2020 Player Of The Year Finalists

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! The 2020 season has come to an end but that doesn’t mean we’re done having content every day here at Prep Redzone Oklahoma. In fact, we’re just heating up and continuing our postseason series today. Be sure to check back every day for new postseason content from our season in review series to All State teams and much more! Yesterday, we released our <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/12/final-team-rankings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Final Team Rankings</a> for the 2020 season. Today, we announce the ten finalists for our first ever Prep Redzone Oklahoma Player Of The Year award. The ten finalists were determined by several different things. Among those were stats and production, impact to your team and how far the team went this year. We had a very competitive race just to narrow it down to ten finalists. And the battle for the winner will be tough as well. By the way, we will announce the winner of the award on January 5th. Here’s a look at the ten finalists in alphabetical order. [player_tooltip player_id="51256" first="Andrew" last="Carney"] - JUNIOR QUARTERBACK - COLLINSVILLE 85-140 (61%) 1,554 Yards, 22 Touchdowns 151 Carries, 1,543 Yards, 25 Touchdowns Our first finalist enjoyed a breakout season, helping lead Collinsville to a perfect regular season and a trip to the 5A semifinals. Junior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="51256" first="Andrew" last="Carney"] put up some monster numbers and was a big reason why the Cardinals were once again a major contender in Class 5A. He was your typical dual-threat at the quarterback position. He threw for over 1,500 yards and 22 touchdowns while running for over 1,500 yards and 25 touchdowns. The scary part about Carney and this Cardinal offense is how young they were this season. They’ll bring back some of their best players for another run in 2021. Carney was an absolute breakout star this season for the Cardinals but he will certainly be on everyone’s radar going into the new year. Carney is one of several players that are finalists and will be back next season. They’ll have an opportunity to take their game even higher next year. [player_tooltip player_id="38679" first="Braylin" last="Presley"] - JUNIOR RUNNING BACK - BIXBY 222 Carries, 1,744 Yards, 25 Touchdowns 57 Catches, 727 Yards, 10 Touchdowns The first of several state champions here, Bixby’s [player_tooltip player_id="38679" first="Braylin" last="Presley"] helped lead Bixby to their third consecutive state championship and the sixth state title in the last seven seasons. Presley and the Spartans go into the offseason with a 36-game winning streak and will once again be favorites in 2021. Presley came out of the gates fast in 2020 and quickly established himself as one of the more dynamic players in Oklahoma. A big reason why Presley finds himself as a finalist, in addition to his stats, is his performances in Bixby’s biggest games of the year. Whether it was an impromptu showdown against Carl Albert, a nationally televised game against rival Booker T Washington or in the state championship, Presley was always the best player on the field. His older brother Brennan was widely considered the best player in Oklahoma last season. Braylin has picked up that title and ran with it in 2020. [player_tooltip player_id="38509" first="Bryce" last="Drummond"] - SENIOR QUARTERBACK - PAWHUSKA 257-358 (71%) 3,995 Yards, 59 Touchdowns 97 Carries, 697 Yards, 18 Touchdowns Coming into the 2020 season, we knew that Pawhuska’s [player_tooltip player_id="38509" first="Bryce" last="Drummond"] had the potential to put up some monster numbers. He did not disappoint. After week five, Drummond had thrown for 28 touchdowns and only one interception. He finished the season with 59 touchdowns and just shy of 4,000 yards passing. He also added nearly 700 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground. Drummond’s stats are indicative of just how explosive this Pawhuska offense was in 2020. They set the record for most points in a regular season, averaging 69 points per game going into the postseason. Drummond and the Huskies absolutely torched opponents, scoring over 90 points not once, but twice this season. However, the season would be halted in the semifinals when they fell to eventual champion Cashion. Drummond and the Pawhuska offense was held to a season-low 6 points in the loss. [player_tooltip player_id="38609" first="Caden" last="Harrell"] - SENIOR RUNNING BACK/LINEBACKER - CASHION 175 Carries, 1,636 Yards, 28 Touchdowns 11 Catches, 272 Yards, 4 Touchdowns 99 Tackles Yet another state champion, Cashion’s [player_tooltip player_id="38609" first="Caden" last="Harrell"] has been an absolute force for the Wildcats over the last two seasons. The senior came into this season hungry to not only make it back to the state title game but to win the whole thing after losing to Ringling in the title game last year. Harrell and the Wildcats were absolutely perfect and finished off a special 16-0 season with the state championship. Harrell was a two-way star for the Wildcats this fall. On offense, he ran for over 1,600 yards and finished with 32 total touchdowns. On defense, he totaled nearly 100 tackles on the season. He was one of the hardest hitting players in Oklahoma and he played with that physicality on both sides of the ball. Harrell and the Wildcats will always be remembered for not only their state championship but becoming the first school in state history to go 16-0 and that will more than likely never happen again. [player_tooltip player_id="38715" first="Camden" last="Crooks"] - SOPHOMORE WIDE RECEIVER/DEFENSIVE BACK - CUSHING 58 Catches, 975 Yards, 10 Touchdowns 100 Tackles, 8 Interceptions The only sophomore to make this list is Cushing’s [player_tooltip player_id="38715" first="Camden" last="Crooks"] but this wasn’t a breakout season for the young Tiger. That breakout season came last year as a freshman when he was an absolute playmaker on the offensive side of the ball. And he kept that same energy in 2020 but also was a standout on the defensive side of the ball. He finished his sophomore