VIDEO: On the Screen, Under the Microscope: Statewide Standouts

I'll be honest with you — this is a little different than what you're used to from me. Normally it's just me behind the keyboard hammering out write-ups, but this time I'm stepping in front of the camera and diving into the film. We're talking about some of the state's top talent, slowing things down, pointing out the details that don't always get noticed in highlight reels.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/hxjF0cqIeGc </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Transcript</h2>   "If you like highlight reels, cool, but this isn't that. I'm going to show you why these guys make the play when it's 3rd and 6th and everybody in the building still knows it's coming. Or how they still get home on the quarterback when three bodies get thrown at them. This is the type of stuff that separates the Friday night standouts from the real names on the college recruiting boards.   Hey, what's up? It's Hunter here with Prep RedZone. I know I'm usually the guy behind the keyboard, but today I thought I'd take it to the screen. And so that same honest voice, I'm just going to let the film do a little bit more of the talking. Look, here's the deal. Everything we do at PrepRedZone is centered around getting these high school athletes as much exposure as possible.   Now, I'll be real with you. This is my first time doing one-on video, and I know you're used to seeing my write-ups where I can go into detail, but this time you'll be able to see what I see. We'll get into the details, we'll slow it down, we'll look at all the little things, those things that coaches are going to be looking for when they go through your film.   Alright, we've got a loaded slate of players to get through, and we're going to start with Roye Oliver out of Hamilton, who's off to a phenomenal start this year.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1218871' first='Roye' last='Oliver III']</h2>   Alright, we're going to get started with [player_tooltip player_id='1218871' first='Roye' last='Oliver III'], who's averaging 143 yards a game and over three touchdowns a game. Talk about a hot start. Now, he's only a sophomore, but you would never know that by watching his tape. He plays the game so mature, he understands the game and what he's supposed to be doing, and particularly how defenses are trying to attack him.   So this first one, you'll see he's lined up outside, which is where he does most of his damage, but it's not just about winning deep, slowing down for the ball, coming back for it, making the catch through contact, let's run that back. I mean, quickly closes the gap, and then you'll see here, he's pretty wide open, but it's an under thrown ball, so he slows down, no problem, goes way up over everybody, and is getting completely manhandled by two defenders, completely legally. I don't think either of them were there early, but still, that is a whole lot of contact. It takes a massive hit to his head here, boy, I hope he's okay, but still the ability to hold on still firmly got the ball in place under there.   I mean, that is textbook, again, starting from the outside, but this one, I want you to watch his release here. So he's got about four yards right now, he ends up backing off a little bit before the snap, so call it five yards of cushion, and instead of, like on the last rep that you saw, instead of him just attacking and trying to close that space immediately with his first step, you can see he baits the defender to wait just a second and hesitate. You see that quick hesitation step, it was really, you could hardly even notice it. Already, there's now, what, two, maybe three yards, and he hasn't really put his foot in the ground yet, and started taking off up the field, which is going to be no problem.   What if I told you that wasn't even close to the best part of this play? This is where it gets crazy. So this hand on the outside, keep an eye on this hand right here. That's what I want you to watch. Let's take that back a little bit. All right, remember that hand I told you to watch? Where is it now? Completely face guarded. All right, we're going to watch it again. I mean that ball is thrown so early, there's so much confidence that he's going to win on this route. And the D.B. does a good job of being able to stay with him, he's obviously facing off against good speed here, got to get that head around though.   All right, now one of the most important things for every top wide receiver, can you hold on to the ball through contact? That matters on third down, that matters in the red zone, in those tight spaces, when you know you're going to take a hit, can I still go to you and be sure that you're going to come down with the football? This time, he's going to work inside and take a massive shot, still hold on to the football. All right, we'll slow it down here a little bit. So you can see he's catching that ball and takes a huge hit, but that ball doesn't shake in there. The other thing that's important to notice here is how quick his head turns. He comes out of his break and takes a tiny peek in this direction to see who's coming and then immediately gets his eyes back to the quarterback.   