Newcastle Practice Report

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Get 25% Off Your Subscription By Entering Knight25 In The Coupon Code Area. Enjoy!</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Newcastle Racers open up their 2024 season at home on Thursday night against the Bartlesville Bruins. A new era will begin for the Racers as they enter Class 5A this season for the first time in program history. And as we mentioned during our team preview series, that's not the way it was supposed to be for at least this season and next. Newcastle was one of many programs that had to move classes after the April court decision that sent the state into an emergency district reshuffling. And when we wrote that team preview for Newcastle, we weren't sure what to expect as the Racers moved up to Class 5A. But after watching them in person last week, we think they're ready to make plenty of noise. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Newcastle was one of seven teams at Carl Albert's mega scrimmage. In addition to Carl Albert, Newcastle also saw Edmond Memorial, Heritage Hall, Lawton Eisenhower, Lawton MacArthur and Southmoore. And the Racers held their own. We were in person for the rapid fire segment of the scrimmage where teams would rotate and go against everyone for several plays. It didn't matter who the Racers were paired up with, they brought the fight from start to finish. We were very impressed with Newcastle and they appear to be ready for an absolute gauntlet of a schedule in 2024.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That's what Newcastle faces this season. In addition to facing a 6A-2 program in Bartlesville on Thursday, the rest of the non-district schedule features games against Blanchard, Elgin and Tuttle. All three of those teams are top five teams in Class 4A. The district is also a tough one but we think that the Racers could definitely be a playoff team and they could even surprise a team or two that is currently ranked in the Class 5A rankings. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Racers have a new quarterback but he appears to be ready to take the reins of this offense and run with it this season. And Newcastle has one of the more underrated running backs in the state. We've written about him plenty over the last two years but more people need to start paying attention to what he does on the field. Then you have a Newcastle defense that really stole the show last week. These guys swarm to the football and at times, it looked like they had more than 11 guys on the field, which is always a trademark of an aggressive defense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Below, we take a look at three players to watch for the Racers, not only this week against the Bruins, but throughout the 2024 football season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>PLAYERS TO WATCH</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1365396' first='Hunter' last='Barry'] - Senior Defensive End</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>During the scrimmage at Carl Albert, the Newcastle defense did a great job of swarming to the football and playing a very physical brand of defense. That physical brand and overall energy started with senior [player_tooltip player_id='1365396' first='Hunter' last='Barry'] coming off the edge. We <strong><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2024/08/thursdays-scrimmage-reactions/">featured Barry last week</a></strong> following the scrimmage because he was an absolute menace for opposing offensive linemen. Barry had a solid junior season in 2023 but we think that he could emerge as one of the top guys in Class 5A this season. Whether he's lined up on the edge or more of a linebacker at the next level, we just know he's a game-wrecker. And looking at the Bartlesville match-up, having a player like Barry will definitely be important as they go up against a very experienced quarterback. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='898159' first='Jackson' last='Schanuel'] - Senior Quarterback</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='898159' first='Jackson' last='Schanuel'] is another player that we featured in that spotlight a week ago. Schanuel comes into this season as QB1 of the Racers after Jackson Bergt graduated. Now, we didn't know much about Schanuel prior to last week and there's still more to learn. We didn't see him throw the ball that much but when he ran the ball, he was a problem for opposing defenses. Especially once he got to the second level and was dealing with smaller linebackers or defensive backs. Schanuel is also a standout on the baseball diamond. This summer, he committed to play college baseball at Hutchinson. It appears that he has a bright future in baseball but we think he could be another breakout player for the Racers on the gridiron this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='449184' first='TJ' last='Bradford'] - Junior Running Back/Defensive Back</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junior [player_tooltip player_id='449184' first='TJ' last='Bradford'] is that running back that we mentioned earlier in this breakdown. More people need to talk about Bradford as one of the top playmakers in Oklahoma. Last season, he saw his production absolutely explode. He had a solid freshman season in 2022 but he took his game to new heights in 2023. He ran for nearly 1,500 yards and 19 touchdowns. We think he is one of the best running backs in Class 5A as we begin this season. It wouldn't surprise us at all to see Bradford's production take another step up this season and it starts on Thursday against Bartlesville. The Bruins bring back the majority of their starters on defense so they'll provide a challenge. But if Bradford can produce against this gauntlet of a non-district slate, he can produce against anyone. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->