Week Zero Top Performers

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! Every Sunday, we’ll look at some of the top individual performances from the week that was in high school football. We will limit it to ten selections but we also make the rules and can therefore bend the rules. So if we see a week where individuals just go off and we need to feature more "stat sheet stuffers" we absolutely will do that. but no matter how many we feature, we will always be right here on Sunday’s, looking at the best performances from the previous week in high school football. As always, you can tweet your picks to us on Twitter @PrepRedzoneOK or email your picks to michael@prepredzone.com. Be sure not to just include the individual but also include the stats! [player_tooltip player_id="154570" first="Blake" last="Jones"] - 2022 Running Back - Sand Springs 17 Carries, 181 Yards, 4 Touchdowns Sand Springs did just about whatever they wanted to do on the offensive side of the ball in their rivalry win over Sapulpa on Friday. The passing game was clicking on all cylinders and the running game was outstanding as well. Leading that rushing attack was senior running back [player_tooltip player_id="154570" first="Blake" last="Jones"], who could not be stopped. He ran the ball 17 times for 181 yards and four touchdowns in the rivalry victory. Highway 97 is owned by the Sandites for at least another year. Jones has had an outstanding offseason and could be one of the breakout stars in 6A-D2 this season. [player_tooltip player_id="193013" first="Christian" last="Burke"] - 2022 Quarterback - Bixby 18-25, 284 Yards, 5 Touchdowns It’s not easy replacing a legend but [player_tooltip player_id="193013" first="Christian" last="Burke"] made it look easy as he started his first game as Bixby’s quarterback in their blowout win over Mansfield Timberview. Burke replaced [player_tooltip player_id="38531" first="Mason" last="Williams"], one of the state’s most successful quarterbacks in recent memory. Burke was his backup last year and it was apparent that the Spartans would have no drop off at the position. Burke threw for nearly 300 yards and five touchdowns in the win. The Bixby offense has weapons but Burke already has it looking like a well oiled machine going into the 2021 season. [player_tooltip player_id="193016" first="Cirilo" last="Valles"] - 2022 Running Back - McLoud 28 Carries, 246 Yards, 2 Touchdowns We’ll admit, we didn’t know the name [player_tooltip player_id="193016" first="Cirilo" last="Valles"] before this weekend but we sure do now. With McLoud not having superstar running back and linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="99770" first="Clint" last="Campbell"] in their season opener, the Redskins turned to a senior running back to not only tote the rock, but to be a workhorse on Friday night. Valles was able to fit in just fine as he ran for nearly 250 yards on 28 carries and a pair of touchdowns. The 246 yards has to be one of the top numbers for rushing from an 11-man team this week. We didn’t see any numbers higher than that. The emergence of Valles gives McLoud another weapon on offense. [player_tooltip player_id="91049" first="Erik" last="McCarty"] - 2023 Running Back - McAlester 11 Carries, 185 Yards, 3 Touchdowns | 1 Interception, 1 Punt Block (Returned For Touchdown) It’s not easy to go into Broken Bow and dominate but it was not an issue for junior standout [player_tooltip player_id="91049" first="Erik" last="McCarty"] and the 5A top ranked McAlester Buffaloes. McAlester rolled to a 1-0 start behind a surperb showing from their junior star. McCarty carried the ball just 11 times for 185 yards and reached the end zone on three occasions. Then on defense, he had an interception and even had an impact in special teams by blocking a put and returning that for his fourth touchdown on the night. McCarty’s night was done on offense by halftime as he could not be stopped in week zero. [player_tooltip player_id="193014" first="Griffin" last="Stieber"] - 2022 Quarterback - Broken Arrow 9-9, 219 Yards, 4 Touchdowns | 1 Rushing Touchdown Broken Arrow’s [player_tooltip player_id="193014" first="Griffin" last="Stieber"] hadn’t started a game at quarterback since his sophomore season on the JV squad. After spending last year as a tight end, Stieber moved back to quarterback this year. Not a bad start