All right, so that cuts right there, there's that peek down the field, but you can see he's trying to see how much space he has, who's going to come over. Now he's got his eyes on the quarterback, he's already an open option, quarterback has to wait on this guy to keep going that way and then all of a sudden there's open space in the middle. Once again, I mean the catch itself is impressive, never mind the holding on through contact, but he is once again got a defensive back all over him, good job by the DB to stay in his hip pocket, and then as that ball is coming in that defensive back gets his arm around is swatting it down somehow strong hands able to hold it in there and then takes the big pop, comes up with the football.   An underrated portion of his game is his ability to track the ball. He saw it a little bit in that first one where he caught the ball through contact to the two defenders, but in this one it's more of a baseball style catch where it's really coming from directly behind him pretty much over his shoulder in the direction that he's running and his ability to track the ball and still come down with it is really impressive. This is all around nice play. That ball is out on time, he's got a good step of separation there, but it's the tracking the ball here that is the most important. I mean time to the jump perfectly, catches it at his highest point, still ends up with contact and holds on for the score, full speed one more time.   Now to one of the things that stood out most to me when I was watching film on him is his ability to get off press at the line of scrimmage his footwork at the line of scrimmage whether it's press or not that stuff's going to matter so much at the next level so to see the way that he deals with that so impressive and you'll see it here in this one once again working from the outside look at that off the line and then the trust by the quarterback to throw him the ball that early watch this footwork closely here off the line of scrimmage so he's going to give a quick inside move the defender bites a little bit I'm not going to say bites a ton where what the defender is the defender's in great position right now to get a hold of him with that outside arm and push him towards the sideline and then he throws the timing of the route off and immediately quarterback's probably going to look somewhere else because this is the first read how long can he stay on it and what I want you to do is again with the hand watch the right hand of Roye Oliver here as the defensive back is going to get his hand on the outside I'll throw it here again perfectly timed slap not happening and then he's free to go because then with his speed even is open and so he takes off down the field and there's nothing anybody can do about it and the quarterback knows that too watching that the first time stood out to me so much because the ability to get that hand off of him completely saved the route just great work.   And so I know we talked a little bit about the hand strength in some of the other place but this one is where you really see it shine his ability to get his hands on the ball and whether the defender gets his hands on the ball or on his arm and have it not affect him in any way is extremely rare to see at this level at all never mind from a sophomore. All right, so he's going to run a simple hitch on the outside, nothing super out of the ordinary at first glance, and then you watch it back and see what a good job the DB did of getting his hands in perfect position and trying to knock that ball out, and he's just not able to because of how strong Oliver's hands are.   All right, so he comes out of his break and he's got what I would consider pretty decent separation here and he goes out and gets the ball, attacks the ball like you would want, but then look at that, that white glove, that white glove is not his. So you can see does not have white gloves when he extends his hands out here, there's a white hand on the football. The DB does a great job of ripping the ball down, tries to pull it out, just ends up going straight into the body just like it should, secure as if for a catch. Now this play stood out to me as much for what he did as for who he did it against this is on prep red zones 10th ranked defensive back in the 2026 glass, and once again it's the footwork here that immediately jumps off the tape.   So once again off the line of scrimmage so smooth with that first step, gets just a little hesitation, and then within five yards has all the space he needs. It's so subtle but it's so effective. I mean it's a backward step, look at where his foot is, but still it's kept him still hasn't moved at all, and that's all you need. I mean doesn't even get him to bite fully but gets him flat footed and completely catches him off guard because that foot is backwards he has all his power there ready to go.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1369395' first='Dante' last='Bruley']</h2>   And now for someone I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to watch a couple times throughout the offseason, and even then you could immediately tell that he was in store for a big year after missing last year due to injury this is going to be a huge get back year for him and he has had quite the start, that's [player_tooltip player_id='1369395' first='Dante' last='Bruley'] out of Basha. Right, so he's working off the outside here against Orange Lutheran, and you can immediately see a great pulling rip. He pulls that tackle in just enough to get that nice rip move, and that tackle actually had what looked to be a pretty good grip on him, just wasn't able to hold on with that violent rip through.   