middle of the field making plays for the Cowboys in the very near future. Glover made numerous plays for coach Pat McGrew at Bixby last year and has continued to impress in practice. He should mold into a really special linebacker for his position coach, Todd Bradford. Other Cowboys representing eastern Oklahoma are Ben Bailey (Bixby), Noah Franklin (Vinita), Jared Glover (Bixby), Patrick Kollars (Vinita), Billy Lewis (Union), Jon Morris (Glenpool), B.J. O'Connor (Bishop Kelley), Chris Offor (Glenpool), Jacob Secrest (Stillwater), Taylor Sokolosky (Cascia Hall), and Bryant Ward (Stillwater). Peterson told the Oklahoman, "We're trying to get more respect for our defense." With the talent that is gathering in Stillwater, they are on their way to gaining that respect. TU Over on 11th and Harvard, sits the one of the nation's Top-5 quarterbacks statistically, Paul Smith. He is currently third in points responsible for (24.3), fourth in passing yards per game (368.6), fourth in total offense (377.2), and fifth in total passing yards (2,212). Smith also ranks seventh in passing efficiency (167.4) and 22nd or passing (22.3 completions per game). All this from a kid out of Owasso. "I was able to sit under my father while I played at Owasso. I knew his system and his philosophies," Smith said. "He instilled in me the work ethic that it takes to make it at this level." Paul's father, Ron, has since moved north to Bartlesville as the head coach of the Bruins. "I think my transition from high school to college went well for me. I was able to stay close to home, which helped a lot," Smith added. "I have a great relationship with my family and I wanted them to be able to come and watch me play." "The most difficult part was probably having to balance the academic and athletic workload. I had to learn the campus, my classes, and a new offense." I think you can venture to say that he accomplished that. Defensive end, Popsie Floyd, came out of East Central as one of the top defensive ends in the state in 2005. During his senior year for head coach Travis Hill, he totaled 145 tackles and ranked second in the state among all classes with 22 sacks. Now he has moved on to the Golden Hurricane and has been making a name for himself this season. He hopes to keep pressing for more playing time after battling injuries in 2007. The pride of Coweta, Mike Bryan and Curt Puckett, have been stalwarts for Tulsa coach Todd Graham. Bryan, a sophomore linebacker is consistently getting better week by week. He has always seemed to have a nose for the football and is near the tackle if not on it in special teams and on defense. Puckett has been the anchor at left guard on the offensive line, protecting Smith's blind side and has graded out well this season. These two underclassmen will be stars for Tulsa during these next couple of years. Jesse Meyer was sort of an unsung hero coming out of Jenks, if that's possible. He was in the class with heralded seniors Andrew Brewer, who went to Northwestern, Freddie Carolina, who ended up at Central Oklahoma, and Phillip Dillard, who is playing at Nebraska. Meyer was a tall lanky kid that always seemed to be Brewer's go-to guy when it came to making a play through the air. He has taken that playmaking ability to the next level. Now a starter for coach Graham, he in third on the team in receiving with 285 yards with 16.8 yards per catch average. Other eastern Oklahoma kids on the Golden Hurricane roster include Tanner Antle (Foyil), Walter Boyd (Shawnee), Nick Gates (Holland Hall), Aaron Johnson (Victory Christian), Jeph McAlester (Booker T. Washington), Justin Morsey (Sapulpa), Tyler Scarbrough (Stillwater), and Skyler Taylor (Booker T. Washington). It's great to see our three in-state schools succeeding and winning with a core of our local, homegrown boys.