for Stieber as Broken Arrow began their season down in Texas with a dominating win. Stieber was simply perfect throwing the ball. He was 9-9 for over 200 yards and four touchdowns. As if that wasn’t enough, Stieber also added a touchdown on the ground. Broken Arrow will need Stieber to be as close to perfect as possible with a big rivalry game with Union coming up next. [player_tooltip player_id="193015" first="Kaleb" last="Barnes"] - 2022 Running Back - Oklahoma Christian School 31 Carries, 214 Yards, 3 Touchdowns We mentioned the workhorse aspect when it came to McLoud’s Valles. Taking it to another level was Oklahoma Christian School’s [player_tooltip player_id="193015" first="Kaleb" last="Barnes"]. The senior running back toted the rock 31 times and finished the night with over 200 yards and three touchdowns. OCS rolled to a win and relied on their senior running back while they worked in a new quarterback. OCS is certainly a team to watch in Class 2A and the running game will help them moving forward. It’ll be a match-up to watch as they face a top ten team in Class A in Morrison, who has one of the better running backs in Class A. [player_tooltip player_id="61141" first="Kelan" last="Carney"] - 2022 Wide Receiver - Owasso 6 Catches, 118 Yards, 3 Touchdowns At some point, you have to stop putting "underrated" in front of Owasso senior wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="61141" first="Kelan" last="Carney"]’s name. The four-year starter has just made play after play and it appears that he’s ready to take his game to the next level as a senior. Carney outshined the other wide receivers in a very special match-up against Edmond Santa Fe with some of the best wide receivers in the state. Carney finished with six catches for over 100 yards and three of those receptions went for touchdowns. Carney could not be contained and is just one of many weapons in this Owasso offense. [player_tooltip player_id="69271" first="Lathan" last="Boone"] - 2023 Quarterback - Booker T Washington 16-18, 231 Yards, 2 Touchdowns | 8 Carries, 21 Yards, 1 Touchdown The Booker T Washington junior quarterback was nearly perfect in their season-opening win over Southmoore on the road. he threw for over 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 16-18 passing. He had only two incompletions to go with those two touchdowns. He also added 21 yards on eight carries and a touchdown on the ground. Boone was poised throughout the night and led the balanced Booker T Washington offensive attack. There’s no doubt that he has some of the best skill players around him. But he has taken his game to the next level and has become a very good QB. [player_tooltip player_id="52787" first="Max" last="Brown"] - 2022 Quarterback - Lincoln Christian 14-17, 184 Yards, 3 Touchdowns | 20 Carries, 159 Yards, 2 Touchdowns In our game of the week, it was Lincoln Christian beating down Beggs in a blowout. Leading the way on offense for Lincoln was their senior quarterback and Central Michigan commit, [player_tooltip player_id="52787" first="Max" last="Brown"]. The future CMU quarterback made very few mistakes on Friday as he threw for 184 yards and also had 159 yards on the ground. Brown threw only three incompletions on the evening to go with his three touchdown passes. He also added two touchdowns on the ground. His last rushing touchdown was his last play of the night and it ended with one of the nastiest spin moves we could see all year. [player_tooltip player_id="38774" first="Zane" last="Woodham"] - 2022 Running Back/Linebacker - Holland Hall 12 Carries, 139 Yards, 2 Touchdowns | 12 Tackles, 2 Sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles, 1 Interception We have written plenty of times how Holland Hall’s [player_tooltip player_id="38774" first="Zane" last="Woodham"] was the unsung hero of their state championship team. He put up some big numbers last year but he still flew somewhat under the radar. That won’t be happening anymore as he put up an eye-opening performance in their week zero victory. On offense, he ran for 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns on just 12 carries. On defense, he had double digit tackles with 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. He also finished with an interception on the defensive side of the ball as well. Woodham was lights out from start to finish.