Who's the one who initiates contact here? That would be Bruley, and then that nasty rip to finish it immediately after he gets that pull, that rip up. Honestly could have got the holding there, but he didn't impede him enough where he was going to get the call. That arms all the way around the shoulder, doesn't matter, that's not stopping him. He is incredibly strong, and then the quarterback had no idea who's there, and he's done. Watch that one more time at full speed, look at that, and then the ability to finish at the end.   Now that's not the only time that that move showed up on his film, you see it again here working against Brophy. I don't even know how you're supposed to defend against that. With his strength you're not going to be able to get him out of the way without really leaning into it, and then if he pulls you away like that I don't know what you're supposed to do. Look at that, it's almost unfair, wasn't able to get the sack but obviously had an effect on the throw.   Now for a bit of that strength I was talking about, see it here. That's a pretty big pretty big boy, he's out there moving, drives him straight back, and he's essentially in the quarterback's lap, forces him to throw this throw, and is close enough to just stick his hand up and knock it down, a great length in those arms. See batted balls quite a few times throughout just the first couple weeks here on this film, always making sure to get in those passing lanes. But just completely, once again, who initiates the contact here? I mean he is be lining right for his chest, and then he's just stepping back trying not to fall, great job to get that arm up, see him get up there a little bit.   Speaking of his vertical, that brings us to one of the single most impressive plays that I saw on his tape. The ability to get up there, the length in his arms that I was saying, this play is pure athleticism at its finest. Look at that, look how he gets here, doesn't touch anybody, his ability to get up here is pretty impressive. You love to see a guy with this much athleticism, and that's the guy who's rushing off the edge for most of the game on defense, trying to get after your quarterback, good luck to the quarterback.   And it's not just against the pass for Bruley, he's a great run stopper as well. He's able to get off those blocks just as fast against the run as he is against the pass. You see a nice inside move here, fights off of it, and then ends up making the play. What a great job though to be able to work that inside, it's that, it's all in that first step, and he's able to win inside, and then he's through before anybody has a chance to do anything about it. Great work to fight off that block there, it's not like the offensive lineman needed to get him much, but he was able to just continue to push through it, slide off the edge, make himself slippery, get in there to make the play.   Now a very underrated part of an edge rushers game is the ability to continue to cause pressure even when somebody is actually getting a good block off on you, and that's exactly what he does here. So he will come up with a sack, and he actually gets stood up pretty good, okay good recovery by the offensive lineman there, but it's again that strength to get in there right there gets him off, and then he gets those offensive linemen's legs turned. Now the offensive lineman does a really good job of fighting back, stays on him, the quarterback gets pushed up through him, and Bruley's still able to make the play even while he's engaged.   He's also a versatile edge rusher, if you need him to step off and play traditional linebacker he can do that too. Here he is perfectly fitting the run, comes up and snags the feet, he reads it nicely, he doesn't hesitate at all. Ball is snapped, he's reading it, he's reading it, sees already, immediately he's already head in that direction because he's the running back going there, comes right up, he's able to snag his legs. It's a great play showing off his speed there a little bit too.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='884014' first='Jonah' last='Lubno']</h2>   Now to our first quarterback, [player_tooltip player_id='884014' first='Jonah' last='Lubno'] out of Campo Verde, who's averaging over 210 yards a game and has 13 touchdowns through four games, eight through the air and another five on the ground. Uh, he's definitely a dual threat, but it's his arm that stands out to me the most. He looks so comfortable on the run, he has some surprising speed, but the accuracy and the ability to throw the ball and deliver it where he wants to on the run really really stands out.   All right, so first up here we've got a little layered throw over the middle, which is actually a really nice decision but an even better placement. I mean that ball could not be put any better. Right here he's already made the decision, and the fact that he's made the decision is wild. He's got one in front of him, he's got one behind him, and that is not an easy window to try to skirt that ball through, but he knows that his guy is going this way, and that guy's going that way, so he's out of it. He has a step of separation from the guy in the back until he's willing to give it a shot. Now that backer recovers pretty quickly but not quick enough, and that ball is right where it needs to be in a sea of defenders.   