District 13-6A Is A Recruiting Hotbed
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If you were to ever fly into Bush Intercontinental airport in Houston, Texas, make a B-line down I-45 north for about 30 minutes; you will run into one of the most electric high school football recruiting hotbeds in the country!…
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Continue ReadingIf you were to ever fly into Bush Intercontinental airport in Houston, Texas, make a B-line down I-45 north for about 30 minutes; you will run into one of the most electric high school football recruiting hotbeds in the country! Montgomery County, Texas is the 11th largest county in Texas. Out of such a large county comes big talent that has the collegiate world flocking to The Greater Houston Area. Texas alone can be considered the Mecca of Friday night lights but something special is happening in Montgomery County and the Conroe Independent School District to boot.
For starters, CISD contains 6 high schools (Conroe High School, Oak Ridge High School, Caney Creek High School, The Woodlands High School, The Woodlands College Park High School, and Grand Oaks High School). The adds the likes of Cleveland High School, New Caney High School, and Willis High School in district level competition. For football, the district is the only district in the country to boast two top 1o ranked quarterbacks in Derek (DJ) Lagway Derek (DJ) Lagway 6'3" | 215 lbs | QB Willis | 2024 State TX (Florida Gators) and Mabrey Mettauer Mabrey Mettauer 6'5" | 215 lbs | QB The Woodlands | 2024 State TX (Wisconsin). Derek (DJ) Lagway Derek (DJ) Lagway 6'3" | 215 lbs | QB Willis | 2024 State TX is a 6’4 230-pound wrecking ball of a quarterback that is a threat to score the ball from the pocket, on a sprint out, or scramble run every play. He is a pocket passer that is a beast of a runner. Mettauer is listed at 6’6 220 and looks the part of a young Trevor Lawrence with the long blonde locks, tall frame, and a powerful right cannon. He is a dual threat signal caller that will pass it over you or run over you.
Every Friday night is an event due to several power 5 talents manning the field of play with packed stands and press boxes filled with recruiters and or scouts. A few names that lead this talented and robust district on the offensive side of the ball are Quanell X Farrakhan Jr. (WR 6’1 180) who holds 13 offers lead by the Georgia Bulldogs. Additionally, powerhouse slot receivers DeBraun Hampton DeBraun Hampton 5'11" | 170 lbs | WR Willis | 2024 State TX (5’1172 Slot) carries 4 offers and according to the metrics, is arguably the number one slot in the state. He in tandem with Jalen Mickens Jalen Mickens 5'10" | 185 lbs | WR Willis | 2025 State TX of Willis, Texas both toyed with 1000 plus all-purpose yards for the Wildkats. Louis Williams Louis Williams 6'0" | 160 lbs | WR Conroe | 2023 State TX III of the Conroe Tigers finished his career totaling over 3k yards in receiving. When you take a look at Oak Ridge High School, Frankie Arthur Frankie Arthur 5'10" | 200 lbs | RB Oak Ridge | 2024 State TX (5’10 210 RB) holds twelve offers headlined by the Oregon Ducks. As for New Caney High School, senior running back Kedrick Reescano Kedrick Reescano 5'11" | 185 lbs | RB New Caney | 2023 State TX earning 13-6A’s Most Valuable Player while rushing for 1,221 yards, 21 touchdowns and had 204 receiving yards and three touchdowns in district play. Junior CJ Blocker (6’0 170 ATH) was named Special Teams Player of the Year and holds several offers led by Alabama. The future is bright at the quarterback position in the district after Grand Oaks High School’s Freshman Grant Smith (6’2 170 QB) picked up an offer from Bobby Petrino of Texas A&M and Conroe’s sophomore Christian Nunley Christian Nunley 6'3" | 185 lbs | QB Conroe | 2025 State TX (6’3 190 QB) has also drawn great interest from the Aggies amongst several others for the dual threat sensation who runs sub 11 seconds over 100 meters.
On the defensive side of the ball there seemed to be no drop off. Oak Ridge junior linebacker Justin Williams Justin Williams 6'2" | 200 lbs | LB Conroe Oak Ridge | 2024 State TX (6’3 210 LB) was named Defensive Player of the Year totaling 76 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss, and is an Oregon Duck commit. Junior Tice Williams Tice Williams 6'3" | 190 lbs | DB Conroe | 2024 State TX (6’2 190 FS/ATH) of Conroe was a massive presence on the backend with his speed and length after coming off of an athletic UIL block and tallied 47 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 10 pass deflections, in only 5 games of play. He holds 6 offers led by the Air Force Academy and several Ivy League programs. Fellow teammate Devondre Mcgee (6’1 180 CB) was also a force for the Tiger’s secondary and holds offers from Ole Miss and Sam Houston State University. Junior Wildkat Imaure Holmes (6’0 175 ATH) was dynamic on both sides of the ball and served as a cog for Coach Trent Miller’s overall attack each week. He holds several offers led by the TCU Horn Frogs. Freshman sensation Jermaine Bishop (5’10 145 ATH) was named Defensive Newcomer of the Year with five interceptions and recently picked up an offer from The University of Texas Longhorns. Mitch Melton Mitch Melton 6'2" | 220 lbs | LB Conroe | 2024 State TX (6’2 220 LB) of Conroe was electric from the mike position all season after transferring from Del Rio, Texas. He holds multiple offers as well led by The University of Texas at San Antonio and Princeton.
There are many more athletes who hold major interest and offers. All of these programs and productive athlete development approaches speak to the culture of CISD and its leadership. One might say that attitude is a direct reflection of leadership. If that’s the case then names like Cedric Hardeman (Campus Athletic Director Conroe Tigers ), Trent Miller (Campus Athletic Director Willis Wildkats), Jim Rapp (Campus Athletic Director The Woodlands Highlanders), Kyle Coats (Campus Athletic Director The Woodlands College Park Cavaliers), Mark Schmid (Campus Athletic Director Oak Ridge War Eagles), Shaun McDowell (Campus Athletic Director Grand Oaks Grizzlies), Mike DeWitt (Campus Athletic Director New Caney Eagles), and Kendal Hineman (Campus Athletic Director Caney Creek Panthers) are to be considered vanguards for high school program development.