Scouting Report – Cushing
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It was #1 VS #2 in Cushing on Friday night and it lived up to the hype and we can only hope that we end up seeing these two teams meeting up again in November or even December. In the regular season meeting, it was #2 Tuttle knocking off #1 Cushing on the road 22-7. You can read the full game recap RIGHT HERE. In this post, we take a closer look at the Cushing Tigers and some of their standouts on both sides of the ball. We already knew that Cushing had some pretty talented prospects in the 2023 class but we saw another one emerge on Friday night.
Blaze Berlowitz Blaze Berlowitz 6'3" | 195 lbs | QB Cushing | 2023 State OK – 2023 Quarterback
Cushing quarterback Blaze Berlowitz Blaze Berlowitz 6'3" | 195 lbs | QB Cushing | 2023 State OK came into the contest on Friday after torching every non-district opponent that the Tigers faced in the first few weeks. However, he was contained on Friday night against arguably the best defense that he’ll see all year. It was an interesting dynamic because Tuttle head coach Brad Ballard felt like Berlowitz was probably the best quarterback his team will see all year and the same can be said about the Tuttle defense. In the end, it was Tuttle’s defense that caused big problems for the junior standout as he was running for his life and turned into a gunslinger throughout the night. He was pressured on nearly every drop back and forced to make some throws that we haven’t seen him make so far this season. And like many other gunslingers, Berlowitz went down firing until he couldn’t fire anymore. Coming into the game, we felt like Berlowitz was one of the best quarterbacks in the state’s 2023 class. Coming out of the game, we still have that same opinion. He might have relied on his deep ball a little much and just threw it up a few times when maybe he shouldn’t have. But again, this was the toughest defense that he’ll see all year and we won’t be surprised if he comes back better than ever for the rest of the season. And if we are fortunate enough to see these two face off again in the playoffs, the gunslinger will be ready for round two.
Caleb Peery Caleb Peery 6'0" | 185 lbs | LB Cushing | 2022 OK – 2022 Linebacker
We honestly could have gone with five prospects from the 2023 class because we’ll keep saying it, it’s a special group right now in Cushing. However, one of the top defensive standouts was a senior with linebacker Caleb Peery Caleb Peery 6'0" | 185 lbs | LB Cushing | 2022 OK having a really strong game from start to finish. Peery, combined with yet another junior in Riley Matheson Riley Matheson 6'0" | 190 lbs | LB Cushing | 2023 State OK gave Cushing their best tackling options in the open field. Going against a Tuttle offense where you know they are going to run the ball almost twice as much as they throw it, the Tigers needed to be good in the open field. I don’t know how many times I watched either Peery or Matheson fly in and make a very impressive open field tackle on whoever the ball carrier was. The linebacking duo also put plenty of pressure and got a few shots on Tuttle’s QB when they would pass every now and then. We knew about Matheson coming into the game but Peery was a nice surprise for a Cushing linebacker core that could be one of the better groups in 4A based on just those two alone. Peery also looks the part, standing 6’0 and was flying all over the field on Friday night. Peery is a prospect that we’re certainly going to keep an eye on as a hidden gem in this 2022 class loaded with prospects at that linebacker position.
Camden Crooks Camden Crooks 6'0" | 190 lbs | WR Cushing | 2023 State OK – 2023 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back
The player that had the best individual performance for Cushing on Friday night was their junior star receiver and defensive back Camden Crooks Camden Crooks 6'0" | 190 lbs | WR Cushing | 2023 State OK . While he was held out of the end zone for the first time all year, he still made a massive impact, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Crooks came up with two interceptions on the evening. On his second interception, Crooks returned it 57 yards and set Cushing up with great field position and they would punch it into the end zone a few plays later for their only score of the evening. As a prospect, Crooks is one that continues to improve his stock in our opinion. He’s right there in the same conversation with guys like Gavin Freeman Gavin Freeman 5'10" | WR Heritage Hall | 2022 State OK of Heritage Hall or Cole Adams Cole Adams 6'0" | WR Owasso | 2023 State OK of Owasso. Crooks is still waiting for his recruitment to also reflect those guys but it’s just a matter of time. He brings so much versatility to the game that he’s hard to deny when it comes to the talent part of this. Like some of those other players, he’ll have to continue to prove it week in and week out that he can hang with anyone. But going against arguably the toughest team they’ll face all year, Crooks was still able to make plenty of plays on both sides of the ball. That should answer any questions about the dynamic junior.
Lane Yaunt Lane Yaunt 6'3" | 200 lbs | WR Cushing | 2023 State OK – 2023 Wide Receiver
In the last two years, we’ve been at both Cushing-Tuttle match-up’s, and for the second straight year, we came a way very impressed with the play of junior wide receiver Lane Yaunt Lane Yaunt 6'3" | 200 lbs | WR Cushing | 2023 State OK . The junior duo of Berlowitz and Crooks gets all the pub but if you closer at this team, you see that it’s more of a trio than a duo. Berlowitz can only throw to one of those guys but they are both so critical to what this Cushing offense wants to be. Yaunt plays a different style than Crooks as well so it gives the Cushing offense some options at the receiver spot. Yaunt ended up leading the Tigers in receiving with six catches for 55 yards on Friday night. They got the ball to him early and often and that’s how they’re going to continue to beat teams later on this year. It puts so much stress on a defense trying to figure out where the ball is going to go. They know that Berlowitz is going to throw it, but where he’s throwing to is the big mystery. As of right now, Crooks has the monster numbers but don’t be surprised if Yaunt starts to catch up as we get further into the season. On Friday night, he was without a doubt one of the top performers on a night where the offense struggled to find consistency.
Noah Jones Noah Jones 5'9" | 175 lbs | RB Cushing | 2023 State OK – 2023 Running Back
So we knew about Berlowitz, Crooks and Yaunt when it came to the 2023 standouts for Cushing this year. However, we found yet another 2023 prospect and he really impressed on Friday night and that was running back Noah Jones Noah Jones 5'9" | 175 lbs | RB Cushing | 2023 State OK . He only touched the ball 11 times between rushing and receiving and every time he touched it, he seemed like he was bouncing off a few Tuttle defenders. Jones stands around 5’9 and was playing like a pinball running back on Friday night. Tuttle is one of the hardest hitting teams that we’ve seen this year and their defense got some shots on the Cushing running back but it didn’t matter. If it was a 1 on 1 situation, Jones won nearly every battle and he didn’t have to use quickness or agility, which he does have, but he was using pure strength and absorbing the contact, bouncing off the defender and getting positive yards. On Friday night, Cushing leaned on the passing game and ended up throwing the ball nearly 40 times on the night. And they easily called over 40 designed pass plays and Berlowitz turned them into running plays. But when it comes to the rest of the year, the passing game will get plenty of attention, but the Tigers might have a secret weapon with Jones lining up in the backfield. We really like what he brought to the field on Friday night and he was ready for more for the entire 48 minutes.