It's right here when he made the decision that stands out to me the most about this play, the ability to see that this is open. It's just not something you see very often at this level, but then to put it exactly where you need to and give him space to keep going with it, it's just even better. And then again with that accuracy, here you'll see he puts it where only his guy can get it, nobody else has a shot. It's a very catchable ball. I mean everything about this is great here, look at that, that ball is six inches above the pylon and maybe one inch inside of the pylon. Now this is a great catch by the receiver to be able to go down and get it, but that accuracy to be able to put the ball right there where you wanted to could not have been any better.   And I mentioned how effective he's been running the ball, but it's sneaky speed, it really sneaks up on the defenders, and I don't think they're expecting it, and then it comes out of nowhere and they don't have time to react. So it's a pretty big open lane, the block at doesn't end up happening here, so he has a free lane. This guy up here, he notices right away, he's already got his eyes down on him, neither of them are able to get to him, boom, takes off.   On top of all of that, what makes his game stand out even more is the fact that he is such a good runner, but he tries to keep his eyes down field and he's looking to throw first. Running is truly a secondary option with him, and you see it here. I love the footwork inside of the pocket and feeling the pressure, his eyes are down the field still, he's not seeing that rush behind him but he's feeling it, he's able to slide out, avoids the second pressure, comes up, and this is where I'm saying he has a lane to run here, he's not going to get the first down, but there's absolutely an opening.   Now when I talked about him looking so comfortable on the move, this is what I was talking about. Rolling out to the left here, while he's still on the move, he's able to get his torso back around so that the throw from his hips up looks just like it would if he was in the pocket. On the money, right where it needs to be, and gets just enough yards for a first down. Once again it's feeling that pressure already, he's got his eyes back up field looking at what options he has available to him, quickly comes up, that torso gets all the way back around, and then it's just a normal pitch and catch from the hips up, love this technique here.   And now this throw is a little dangerous, throwing back across his body a little bit, but loop no puts enough on it, gets the ball there, gets the first down, keep things rolling. Speaking of looking comfortable on the move, we've got another great example of that right here. He's able to roll out to the right, I want you to watch just how he can towards his body to be able to get the throw back and still put enough mustard on it. Gets flushed out, instantly starts working up field. Right before he throws you can see him really lean into it there at the end. We'll slow it down, so here you see him start working up the field. Once again get to that top half all the way back, so from here up this looks like a normal throw, and instead he's able to use that momentum to get a little bit more juice on the ball. I mean this is a dart, and he was able to put a lot on this ball despite only having his front foot in the ground.   I thought this play was a great example of how calm he is in the pocket, but then also how quick of a trigger he has when he does see something open and decides that he needs to get rid of it. So you can see it's a designed roll out, but he immediately has a free rusher, calmly just puts on the brakes, lets that defender fly by, and then here's the quick trigger. You can see he quite literally just brings his eyes up after hitting the brakes, and immediately he's got eyes on somebody open right in front of the goal line. Once again the ability to put enough on that ball without really having the time to get his feet set, that is all in the upper half, and you can see that torque is what allows that ball to get there before the defender can close the gap. Great catch, way to hold on to the ball by the receiver there.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1682098' first='Jaron' last='Liles']</h2>   Now we're going to take a look at [player_tooltip player_id='1682098' first='Jaron' last='Liles'], a talented senior athlete out of Queen Creek. He's everywhere doing everything, you'll see him line up at wide out, he ends up taking hands off out of the back field, he returns pints, he's on defense stuffing the run, he can glue to your best receiver, he can do anything that he's asked to do by the coaching staff, and that has got to be such a dream. Like we mentioned earlier, one of the most important things for any wide receiver is the ability to hold on to the football through contact. Being trustworthy is so important at this level in every level. He takes a direct shot to the head right as he's catching the ball, not only secures it but is able to have the wherewithal and the balance to stay on his feet and take it into the end zone for the score. All right, we'll slow it down a little bit this time, does a great job of reaching out with his hands, pulls it in quickly, direct shot to the head that takes the helmet clean off, and there he is standing to walk it into the end zone, the definition of a receiver you want on your team.   