Practice Report - Heritage Hall

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! The Heritage Hall Chargers got their 2021 football season off to a good start with a big win over visiting Millwood last Thursday. It was a battle between top five teams in their respective classes and The Hall will be hosting another top five team this week. 4A’s #4 Clinton comes to town on Friday night and will give the Chargers another tough test. They passed the first one with flying colors but Clinton is a different animal. We caught up with Charger head coach Brett Bogert and talked about this week’s game, as well as some of his top standouts so far in the early part of the season. "You know what you’re going to get with Clinton," Bogert said. "They’re going to run sweep, a lot, they’re going to do those things that won them 17 state championships." Bogert also mentioned how Clinton will also line up in the shotgun with a very experienced quarterback in 2022 standout [player_tooltip player_id="38610" first="Caden" last="Powell"], an Oklahoma baseball commit. "Caden is running things back there," Bogert said. "He does an excellent job in this offense and brings a lot of versatility to the field." The Chargers are happy to have this game at home on Friday night. Bogert mentioned that the last three times they played Clinton on the road, they were either trailing at halftime or it was incredibly close at halftime. Clinton also had no problems in week one. They had to wait until Saturday, but would blow out Woodward on the road. After making it all the way to the 4A title game last year, the Red Tornadoes will provide Heritage Hall with another serious measuring stick game. One of our writers, Derrick Smith, will be covering the game Friday night. So be sure to check back this weekend for the Game Recap, plus scouting reports on both teams. Until then, let’s jump into the Individual Spotlight. INDIVIDUAL SPOTLIGHT [player_tooltip player_id="48668" first="Gavin" last="Freeman"] - 2022 Wide Receiver Anytime we’re talking about individuals at Heritage Hall, the conversation naturally begins with senior wide receiver and defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="48668" first="Gavin" last="Freeman"]. The senior standout is already off to a great start to his final year with the Chargers. And when we asked Bogert who Freeman reminds him of in terms of former Chargers, the two names he brought up were Wes Welker and Sterling Shepard. And it’s not hyperbole. Obviously, the physical comparisons to Welker are easy. But Bogert also sees some of Shepard in Freeman’s game. And that makes sense considering Freeman has worked with Shepard on his craft and getting better at precise route running. Another big thing that has made Freeman one of the biggest threats in Oklahoma is what he did this offseason. He added nearly 20 pounds to his frame and kept his speed exactly where it was last year. He’s now playing near 175 after playing last year at 155. Freeman was able to outrun defenders last year and now he can stiff arm and lower the shoulder and break tackles of defensive backs. Adding that element to his game makes the talented Freeman even more difficult to stop this year. And the more times Freeman touches the ball, the more he’s going to end up in the end zone. [player_tooltip player_id="155875" first="River" last="Faulkner"] - 2023 Running Back/Linebacker While Freeman’s accolades continue to pile up, the star of the game for Heritage Hall in their win over Millwood was junior running back and linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="155875" first="River" last="Faulkner"]. The junior standout could not be stopped in the second half of their big week one victory. He ended the game with four touchdowns on the ground and started off his junior year with a big performance. That didn’t surprise us as we got a chance to see Faulkner up close at our Showcase Camp back in June, where he ended up running a 4.5 40-yard dash during the combine-portion of the camp. That opened a few eyes and proved that Faulkner has legit speed to go along with strength. You look at the junior standout running back and linebacker and might assume that he’s just a linebacker playing running back and is a power runner. That is simply not the case as he has the speed to outrun opposing defenders. It’s almost the opposite of Freeman in that regard. You assume Freeman is just a speedy receiver but he has power. Then Faulkner is a power runner but also adds the speed element. The combination of those two players are going to give Heritage Hall one of the best offenses in the state. On the defensive side of the ball, Faulkner plays incredibly aggressive and just adds depth to a pretty talented and experienced front seven for the Charger defense. [player_tooltip player_id="108887" first="Brigham" last="Evans"] - 2022 Linebacker Faulkner’s lead blocker for several of those touchdown runs was senior [player_tooltip player_id="108887" first="Brigham" last="Evans"], who is also a very talented linebacker prospect. In fact, every player in this individual spotlight plays on both sides of the ball, which is just a fact and shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Evans, however, is at his absolute best when he’s on the defensive side of the ball. Bogert listed Evans as your prototypical linebacker prospect. He’s big, strong and fast. Pretty much everything you’re looking for in a linebacker. Evans has improved his speed to go along with his big frame and Bogert mentioned how much Evans has improved when it comes to pass coverage and flying around the field, covering a lot of ground in a hurry. Evans is part of a front seven that is an opposing running game’s worst nightmare because they fly all over the field, they’re incredibly smart and they are sure tacklers. When Evans gets his hands on you, you’re going down. And the tackling part must be int he DNA because Evans’ older brother Dawson is one of the best tacklers in Heritage Hall history and now younger brother Brigham is making a name for himself as that. [player_tooltip player_id="133327" first="Mason" last="Georgia"] - 2022 Offensive/Defensive Lineman Yet another two-way player that shines on the line of scrimmage is senior lineman [player_tooltip player_id="133327" first="Mason" last="Georgia"]. As an offensive lineman and defensive lineman, Georgia has really stood out to the Charger coaches early on this year. On the offensive side of the ball, Georgia took over the center position last year and became the anchor of the Charger offensive line. He’s still in that position this year and is incredibly important considering the Chargers have several new starters along the O-Line. On the defensive side of the ball, Bogert labeled Georgia as a relentless defender from his defensive end position. The Chargers had a lot of success containing Millwood’s rushing attack last year and they’ll need to have another performance like that this week against Clinton. While Clinton can throw the ball a little more, they will still be a run-first team, just like Millwood. Georgia, combined with the two linebackers mentioned above, give the Chargers a really good front seven. Gavin Wilson - 2022 Offensive Lineman Our final spotlight is on another senior offensive lineman and a lot of what was written about Georgia on that side of the ball can be attributed to Wilson here. The senior lineman starts at left tackle for the Chargers and helped the ground game pound away at the Millwood defense throughout the evening last Thursday. Wilson is a three-year starter for the Chargers and Bogert stressed how important it is to have guys like him and Georgia on this offensive line that also features three sophomores. Wilson and Georgia are able to bring those young cats along and get them ready for what is going to be a season full of tough opponents. Like Georgia, Wilson is also a two-way player and sees time on defense, but there is no doubt that he is at his best and is very important to the Chargers at that left tackle position.