Sooner 7 Green 18U Spotlight (Mar. 18-19)
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The DR7 7v7 tournament circuit made its way through Oklahoma over the weekend and stopped in at Broken Arrow and Prep Redzone was there from start to finish. Throughout the week, we’ll be putting a spotlight on some of the best players that we caught for an extended period of time. In this post, we’re taking a look at the 18U “Green” squad from Sooner 7 as they would end up walking away with the 18U championship on Sunday. The team featured several familiar names and a few new faces as well.
A week after helping lead Millwood to a second straight state championship on the basketball court, 2025 standout Jaden Nickens Jaden Nickens 6’4″ | WR Douglass | 2025 State OK was helping Sooner 7’s “Green” squad to the 18U championship. Nickens was an absolute star from start to finish on both sides of the ball. On offense, Nickens was a massive threat after the catch. He would make a catch on a simple crossing route and he turned on the jets to make a small play into a big one time after time. And then when he lined up on defense, the thought process was pretty simple. They put the Millwood star in at safety and just let him play centerfield and the state’s top 2025 prospect made plays. His closing speed was off the charts and he just backed up all the hype around him as one of the best overall athletes in the state throughout the weekend.
The first of two quarterbacks on this breakdown is one of the state’s top 2025 quarterbacks and top overall prospects. Muskogee lefty Jamarian Ficklin Jamarian Ficklin 6’1″ | 180 lbs | QB Muskogee | 2025 State OK continues to show week after week and tournament after tournament that he’s one of the top signal callers in Oklahoma, regardless of class. Ficklin was outstanding throughout the tournament, and specifically on Sunday when they made their run during bracket play to the championship. In fact, Ficklin absolutely took over at the quarterback position and was lights out throughout the morning. Ficklin has one of the best deep balls among all the quarterbacks in Oklahoma and he definitely had some playmakers around him to run under those passes but Ficklin has an absolute rocket attached to his shoulder. His confidence continues to climb and his progression in the last 12 months is off the charts.
Every time I cover a 7v7 tournament, Muskogee 2024 standout Kayden McGee Kayden McGee 6’1″ | WR Muskogee | 2024 State OK seems to always be near the top of the list when you talk about players that shined bright. And in most of the recent 7v7 tournaments, we’ve talked about all McGee has done was make big plays. This past weekend, McGee was once again one of the top playmakers on both sides of the ball but it feels like he was at his absolute best during this tournament. Now we don’t have official numbers or stats but we would assume that McGee was at his absolute most productive during this tournament. On offense, McGee was a big play threat at the wide receiver position. On defense, he was an absolute ball hawk at the safety position. He continues to be one of the best two-way playmakers in Oklahoma’s 2024 class and he’s having a lights out offseason.
Normally, I stick to Oklahoma prospects but I couldn’t do this spotlight without featuring Bentonville 2024 wide receiver Luke Coon Luke Coon 6’1″ | 160 lbs | WR Bentonville | 2024 State AR on this breakdown. Coon was outstanding from start to finish and was arguably the most consistent wide receiver for championship-winning team. Coon was one of our favorite players to watch because not only was he making catch after catch and play after play, but he was a silent assassin while he did it. In 7v7 tournaments, you hear quite a bit of trash talk and see even more chest beating but Coon went out, handled his business and moved on to the next play. Coon has been a wide receiver we’ve watched quite a bit of over the last few months and his play this weekend in Broken Arrow might have been the absolute best we’ve seen from him so far in 7v7 tournaments.
Morrison 2025 lefty Mason Schubert Mason Schubert 6’2″ | 195 lbs | QB Morrison | 2025 State OK was the other quarterback that helped guide Sooner 7’s “Green” squad to the 18U championship. We got our first real look at Schubert in person last month at a 7v7 tourney down in Texas and Schubert impressed us again this past weekend. Schubert got most of his work in on Saturday and we caught all three pool play games. The lefty seemed like he was at his best and most comfortable throwing to the left side of the field and would do it in a variety of ways. He would roll left and make throws on the roll and would also uncork it and send the ball deep and let his wide receiver run under it. But the Morrison southpaw would also be just as dangerous in the red zone going to the right and made several big throws resulting in touchdowns going to the opposite side of the field.
Highlights
Bishop Kelley 2024 tight end Sam Rhoades V Sam Rhoades V 6’4″ | 235 lbs | ATH Bishop Kelley | 2024 State OK continues to have a very strong offseason while playing 7v7 football with Sooner 7. Rhoades was outstanding once again this past weekend and the number one thing that stood out about him this time around was his consistency. They kept it very simple with Rhoades and that was very apparent as we went through all the film we shot during the tournament. Almost all of the catches that Rhoades made were on simple five-yard out routes. He made a few catches over the middle but the majority of his damage was done on the out routes to the left. Whether it was in the red zone to put some points on the board or near the beginning of the drive to get the offense into a rhythm, Rhoades had to be considered the “security blanket” of the Sooner 7 “Green” offense over the weekend.
Highlights
This was our first chance to see Wagoner 2024 standout Witt Edwards Witt Edwards 6’6″ | 200 lbs | WR Wagoner | 2024 State OK in a 7v7 setting and he did not disappoint. Edwards is one of the taller playmakers in the state’s 2024 class at the wide receiver position and he used that length and athleticism to be one of the top targets for the Sooner 7 squad throughout the weekend. While his offense was what earned his spot on this breakdown, another thing that we have to acknowledge was his play on defense as Sooner 7 would stick him at “linebacker” right in the middle of the field and he would walk up to the line of scrimmage and act like a defender on an in-bounds pass in basketball. And believe it or not, that worked on a number of occasions. But Edwards was an absolute monster in the red zone. He caught several touchdowns throughout the two days on jump balls.