Carl Albert Scrimmage Standouts
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We’re now a week away from the 2023 football season opening up with week zero. On Thursday and Friday of this week, scrimmages are taking place across the state as some schools will have their final tune ups before the regular season begins. On Thursday night, we were at Carl Albert where the reigning 5A champions played host to a great lineup featuring several other state champions and a few other contenders as well. In addition to Carl Albert, we also got a chance to see 3A champion Heritage Hall, 2A champion Washington as well as Lawton MacArthur, Southmoore, Tuttle and Yukon. In this breakdown, we’re putting a spotlight on 11 players that put together the best performances we watched on Thursday evening.
We had a few standouts from the state’s 2026 class and one of them was Lawton MacArthur’s Aivan Locklin Aivan Locklin 6’0″ | 175 lbs | QB Lawton MacArthur | 2026 State OK at the quarterback position. Locklin was splitting reps with another Highlander quarterback as the two signal callers would alternate series on offense. We talked with Lawton Mac head coach Brett Manning following the scrimmage and he mentioned how the QB battle to find the starter was still ongoing as we inch closer to the start of the regular season. Locklin had a really good evening and seemed in complete control. Even though the Highlanders struggled to put points on the board in the mini game, they were consistently moving the ball from start to finish.
Heritage Hall standout Andy Bass Andy Bass 6’0″ | 195 lbs | ATH Heritage Hall | 2024 State OK was one of the top prospects in attendance on Thursday and it showed throughout the evening. Whether Heritage Hall was going against Tuttle or Washington in a mini game, Bass was one of the best players on the field at all times. Bass is a truly dynamic weapon at the quarterback position because he can hurt an opposing defense in so many ways and that was on full display Thursday. He showcased his arm at different points and then the running game that makes him one of the best dual-threat signal callers in the state. And it’s not just that Bass can outrun defenders in the open field, he showed off some strength by bulldozing defenders before walking into the end zone.
Highlights
In addition to Locklin at Lawton MacArthur, Southmoore also had a 2026 standout with Anthony Johnson Anthony Johnson 6’1″ | 200 lbs | RB Norman | 2026 State OK at the running back position. Coincidentally, it was Southmoore and Lawton MacArthur that faced off in the mini game on Thursday evening. Southmoore was held scoreless but like the Highlanders, they did have moments on offense where they were able to move the ball. And when the Sabercats were on the move, it was usually Johnson making things happen in the open field. Whether he was running the football or catching the ball out of the backfield, we saw quite a few flashes of a player with some promise moving forward as Southmoore looks to turn things around this fall.
Highlights
We don’t want to overreact to a two-quarter mini game but Yukon looks like a much improved team from last season and a big part of that was the return of 2024 standout Holden Kee Holden Kee 6’1″ | 205 lbs | QB Yukon | 2024 State OK at the quarterback position. After missing his junior season, Kee returned to action on Thursday night and really impressed as the Millers would end their mini game with 5A powerhouse Carl Albert in a 21-21 tie. Kee did a little bit of everything for Yukon on Thursday as he beat the Titans with his arm and then would do damage on the ground with the read option game. As Yukon looks to turn things around under first year head coach Brent Barnes, having a player like Kee who already is in full command of the offense will help.
Highlights
In that mini game with Yukon, Kee was the breakout star but a lot of attention was on Carl Albert 2025 quarterback and OU commit Kevin Sperry Kevin Sperry 6’2″ | 190 lbs | QB Denton Guyer | 2025 TX as he made his debut with the Titans. Sperry is still splitting reps with OSU baseball commit Kash Ferris Kash Ferris 6’2″ | QB Carl Albert | 2024 OK , who was the backup for the Titans last season. While it’s assumed that Sperry will eventually become the starter, it’s also easy to see why when you look at what he can do with the ball in his hand. In his first possession during the mini game, Sperry uncorked an absolute bomb that was caught by Trey Washington Trey Washington 6’3″ | WR Carl Albert | 2025 State OK (more on him later) and it ended with a Titan touchdown. Sperry is yet another 2025 standout for the Titans as they look to add more gold this season.
