I intended to write about someone other than Gary from Friday’s Cedar Falls’ game at Iowa City High after last week filing a scouting report about prospects raising their recruiting stock. The junior changed those plans with his performance against the Little Hawks. It confirmed what impressed me when watching him at the Back2Balling 7v7 tournament this spring in Cedar Falls, this time getting the job done in pads. Gary is a fast and explosive athlete, which led to him catching a pair of long touchdowns in a 26-13 victory. He had nine receptions for 187 yards in all. Both scoring plays were quick routes where Gary got in space and outran the defense. He delivers sharp cuts in space and flashes a burst. The top-end speed is there once underway. Again, as I wrote last week, his stock is rising. Colleges are paying more attention. That shows no signs of ending anytime soon, nor should it.

After being hit with graduation losses at the position, Cedar Falls needed someone to step up at receiver this season. Enter Gary, who has lit up the stat sheet through three weeks of the season. To that point, he’d hauled in a team-high 14 passes for 313 yards (22.4 YPC) and three touchdowns. The yards per catch speak to his big-play ability. I saw that when scouting him at the Back2Ballin 7v7 tournament this past spring in Cedar Falls. He’s an excellent athlete that has also completed both of his passes for 116 yards and two scores. Gary has delivered a pair of solo tackles, averaged 26.0 yards on two kick returns and kicked in a two-point conversion. Potential is there to keep developing at receiver with a path to success on defense also being present.

One of the top testers and athletes from the first North Dakota Flagship Camp of the summer, Cedar Falls’ product Carsen Gary is a bundle of dynamite from the WR position. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Gary has popped off a couple of 10.8 100M PRs on the track, but the rising junior manufactured two 40s in the 4.5s and two shuttles in the 4.3s to highlight some real-deal athleticism that could significantly aid a college WR or DB room at the next level. Gary’s deep speed made him one of the most explosive deep threats in attendance, and he also possessed ball skills, ball tracking ability, and some juice at the top of the route. I think it’s about to be a massive junior season for this Cedar Falls’ standout.

Gary foreshadowed what could be an impactful career at Cedar Falls as a sophomore in 2025. The versatile performer ranked second among Tigers with 28 receptions for 279 yards and a touchdown. The team leader in catches is heading to Northern Iowa next year, and Gary’s contributions as a 10th-grader in one of the state’s top programs in producing talent for the next level is noteworthy. He also contributed 9.0 tackles, seven of which were of the solo variety, and averaged 29.2 yards on six kick returns. I was impressed when watching him perform during the season-opener at Iowa City Liberty last fall and again when seeing him compete during the Back 2 Ballin High 7v7 tournament during the middle of April at the UNI-Dome. Gary is an attractive combination of present production with a high ceiling for colleges to dream on. He’s athletic and fast with projectable frame capable of adding plenty of good weight and strength without the loss of speed or agility. Further more, Gary displays keen football instincts and a work ethic designed for improvement.

Fresh off a 4A state basketball championship as a starting guard, Carsen Gary Carsen Gary 6'1" | 185 lbs | WR/DB Cedar Falls | 2028 State IA has had an excellent start to his prep career at Cedar Falls. This football season, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound receiver showed off the ability to make plays in space as a runner and as a pass-catcher. Weaving in and around traffic as a ball-carrier, the second-year gadget guy took 11 carries for 241 yards and four touchdowns, finishing second for the Tigers in yards, despite others taking three times as many carries.

Through the air, Gary finished as the second-leading receiver, grabbing 28 passes for 279 yards and a touchdown. Serving as more of a possession receiver this fall, Gary will have the opportunity to take another step forward in 2026 as the top pass-catching target for the Tigers. It will be interesting to see how much his track numbers improve during his sophomore campaign as well, which should be an indication as to how much his playmaking ability could translate to the next level.

Gary grabbed my attention back in June when I was sifting through highlights from the 2024 season. That was when he was playing as a freshman in the sophomore squad. When checked back on him seven games into his 10th-grade year, he’d taken a big step forward as a key, multi-phase contributor on the varsity. Gary carried 10 times for 198 yards and three touchdowns, caught 19 passes for 200 yards and a score, delivered five solo tackles and averaged 31.5 yards on four kick returns. With a solid frame, high-end athleticism and advanced physicality, Gary is just scratching the surface of what he can become. That should impress college scouts.

Gary got his feet wet on the prep level operating as a freshman on the Tiger sophomore squad in 2024. It represented a critical building block developing in one of the state’s leading programs for producing top talent. It should put Gary in position to contribute on the Cedar Falls varsity this season. We can witness that potential when watching his ninth-grade highlight video. It opens with him returning a punt about 42 yards for a touchdown. On the second play, he motions out of the slot into the backfield, where he takes a handoff and races eight yards into the end zone. In both instances, he displays speed and an ability to make opponents miss. He’s a willing and able blocker at wideout thanks to a physicality that could work in the secondary.