Top Performers: Oak Grove vs. Grand Lake | Class 1A Championship

Oak Grove survived a slow start — by its standards — Monday to eventually roll past Grand Lake, 33-7, to another Class 1A championship. The Tigers’ victory at Northwestern State in Natchitoches marked the first time in the proud program’s history to claim consecutive titles. And several senior standouts helped lead the way to the cherry on top of a season they had once worried so much might not happen because of COVID-19. <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B1bVbxgygyo" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <strong>2021 Recruiting Class</strong> <strong>Bryson Baker — 6-0, 305 DL — Oak Grove</strong> People around the Tigers’ program talked about this big defensive tackle with excited anticipation even as the team enjoyed the duo of Kenean Caldwell and Bert Hale in the interior for their years before eventually signing with Kansas and Louisiana Tech, respectively. And, in his own final game in black and gold, Baker made a strong case for Most Outstanding Player with his nine tackles, including two for loss, and his quick recovery of a fumble to help stop a Grand Lake drive. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="63740" first="Deuce" last="Clement"] — 6-0, 180 ATH — Oak Grove</strong> The speedy do-everything athlete made up for last year’s missed time after suffering an ankle injury early in the 2019 title game. Clement added quarterbacking duties this year to his typical defensive back, wide receiver and running back portfolio, and capped his high school career with eight rushes for 158 yards and a score and one 9-yard touchdown pass. <strong>Ron Craten — 5-10, 230 RB — Oak Grove</strong> The big back earned Most Outstanding Player honors for a second straight Class 1A state championship game, somehow managing to out-do his fantastic effort from a year ago. Craten carried the ball 30 times for 191 yards and two touchdowns to wear down Grand Lake from start to finish. <strong>Kelvin Holloway — 5-10, 150 ATH — Oak Grove</strong> The Tigers’ electric three-phase standout wasn’t able to find much success on offense with so much of the work accomplished by Craten between the tackles. And his big interception return in the second half came back on a penalty a few yards away in the secondary. But as Grand Lake finally punched the ball in for a score, Holloway found his seam to take the ensuing kickoff return 85 yards to the house to quickly reclaim momentum. <strong>Elijah Fountain — 6-3, 185 — Grand Lake</strong> Oak Grove didn’t allow the Hornets much, but the transfer from Barbe managed to be the spark for much of the offensive success. Fountain rushed 14 times for 36 yards and pulled up on one apparent sweep to find Kyler Little deep for a 55-yard touchdown. <strong>Kyler Little — 6-1, 170 ATH — Grand Lake</strong> Little led all receivers in a run-heavy game with two catches for 77 yards, including the aforementioned touchdown from Fountain and returned a pair of kickoffs for 40 yards. <strong>Cole Mott — 5-9, 200 LB — Grand Lake</strong> The middle linebacker led his team with eight tackles, including one for a loss, at the center of a defense tasked with slowing a powerful line and rushing attack of Oak Grove. <strong>Bryant Williams — 6-8, 325 OL — Grand Lake</strong> The big lineman tallied three tackles, including one for loss, on the defensive side of the ball, while also helping protect the blindside offensively in a game in which the Hornets were forced to take to the air more than they might have liked. <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VE11Q9E40uo" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <strong>2022 Recruiting Class</strong> <strong>Javontae Morris — 5-9, 180 LB — Oak Grove</strong> Only one player reached double-figures in tackles in the Class 1A championship game, and that was Oak Grove’s junior linebacker with 11, including a tackle for loss.