As you watch his tape you notice it's not just the toughness as a wide out, he truly has some great instincts and understands the position so well. So you'll see here he feels that gap in the zone, understands to throttle down in it, sees his quarterback is on the move, is able to help him out a little bit by widening out, make it a smaller gap that he has to throw the ball through. Understanding how to attack zone defenses at the high school level is such an advantage, not every team has it. You can see in real time where he makes the decision, slow it down a little bit, so you can tell his head isn't snapping back towards the quarterback, he's actually looking out to see what he's got to deal with in front of him, and then from there once he sees that this guy is trying to get to that outside route, that's when he knows he needs to hit the brakes.   And then right there that was just, you could see that first step, he's starting to move outwards because he feels this guy on him and he knows that this gap is right where he wants to be. And you'll see that as we start to go through more of his plays here, at every position, at every phase of the game, it's the little things and the understanding of where to be in the situational football. Here he is again showing you those little things that matter. So here he is running a corner out for a score, but without those little things he's not that wide open, he's still probably open because of the speed that he has, but he is certainly not three steps wide open.   So you can see, slow it down here, he makes this move to the outside, and right there he could already start going out. It's going to be a tighter window for your quarterback, but you'd still technically be open. Instead and making sure to do the little things, he completely restacks the defensive back, gets right on top of him, and makes sure to get one inside step. And then you can see the defender now clearly has all of his weight lean in that way, look at where his feet are and where his torso is. Now the defender's leaning all the way inside, and so instead of that single step of separation that he was going to have and a little bit of a stumble, he's got three or four with the stumble, but he would have had two to three easily just because of that extra step that he took.   I cannot tell you how important that stuff is going to be at the next level. When the defensive backs are fast enough to stick with you and athletic enough to make that window impossible for quarterbacks, having that extra inside step, not only getting the leverage but getting the defender leaning the opposite way like he does here, it's going to matter so much. I mean it is just great work, and that's the stuff that's going to stand out to college coaches on tape. He's just so dangerous with the ball in his hands that you can see the coaching staff is trying to dial up new ways to get the ball to him every week. It's not just the toughness or the agility, it's the combination of both, and you see it here on this play. You got a really nice cut to make the first guy miss and get up a hole that most people wouldn't have been able to see, then he pulls out a nasty stiff arm, sit down, and turns on the jets to finish the play. When you have a player who can do this, you're just going to try to find creative ways to get him the ball and get him out in space because this is the result.   I think this play does an even better job of showing just how hard he is to bring down when he has open space. So it looks like a normal screen, right, but from right here there's really zero reason thinking about it why neither of these guys should be able to make the play. You've got a good block happening up here, but these two have a perfect angle on him. And instead one quick cut, another broken tackle, and he's able to make something out of nothing. Look at that again. The fact that he gets out of this from this point, it's just crazy. Such a nice move, goes back to his blocking inside, still has to break the tackle, does. That play should have been a gain of two, but instead he turned it into a big game. Once you start seeing and making plays like that, it's only natural to want to get the ball in his hands and any way you can, and sometimes that means handing it off to him on second and six.   I mean where did he come from, he gets lost in that pile for a good three seconds and somehow still finds a way to come out of it. This is a natural playmaker right here. He is right there, somehow fights off, spins through, and now here he is coming out the other side. I've tried to count the amount of missed tackles on this play, it is really hard because he makes so many miss it once right here.   Now as if that wasn't already versatile enough, here he is on what seems to be fourth down, screaming off the edge to make a goal line stand and take points off the board. That is fantastic work, he does a really nice job of creeping up, but so fights off the block and has the speed to get there, gets him down on fourth down, no points. He's so quick to react here, he gets off that block, breaks down a little bit, finds the ball, and immediately attacks it. Once again the little things in every phase of his game.