Edmond Santa Fe Players To Watch

<em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em> The Class 6A-D1 state championship is set for 1PM on Saturday night at UCO’s Wantland Stadium. We’ll see a familiar face in the Jenks Trojans, but their opponent is somewhat surprising after Edmond Santa Fe beat Union in the semifinals on Saturday, making it to their first title game in almost two decades. Prep Redzone Oklahoma will have preview content throughout the week to get you ready for Saturday afternoon’s title game. In this latest post, we take a look at some of the Players To Watch for the Wolves that will have an impact in Saturday’s game. <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>TWO-WAY PLAYERS TO WATCH</strong></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38505" first="Angelo" last="Rankin Jr."] - Senior Wide Receiver/Defensive Back</strong></span> <strong>Offense:</strong> It’s hard to pick where Santa Fe senior [player_tooltip player_id="38505" first="Angelo" last="Rankin Jr."] is at his most valuable. He’s a two-way star for the Wolves and on the offensive side of the ball, he’s a fantastic slot receiver and a guy who is a great complimentary piece to Shettron on the outside. You can make the argument that Rankin is Santa Fe’s best athlete with the way they move him around and allow him to take advantage of his speed. Not only is he a receiver, but the Wolves will also get him involved in the running game and he’s also an impact player as a return specialist. On offense, he’s caught five touchdown passes and he’s also taken a couple kicks back for a touchdown. So while we have him listed as a two-way player, Rankin is an impact player in all three phases. <strong>Defense:</strong> Meanwhile on defense, Rankin is one of the better corners in Oklahoma’s senior class. Rankin was committed to Navy before reopening his recruitment earlier this season. Like we mentioned earlier, it’s hard to pick what side of the ball is the most natural fit for Rankin because he makes plenty of plays on both sides. On defense, he has nearly 50 tackles and 3 interceptions on the season. It will be fun to watch this championship game play out and to see how many times Rankin and Jenks’ [player_tooltip player_id="38514" first="Jayden" last="Patrick"] end up against one another. Those two players will arguably be the two best athletes on the field that day. Both players play both sides of the ball and both are fantastic at both. <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>OFFENSIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH</strong></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38657" first="Ethane" last="Hyche"] - Senior Running Back</strong></span> One of the breakout stars of the 2020 football season has been Edmond Santa Fe senior running back [player_tooltip player_id="38657" first="Ethane" last="Hyche"]. It didn’t take long for Hyche to become a big name in this Santa Fe offense. He had somewhat of a slow start in their first two games but from week two on, he’s been an absolute wrecking ball of a running back. He’s run for nearly 1,800 yards and also has scored 26 touchdowns on the season. He’s had multiple games where he’s ran for three or more touchdowns. He’ll be one of the top running backs that Jenks has played against this season. Hyche is your prototypical power back who just pounds the rock and makes defenses have to tackle him for all four quarters and not many can step up to the challenge. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38779" first="Jonathan" last="Ashford"] - Sophomore Offensive Lineman</strong></span> Edmond Santa Fe has 40 rushing touchdowns on the season and has been outstanding in the run game. A big reason behind that has been their young bull of a lineman in [player_tooltip player_id="38779" first="Jonathan" last="Ashford"]. The only sophomore on this list, Ashford broke in as a freshman last year and was immediately an impact player and is already considered one of the top sophomore prospects in the state. Santa Fe has been on a roll on offense and they’ve been able to run the ball at will with multiple players. The heavy running game has fit right in with what Ashford does best. He simply explodes off the ball and moves his opponents backwards and usually onto their backs. Ashford has a bright future and he’ll look to continue his dominating sophomore season on Saturday. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="61222" first="Micah" last="Snoddy"] - Senior Running Back</strong></span> While a lot of attention has been around Hyche and his breakout season, he hasn’t been the only Santa Fe running back to have success this year. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="61222" first="Micah" last="Snoddy"] has also had a breakout season and has been a great partner with Hyche in the Santa Fe backfield. The Wolves certainly have the benefit of having two of the better running backs in 6A-1 this year in their same backfield. Snoddy doesn’t have the numbers that Hyche has and that’s simply because of the difference in carries. Snoddy has still rushed for nearly 900 yards and he’s scored ten touchdowns. The 1-2 punch of Hyche and Snoddy has been tough to stop all season and they hope that it will continue on Saturday against the Trojans. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="61144" first="Scott" last="Pfieffer"] - Junior Quarterback</strong></span> The two senior running backs aren’t the only breakout players in the Santa Fe backfield. The Wolves had a new signal caller in 2020 in junior [player_tooltip player_id="61144" first="Scott" last="Pfieffer"]. The Wolves were confident in his abilities even before the season began and as he got more comfortable in the role, he started to meet some of those expectations. Coming into the title game, he’s thrown for over 2,200 yards and 29 touchdowns on the season while completing nearly 70 percent of his passes. And it certainly helps that he has those two running backs in the backfield with him to have a great balance on offense. However, the scary thing about this offense is what it could look like next year. Specifically in the passing game. Because Pfieffer will be back, and so will his top target below. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38667" first="Talyn" last="Shettron"] - Junior Wide Receiver</strong></span> He’s the last player listed on the offensive side of the ball but he’s without a doubt the best player in this championship match-up. Junior wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="38667" first="Talyn" last="Shettron"] is considered one of the best junior receivers in the country. He’s already committed to Oklahoma and absolutely torched Jenks when the two teams met last year. He caught three touchdowns and also had an interception on defense that clinched the game. This season, Shettron has over 1,000 yards receiving and 14 touchdowns. He’s also a dynamic player in the return game. Last week, in their semifinal win over Union, Santa Fe ran him out there to play a little defense as well and Shettron would finish with a pair of interceptions, including an interception at the goal line that kept Union from tying the game late in the fourth quarter. <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>DEFENSIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH</strong></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38489" first="Collin" last="Oliver"] - Senior Defensive End</strong></span> Edmond Santa Fe’s top senior prospect is without a doubt defensive end [player_tooltip player_id="38489" first="Collin" last="Oliver"], an Oklahoma State commit. He’s a top ten prospect in the state’s 2021 class and has played like it this season. As a junior, he dealt with injuries that kept him from playing at 100 percent. However, this year, he’s been one of their more productive players. And the thing that makes Oliver so special at the high school level is how Santa Fe can move him around all over their defense. While that won’t be the case at the next level, he has that versatility to play a variety of positions and be productive from any of them. Santa Fe is going from run-heavy team in Union to a balanced Jenks offense that has a weapon at running back. Oliver will look to limit his opportunities. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38512" first="James" last="Burnett"] - Senior Linebacker</strong></span> Underrated isn’t the right word to describe Santa Fe senior linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="38512" first="James" last="Burnett"] but overshadowed could come into play. Burnett is a defensive playmaker, but he’s also playing a similar position to Oliver, and because of that, he could sometimes be overshadowed. But make no mistake about it. These two compliment each other so well. It’s one thing to have one of these guys on your defense but Santa Fe has certainly taken advantage of having both of them on the field at the same time. Burnett is nearing 100 tackles for the season and will more than likely reach that mark in Saturday’s championship game. He’s also at the top of team charts in quarterback sacks. Just like Hyche and Snoddy on offense, Oliver and Burnett get the Wolves a great 1-2 punch on defense.