Scouting Report – El Reno

On Friday night the Piedmont Wildcats defeated the El Reno Indians 31-7. During the game, there were a handful of players on both teams who stood out in a big way. Some were well-known players who are expected to have big years while others were players who flew under the radar coming into 2020 and pleasantly surprised us in week one. Here are a few players from El Reno that impressed us Friday night. <strong>Cole </strong><strong style="font-size: 1rem;">Mitchell</strong><strong style="font-size: 1rem;"> - Wide Receiver - Class of 2021</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="51864" first="Cole" last="Mitchell"] is definitely not a name I was familiar with coming into the 2020 season but based on what he showed on the opportunities he was given against Piedmont, he definitely has some potential to rise up a lot of rankings. Mitchell caught nearly half the passes his team completed Friday night, even if that means he only had 4 catches. On those receptions, Mitchell displayed some clean and efficient route running and did a great job of coming back to the ball and attacking the ball with his hands instead of waiting on it or letting it come into his body. A lot of this analysis is based on projection, but with a healthy Plumley back, Mitchell could be a reception machine this season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="51865" first="Michael" last="Devereaux"] - Running Back/Linebacker - Class of 2022</strong> Again on a night where El Reno struggled to get much offensive momentum you have to do a lot of projecting and with Devereaux there’s a lot to like about his potential. Though he had a couple of fumbles in this game, Devereaux showed great open-field vision not only in the run game but also in the return game where he fielded a couple of kicks with some success. Along with his abilities as a runner, Devereaux showed that he can be a reliable target out of the backfield with a couple of catches on swing passes. Friday was Devereaux’s first game as a key contributor for this offense so as the season progresses we expect him to get more comfortable and improve each week. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38571" first="Darius" last="Moore"] - Runningback/Linebacker - Class of 2021</strong> If El Reno would have won this game I don’t think there’d be any arguments if the player of the game honors went to [player_tooltip player_id="38571" first="Darius" last="Moore"]. Similar to [player_tooltip player_id="38523" first="Caden" last="Hendren"], Moore did a little bit of everything for the Indians on Friday night. He showed a great combination of speed, agility, and power in the run game and return game where he had multiple long, explosive runs. Then on defense, Darius patrolled the field and held Piedmont’s run game in check for most of the night alongside [player_tooltip player_id="51866" first="Aidan" last="Dyer"] and even had a 51-yard fumble return for a touchdown early in the 3rd quarter. He plays all over the field but linebacker may be his best position at the next level and early on it looks like he is going to make a big jump this season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38761" first="Kolton" last="Hunt"] - Tight End/ Defensive Line - Class of 2021</strong> During the offseason, we highlighted [player_tooltip player_id="38761" first="Kolton" last="Hunt"] as one of our favorites to have a breakout season at the tight end position, and while he may not have had a breakout performance in week one, he had a few flashes of what we liked when we watched his tape this summer. Hunt is a big tight end that is quite athletic for his size and has great hands. El Reno attempted to target him on a few plays in this game where he made some nice moves to get open, but they were unable to get him the ball much throughout the night. Hunt also had some great plays at D-End this past week that again show his athletic potential for this season and at the next level. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="51866" first="Aidan" last="Dyer"] - Tight End/Linebacker - Class of 2021</strong> Aiden Dyer is another player I was not super familiar with going into the game but was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. Dyer has a lot of power and force when he hits which makes sense because he is 6’2" 220 pounds, but what stood out to me Friday night was his reaction speed, range, and closing speed. Once he diagnosed the play and figured where the ball was going, which isn’t always easy when your opponent runs the triple-option, he showed excellent burst and flexibility to close in on the ball carrier and take him down quickly. If he continues to perform and improve, we may be talking about him and [player_tooltip player_id="38571" first="Darius" last="Moore"] as one of the best Linebacker duos in the state by the end of the season. &nbsp;