campaign with nearly 1,000 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns and on the defensive side of the ball he had 100 tackles and 8 interceptions. Get used to seeing the Tigers as major contenders in Class 4A. They are absolutely loaded with young talent and it all starts with Crooks. He helped lead the Tigers to the 4A semifinals, stunning undefeated Weatherford and then beating Hilldale before losing to eventual champion Wagoner. There’s no doubt that Crooks and the Tigers will be in the hunt again in 2021. [player_tooltip player_id="38671" first="Carson" last="May"] - JUNIOR QUARTERBACK - JONES 220-366 (60%) 3,020 Yards, 26 Touchdowns 129 Carries, 650 Yards, 14 Touchdowns If this was a recruiting ranking, Jones junior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="38671" first="Carson" last="May"] would be running away with the accolades. The Jones standout is the best quarterback prospect in the state of Oklahoma today. He has all the tools and it’s only a matter of time before his recruitment blows up. However, his junior season saw May take that next step in becoming that best prospect. He threw for over 3,000 yards and 26 touchdowns. He also ran for 650 yards and 14 touchdowns, making him a dual-threat to defend. When it comes to his future, May should be considered a traditional quarterback with some of the best arm talent we’ve seen in the last few years. May can make every throw on the field and he helped lead Jones to becoming one of 2A’s bigger contenders this season. May had some very talented players around him that will be graduating. We’re looking forward to seeing what he does with a new skill group. [player_tooltip player_id="38514" first="Jayden" last="Patrick"] - SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER/DEFENSIVE BACK - JENKS 34 Catches, 834 Yards, 12 Touchdowns 33 Tackles, 5 Interceptions (2 Touchdown Returns) We’ll start with a disclaimer right at the start. You can’t judge all finalists on stats alone. There are plenty of great players across Oklahoma and stats don’t tell the whole story. At the end of the 2020 season, the Jenks Trojans were one of the best teams in the state. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="38514" first="Jayden" last="Patrick"] was the best player and the most important player on that team. While his stats might not compare to some of the other finalists, we don’t care. He was one of the ten best players in Oklahoma. And his stats were actually pretty good when you consider the position. He became Jenks’ home run threat on offense. They were predominantly a run-first team but he still ended with over 800 yards and 12 touchdowns receiving. And in his natural position at corner, he was one of the best in the state. He was rarely thrown to but he did manage to come up with 5 interceptions, 2 of which he returned for touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id="38557" first="Luke" last="Tarman"] - SENIOR QUARTERBACK - BISHOP McGUINNESS 159-290 (54%) 2,178 Yards, 25 Touchdowns 275 Carries, 2,315 Yards, 28 Touchdowns Similar to Drummond at Pawhuska, we couldn’t wait to find out what Bishop McGuinness and their senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="38557" first="Luke" last="Tarman"] had done every Friday night. McGuinness came into 2020 and it looked like it would be a rebuilding year. They had made three trips to the state title game in four years and had some big names to replace. Tarman would make it very clear early on that McGuinness would not be rebuilding and the Irish were still among 5A’s best. The numbers are some of the best in state history. Tarman threw for over 2,000 yards and ran for over 2,000. That has to put him on a short list of players who have done that in state history. Or maybe he’s the only player on that list. He also carried the Irish back to the state championship game for the fourth time in five seasons. The Irish would fall short to Carl Albert again, but Tarman and McGuinness stunned plenty of people by making it there. [player_tooltip player_id="38533" first="Owen" last="Ostroski"] - SENIOR DEFENSIVE LINEMAN - HOLLAND HALL 94 Tackles (41 TFL) 15 Sacks, 5 Forced Fumbles, 3 Blocked Punts Here we have the final state champion on this list and the only player that is a finalist for his defensive abilities alone. Holland Hall senior [player_tooltip player_id="38533" first="Owen" last="Ostroski"] knew that 2020 could be a special season with the amount of talent the Dutch would have coming back. And he made sure this offseason that he would be ready to help his team make that run at the state championship. Ostroski transformed himself from a good player to arguably the most disruptive player in the state of Oklahoma this year. He has the championship, he has the stats to back it up, but throw on his tape from this year and you’ll see what we mean. None of Holland Hall’s opponents were excited to have to block Ostroski for all four quarters. And there are plenty of clips of Ostroski treating opposing linemen like rag dolls as they failed to slow down the Holland Hall big man time after time and week after week. [player_tooltip player_id="38521" first="Qwontrel" last="Walker"] - SENIOR RUNNING BACK - STILLWATER 209 Carries, 1,909 Yards, 32 Touchdowns Our final finalist is no stranger to accolades. And we’re sure that 6A-2 coaches (minus Stillwater) are happy to see "senior" next to [player_tooltip player_id="38521" first="Qwontrel" last="Walker"]’s name. The Stillwater standout has been one of the best running backs in the state since bursting onto the scene as a freshman. Walker has continued to get better and better and came into this season with a legitimate shot at flirting with the state’s all time rushing record. Walker had a great senior campaign but Covid did have an impact, cancelling several games and Walker only ended up with 9 games this season. He made the most of his opportunities, running for nearly 2,000 yards and 32 touchdowns. He absolutely shattered every rushing record at Stillwater and put the bar so high that those records may never be touched. While the season ended in the semifinals, Walker still had one of the best years from the running back position this fall.