This scrimmage featured quite a few notable pass catchers but when the mini games began, perhaps the best catch came from Tuttle 2024 wide receiver Mark Douglas Mark Douglas 6’0″ | WR Tuttle | 2024 State OK as the senior went up and caught a deep ball over the middle against two defenders. The Tigers were incredibly balanced on the offensive side of the ball. But when it was time to throw the ball around, Douglas was the top target and that fits with what we know about Tuttle coming into this season. Douglas is their top playmaker at the wide receiver position. We think that the Tigers remain balanced on the offensive side of the ball this season but Douglas is primed for a really big year in terms of receiving numbers.
We didn’t just see standouts on the offensive side of the ball on Thursday night. The first defensive player we got a chance to see was Washington 2024 standout Naithen Spaulding Naithen Spaulding 6’2″ | 230 lbs | DL Washington | 2024 State OK on the defensive line. We think that Spaulding could be primed for a massive season this fall as he looks to become the top pass rusher and dominant force in the Washington front seven. Spaulding did a really good job on Thursday of creating problems for opposing offensive linemen. Spaulding made several plays in the backfield and even when he wasn’t making the tackle, he was opening things up for a teammate to make the play. Spaulding has had an outstanding offseason and he has a big senior year coming up.
Highlights
When people watch Washington this season, one player who is always going to standout is 2025 Nate Roberts Nate Roberts 6’4″ | 235 lbs | TE Washington | 2025 State OK at the tight end position. Roberts is considered one of the top prospects in the state’s 2025 class and he looked the part on Thursday night. Roberts is absolutely automatic in the passing game and whether they were playing Heritage Hall or Tuttle, Roberts would make a catch in traffic, make a short play into a long one with his ability after the catch. Roberts is what you would call a “cheat code” at the high school level. He’s a mismatch every time he steps on the field and the Warriors have two future D1 tight ends. If teams try to contain Roberts, that’s going to open a lot of other possibilities.
We mentioned Carl Albert 2025 standout Trey Washington Trey Washington 6’3″ | WR Carl Albert | 2025 State OK earlier as he was on the receiving end of the Sperry bomb in their mini game with Yukon. Washington has really impressed us over the last eight months as he’s continued to get bigger and he’s going to be a pretty big problem for opponents trying to slow down Carl Albert. But what really impressed us about Washington on Thursday night was not what he could do on offense. Washington also lined up at the cornerback position on defense and he did a really good job there, specifically in man to man situations. Washington’s ability on defense was an underrated part of his game as a sophomore and we look forward to seeing more of it this fall.
Carl Albert 2024 running back and reigning PRZ-Oklahoma Player Of The Year Xavier Robinson Xavier Robinson 6’2″ | 225 lbs | RB Carl Albert | 2024 State OK picked up right where he left off last season. When Robinson gets the ball in his hands, it’s going to take an army to bring him down. Right from the start of the mini game with Yukon, Robinson was tossing defenders like rag dolls and was breaking a few tackles on almost every single carry. He would get into the end zone and made it look easy. But to anyone who saw Robinson last season, that wasn’t a surprising performance as he was just continuing his dominance with the ball in his hands. As Carl Albert figures out the quarterback position, they have an absolute star with Robinson at running back.
There were some really good performances on Thursday night but we might have saved our best for last. Lawton MacArthur 2024 defensive back Xzavier Booth Xzavier Booth 5’10” | 175 lbs | DB Lawton MacArthur | 2024 State OK was the most impressive player in attendance on Thursday night. He was dominant on the defensive side of the ball and the mini game with Southmoore was destined for a 0-0 tie until Booth sacked Southmoore’s quarterback in the end zone for what would be the game-winning safety. And this was one play after tracking down the ball carrier from 20 yards away. Booth was all over the field at all times and it seemed like he was in on every single play from start to finish. Again, this scrimmage had some legit star power but Booth’s complete performance on defense was the best in our opinion.