Del City Practice Report
In this article:
Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! The Del City Eagles dropped down to Class 5A this season but that didn’t stop them from knocking off one of the top teams in Class…
Access all of Prep Redzone
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingGet 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!
The Del City Eagles dropped down to Class 5A this season but that didn’t stop them from knocking off one of the top teams in Class 6A-2 in week zero. Del City opened up the 2022 campaign at home against Choctaw, who was previously ranked #1 in 6A-2. They would knock the Yellowjackets out of the top spot with a 38-34 victory in a very entertaining game from start to finish. The Eagles contained Choctaw star quarterback Steele Wasel Steele Wasel 6'4" | 210 lbs | QB Choctaw | 2023 State OK enough to get the win. Wasel still put up monster numbers on the ground and in the passing game but they held when they needed to in the final minutes to get out with a win.
The Eagles will take that momentum into their week one clash with another top team in Class 6A-2 as they go on the road to face Booker T Washington in Tulsa. These two have faced off in non-district play in the last two seasons after meeting each other in the playoffs before that. In the last four years, the Hornets have a 3-1 advantage over Del City, although the Eagles have been very competitive in the last two meetings. Last year, the Eagles ran all over the Hornet defense, racking up a ton of rushing yards. This year, it might look a little different as the Eagles are coming off a performance in week zero where they did the most of their damage in the passing game.
Booker T Washington is coming off a week zero loss and they’ll be hungry to get going on Friday night when the Eagles come to town. The Hornets went east to Arkansas to face off with Bentonville West and were nearly shut out. Del City’s defense will look to mimic whatever went well for Bentonville West, while the Hornets will try to copy what Choctaw did when they were putting up 30+ points in week zero. Both teams have incredible talent on both sides of the ball. Three of the top twelve prospects in our 2023 rankings are in this match-up, with the Hornets having the top overall prospect in Arkansas commit Micah Tease Micah Tease 6'1" | WR Booker T Washington | 2023 State OK . There will be quite a few players on both sides of the match-up that end up playing college ball at a very high level.
Del City is looking to continue to prove that they belong among Class 5A’s elite and they did that last week against Choctaw. This team has the talent to win a state championship and we break down some of their top players here.
Every year, we see new prospects emerge after flying under the radar for the first few years of their career. One of those players for Del City is offensive lineman Darreyl Thomas Darreyl Thomas 6’5″ | 295 lbs | OL Del City | 2024 State OK . It seems like it came out of nowhere, but in late July, Thomas tweeted out that he had received an offer from Kansas State and all of a sudden Thomas was a D1 prospect and a Power 5 prospect at that. There’s no doubt that Del City has quite a few offensive linemen that have the chance to be pretty good. You start to think of “iron sharpens iron” when you look at some of the defensive linemen and linebackers they go up against every day in practice. But Thomas is definitely a prospect on the rise in the 2024 class. Del City’s offense did an excellent job in week zero and it all starts up front with Thomas and the offensive line.
Highlights
While most of the attention in week zero went to Choctaw’s quarterback Steele Wasel Steele Wasel 6’4″ | 210 lbs | QB Choctaw | 2023 State OK , Del City had their quarterback Dkalen Godwin Dkalen Godwin 5’7″ | ATH Del City | 2023 OK make his debut and it was quite the game for him. He would end up throwing for nearly 250 yards and four touchdowns and he also added over 56 yards on the ground. Godwin would complete 13 of his 19 passes and the Eagle offense really had no problems putting dent after dent in the Choctaw defense. Godwin stands 5’7 and it’s easy to assume that he’s just an athlete back there and will primarily be used as a runner. But in week zero, that was not the case. It’s going to be interesting to see how Godwin does against a Booker T Washington defense that traditionally terrorizes opposing quarterbacks. They usually always have one, two or even three guys in the secondary that will end up playing D1 football.
Del City 2023 defensive lineman Jaedon Foreman Jaedon Foreman 6’4″ | DL Del City | 2023 State OK has been one of the top defensive linemen prospects in the state’s 2023 class for well over two years now. Ever since bursting on the scene as a freshman and sophomore, Foreman has been one of the top pass rushers in the state. During his junior year, Foreman became one of the first 2023 prospects to announce a commitment when he committed to Oklahoma State and he’s been loyal to that commitment ever since. He’ll be one of the top prospects in Friday night’s game with Booker T Washington and it will be interesting to see how the Hornets try to contain Foreman. If the OSU commit can get after the Hornets and live in their backfield, it could be another long night for Booker T Washington’s offense. Not to mention that Foreman has emerged as a legit tight end on offense after catching a touchdown last week.
While Godwin might have been the breakout player from their week zero win, there’s no doubt about who the player of the game was and that’s Kansas State commit Kanijal Thomas Kanijal Thomas 6’1″ | DB Del City | 2023 State OK . One of the top defensive backs in the 2023 class, Thomas showed that he can be just as dangerous on offense as he caught five passes for over 150 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Not to mention he had an interception on the defensive side of the ball. Booker T Washington’s strength on offense is their passing game and the experience they have at quarterback in Lathan Boone Lathan Boone 6’1″ | 175 lbs | QB Booker T Washington | 2023 State OK , along with star wide receiver Micah Tease Micah Tease 6’1″ | WR Booker T Washington | 2023 State OK . It will be up to Thomas and the rest of the Del City secondary to shut down the Hornet passing attack. And at the same time, it looks like Thomas will be one of Del City’s top offensive weapons this season.
There were plenty of transfers and moves across the state this offseason and one of them that certainly helped Del City was the addition of former John Marshall standout Tango McCauley Tango McCauley 6’2″ | 245 lbs | LB Del City | 2023 State OK . After the Eagles left star 2024 prospect David Stone to the IMG Academy in Florida, the front seven took a hit. McCauley is a defensive lineman/linebacker hybrid that has helped soften the blow of that hit so far this season. He had a fantastic last few seasons with John Marshall and has the chance to really have an impact on this Del City defense. Whether it’s as a traditional linebacker or lining up at the other side of the defensive line, away from Foreman, McCauley could be an impact player for the Eagles. He had a strong start to his senior season last week in the win over Choctaw and will give the Hornets yet another top prospect to worry about on the Del City defense.