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Top of the Class: Top LB's of the '23 Class
After a brief break, we are back taking a look at the top football recruits of the 2023 class in the state of Texas. After looking at all the offensive weapons we now move to the defensive side of the ball to look at what some consider the "QBs" of the defense; the Linebackers.
**Rankings reflected as of June 21st **
**Positions from 247Composite**
**Stats gathered from Max Preps**
Anthony Hill-Denton Ryan: The 5-Star LB is one of the hottest commodities in the nation heading into his senior season. His offers list is a mile long, but in early 2022 he narrowed his list to six: A&M, UT, Alabama, Oklahoma, Miami and USC. He will head into his last year of High School football looking to get Denton Ryan back to the state title game.
👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/hmMXJ8aJHX
— Anthony Hill Jr (@thegoatanthony1) February 14, 2022
S'Maje Burrell-North Crowley: One of the top players in the 2023 class, S'Maje didn't need to wait until his senior season to commit. Burrell picked Texas and will be looking to fine tune his craft as he heads to the 40 Acres after his senior season.
Committed !! Horns uppp !! 🤘🏾🤘🏾 pic.twitter.com/uSS9MPrqJ6
— S’Maje D’One Burrell (@Smaje0) April 2, 2022
Samuel Omosigho-Crandall: The 3-Star Linebacker (4-Star outside of 247 composite) is down to 10 teams in his recruitment process: Oklahoma, SMU, Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Nebraska, Oklahoma St., Michigan, TCU, and USC. His athleticism will be a huge asset as an off ball linebacker not only for Crandall but for whatever college he commits to.
Junior Season Stats‼️
150 Tackles
11TFLs
5int( 1 pick 6)
4 Sacks
2 fumble recovery TD
42 Rec 811 rec yds 7TDShttps://t.co/ToQ6VrgaYJ
— Samuel Omosigho😎 (@SamuelOmosigho) November 16, 2021
Christian Brathwaite-Cypress Ranch: Christian will be headed to Waco after his senior season, committing to Baylor back in January. The 6'3" 225 linebacker is perfect not only for his positions, with long arms and strong base, bur for the next level as well. He will look to continue to be a destructive force on the defensive side of the ball along with his teammate Ashton Porter for their senior year.
COMMITED🟡🟢 #BU #SicEm @CoachDaveAranda @CoachRonRoberts GOD IS GOOD🐻@BUFootball pic.twitter.com/Tz5GU2CbER
— CB2⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@CAB44_) January 31, 2022
Corey Kelly-Clear Falls: Brathwaite won't be the only one heading to Waco after this season. Corey Kelly committed last week to Baylor and will help Baylor have a young core of talent on the defensive side for Dave Aranda to work with. Kelly had 97 tackles, 4 sacks and 11 pass breakups in his junior season. He will look to continue to bring continued success to Clear Falls in his senior year.
100% Committed 🟢🟡 Glory to the man above I would not be here if it wasn’t for him. @BU_CoachCollins @BUFootball pic.twitter.com/Oly8B94GHP
— Corey “CK” Kelly (@coreykelly2_) June 15, 2022
Crandall Football: Are the Pirates on the rise?
After a less than desirable season last year, the Crandall Pirates have become one of the teams to watch in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. According to MaxPreps, last season, the Pirates posted a 3-6 overall finish (1-3 in district play) with wins over Jacksonville (38-25), Joshua (46-30), and Forney (57-54 in four overtimes) before finishing their schedule with a five-game losing streak. This season, though, the Pirates are doing everything they can in an attempt to pave a way to their own destiny.
So far this season, the Pirates have outscored their opponents 274-187. The Pirates opened the season with a big 51-36 win over Jacksonville before posting a disappointing 32-27 loss to Kaufman in week two. Since their loss, Crandall posted three convincing wins- one against Alvarado (68-42), one a district opener against Sulphur Springs (57-34), and the other a week five dominating 71-43 win over North Forney. The Pirates are averaging 42 points a game and have not had a slow game yet.
In the pocket this season for Crandall is senior Jamonte Gordon-West. Gordon-West is a dual-threat athlete who can really do it all on the gridiron. The senior has tallied a remarkable 1,342 passing yards and 15 passing touchdowns in five games. Gordon-West has completed 70% of his passes and has thrown only two interceptions. On the ground, Gordon-West has racked up 231 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns on 49 carries.
Catching the majority of Gordon-West's touchdown passes has been junior wide receiver Luke Moffitt. Moffitt has racked up 564 receiving yards and 11 receiving touchdowns on 25 catches. Not far being Moffitt is junior three-star wide receiver Samuel Omosigho. With nine college offers and surely more to come, Omosigho has tallied three receiving touchdowns with 487 yards on 26 receptions. Keeping the scoring going on the ground for Crandall is junior running back Chris Abron. Abron has recorded 13 rushing touchdowns this season with 674 rushing yards on 98 carries.
It's easy to see that the Pirates want a big change to their program this year, but there is still a lot of season left. The Pirates will travel to Forney on Thursday where they will take on a 3-2 Forney High School team. The Pirates are coming off of a BYE week and will likely be ready to take the game by storm.