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1682199' first='Cooper' last='Kraus']</h2>   Next up we have [player_tooltip player_id='1682199' first='Cooper' last='Kraus'], a linebacker out of Buena who's currently leading 5A in tackles. I really love the way he plays the game, he's a bit of an old school back, he's aggressive, he flies around, really trust those instincts, and Buena's got a lot of ballers over there, but he's really holding down the middle of that defense. And on this first play here you see a lot of those traits coming together, he uses that speed to fly through the line, you see the aggression there, it's a big hit, comes through untouched but he's able to make them pay for it.   And he's not just flying through looking to increase his sack numbers and nothing else. You'll see here, same thing, he comes on the blitz, gets through relatively easily, but is able to follow the ball and drop him for a big loss. He does a really nice job of firing off the ball here, doesn't slow down a single bit, just keeps his eye on the ball. And once again, showing that aggression, perfectly fits his shoulder right up under his shoulder pads, it's a great tackle.   And he's not just that blitzing linebacker type either, he really knows how to fit the run. You'll see that here, quickly uses that burst of speed to get around the block and blow up the play. And you almost don't notice that at full speed, but right here this lineman's got his eyes on him, but because of that quick burst and that speed cooper's able to get right around the edge to meet the back right there. You see him start to pop out here, and that's where he gets him.   I love his eyes here at the snap and see he's finding the ball, that first step is forward in the right direction, no hesitation, finds where the blocker's going to be once again, uses that speed, dips around him, and he's able to meet him right there for no game. Not only is this a game saving tackle but it's a great recovery with great technique through all of it. You'll see the offensive line on this play does a really great job of selling that it's going to be something to the right, almost every one of them is just shuffling over slightly to the right. So you'll see immediately as the ball snapped and they start to see in what the offensive lineman are doing, cooper's already going that way, safety's coming up in that direction, and then this guy starts going as well, she's got everything flowing this way.   But the quarterback is looking to pass out that way, and cooper ends up filling what he sees as a big hole, does a great job right there. Had they handed the ball off that's where they would have wanted to go, so he naturally goes and fills that, but then when he realizes that there wasn't a handoff you see great lateral movement here, slide down the line, and then the strength to bring him down just short of the goal line.   So after seeing those other blitzing plays, one of the things i was looking for is what happens when he doesn't get through the line scrimmage got free, what happens when alignment does account for him and tries to take him on, how does he handle that? And here you'll see he uses that speed and strength, drives the offensive lineman back, and is able to come off the block quickly and make the play. I mean he fires off the ball, and there he is driving him back, showing great strength, put it to that right there. Once he has him all the way back into the pocket, he's able to quickly push off that block and go make the play. I mean he really drives him back there. I mean he drives him back, let's see, he makes contact right there, call it the 36, just continues to push him back to where he's now fighting off of the block just short of the 40, takes this guy on a ride for four yards and then just says nope, I'm done.   When I was going through his film this was probably my personal favorite play. I think this perfectly highlights all of those traits that we've been pointing out throughout the different plays here: the instincts, the lack of hesitation, the speed, the aggressiveness, the big hits. You're going to see all of that right here as he completely blows up a quarterback sneak instantly. That's the lack of hesitation right there, you know he's aware of it. He sees the snap, the quarterback never turns back, and look how low he gets, takes one step and then immediately he's lowering himself, trying to push back that pile, ends up making direct contact with the quarterback, and as if that wasn't enough this is on a fourth down. He has a phenomenal job, zero hesitation, flies right through and ends up smacking the quarterback.   I'm putting out new write-ups all the time and the film breakdowns are only going to grow from here, subscribing to Prep Redzone is the only way you stay plugged in."   *Transcript created using AI.

I'll be honest with you — this is a little different than what you're used to from me. Normally it's just me behind the keyboard hammering out write-ups, but this time I'm stepping in front of the camera and diving into the film. We're talking about some of the state's top talent, slowing things down, pointing out the details that don't always get noticed in highlight reels.