Scouting Report: Norman

<em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em> Norman <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/09/free-norman-tops-mustang-in-shootout/">topped</a> Mustang last Friday 62-58 in an early candidate for thriller of the year. Below is a list of a few of the most outstanding players from the game: <table style="width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #fdffd6; height: 21px;"> <tbody> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 100%; height: 21px; text-align: center;"><strong>Tias McClarty</strong> | Norman ’23</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table style="width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #e8e3e3;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center;">5’9" QB/ATH</td> <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center;">Not committed</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> It’s not expected that any quarterback at the 6A level will soon match McClarty’s six-rushing-touchdown performance last Friday against Mustang. There are plenty of things to get into about McClarty’s skill set, but one of the most eye-catching aspects of his game Friday night was his ability to seamlessly hit gaps, even those that were slight, and accelerate quickly. On his first score of the night, for example, McClarty’s left tackle and tight end pulled around to the right side off-tackle, while McClarty, lined up in the gun, faked the handoff going left. McClarty quickly attacked the gap formed by the tackle and tight end, and although a couple Broncos reached towards him, not one was able to get a hand on McClarty dashed to the end zone from 24 yards out. See it for yourself: https://twitter.com/mcclartytias/status/1439352558380855298?s=21 McClarty had similar plays, including an off-tackle play to the left that McClarty broke off for 74 yards, again, untouched, to the end zone. Altogether, McClarty finished the night with 254 yards rushing on 30 carries, but as we mentioned in our game report, his last four carries were the most crucial, impressive, and indicative of the level of excellence at which McClarty played Friday. The junior quarterback was Cleary exhausted from rushing for, at that point, nearly 250 yards, leading the Norman offense, and taking a mental and physical beating for the past three hours. But when it came time to snap his chinstrap on once more and lead the Tigers down the field to take the go-ahead score, McClarty was ready to go to work. With 34 yards of turf to go and a quickly draining clock, McClarty had one run of 8 yards for a first down, then one of three yards to give the Tigers the lead for the last time: https://twitter.com/mckinnisbryce/status/1439067146341031936?s=21 <table style="width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #fdffd6; height: 21px;"> <tbody> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center; height: 21px;"><strong>Xavier Shackelford</strong> | Norman ’23</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table style="width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #e8e3e3; height: 21px;"> <tbody> <tr style="height: 21px;"> <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center; height: 21px;">5’7" RB</td> <td style="width: 50%; height: 21px; text-align: center;">Not committed</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> When the Tigers needed a big gain, they turned to Shackelford, who rushed for 141 yards on the ground -- blistering the Broncos at an incredible 10.8 yards-per-carry. When adding his return yards into the mix, Shackelford went for 240 all-purpose yards. Perhaps more notably, Shackelford was only held for no gain twice, and he was never stopped for a negative gain. He’s fast, of course, but his best trait is his elusiveness. Shackelford seems to be a very cerebral runner with a natural sense of how to best benefit himself out of the plays set by the Norman coaching staff. More specifically, once he broke through the initial design, he was further prepared to avoid whatever was ready for him at the second level, allowing him to break free for so many plays. All night, he cut through, spun out of, and shed through tackles; anyway time you thought the Broncos had him, and <em>really</em> had him, that’s when Shackelford broke away for big gains (for the best example of this, and perhaps the best play of the night, skip to 0:50 on the Twitter clip below). https://twitter.com/405Xavier/status/1439318284730515464?s=20 <table style="width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #fdffd6;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center;"><strong>Devin Alexander</strong> | Norman ’24</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table style="width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #e8e3e3;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center;">RB</td> <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center;">Not committed</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Alexander the Tigers’ ole reliable Friday night, rushing for 113 yards on 25 carries, only being stopped for zero or negative yards thrice. His first carry of the game went for a 12-yard touchdown. Alexander has great speed, handles contact well, and has good acceleration. For a sophomore, he’s doing pretty well, and he should be on your radar for years to come. <table style="width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #fdffd6;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="154571" first="Xavier" last="Mason"]</strong> | Norman ’22</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table style="width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #e8e3e3;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center;">DL</td> <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center;">Not committed</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Anytime you come up with a play such as Mason’s, in which the senior came away with a strip in the eleventh hour to give the Tigers ball-back with 2:25 to play, you deserve a spot on the scouting report. https://twitter.com/xaviermason55/status/1439094371715067908?s=20 <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Other standouts</strong></span> <ul style="list-style-type: square;"> <li><strong>Zack Stone</strong>, Sr. | P/WR/DB -- I don’t know what Stone’s background is as a specialist, whether its a passion or a part-time gig for the kid with the best leg on the team, but Stone came up with an almost flawless 67-yard punt under pressure in the crunch that gave the Broncos a long field. If this is his usual standard of work, Stone should take punting seriously.</li> <li><strong>Edric Lambert</strong>, Sr. | WR/DB -- Though the Tigers didn’t much rely on the air game against Mustang, Lambert came up with a 50-yard catch, the largest passing gain of the night for Norman. At 6-foot-2-inches, film review shoes that Lambert is a strong, reliable and athlete pass-catcher who takes pride in his blocking capabilities.</li> </ul>