Physical on the Pacific

SPANAWAY, Wash. – In what was dubbed the ‘Boomer Bowl’ by some the Pacific Northwest got to play host to a matchup of top prospects committed to Oklahoma when Snoqualmie Mount Si traveled to meet Spanaway Lake. Mount Si is home to offensive line commitment Heath Ozaeta while cornerback Jasiah Wagoner stars for the Sentinels of Lake.

On the night Lake pulled something of an upset to area experts with a 17-14 win over Mount Si but both future Sooners did plenty to help their respective teams to a win.

We’ll start with the man who came out on top on the night, Wagoner. The talented two-way player did just about everything short of throw passes for Lake and came up big in multiple scenarios.

Wagoner is well known as a quality cover man who has a great instinct and feel for running receivers routes better than they can themselves. It’s not hard to see where he gets that feel as Wagoner had roughly nine catches for 90 yards including a 15-yard touchdown that gave Spanaway an early lead.

He ran nice routes and also had a big punt return that he nearly broke for a huge touchdown before being corralled by a number of Mount Si defenders.

Not surprisingly on the occasions when Mount Si did throw, they didn’t mess with No. 8. That didn’t stop the explosive defender from making some plays including a couple of bone-rattling hits. In fact to highlight just how different Wagoner is from so many defensive backs, he was even a bit proud of a bloodied jaw that he’d suffered at a point during the game, though he couldn’t remember when and missed no playing time sorting it out.

Wagoner stands somewhat around 5-foot-10 but has impressive long arms that make it difficult for any receiver or quarterback to feel comfortable about any separation they’ve created.

In short Wagoner just feels like an old school player that unlike so many corners enjoys the physical side of the game.

Not surprisingly the 6-foot-5, 280-pound Ozaeta was the one Mount Si prospect that Wagoner didn’t get the best of though they had just one real meeting. Early in the second half the Wildcats ran a screen to Wagoner’s side and to his credit he stepped up to take the blow but Ozaeta won a simple battle of physics.

“Oh I knew it was him, we were running a little reverse and I knew it was my one chance to hit him and I just went for it,” Ozaeta chuckled after the game.

While it was Wagoner’s one real loss of the game, Ozaeta himself had a boatload of impressive moments. The big man moves well and gets to the second level easily. He’s still refining hand placement and can, at times, be a little narrow with his feet but when Ozaeta locked onto a defender he drives his feet well and it’s a certainty they won’t be part of the play.

Ozaeta plays left tackle for the Wildcats and has the athleticism to try his luck there but with his frame at somewhere between 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-5 he may be well suited to become a guard at the college level with his length and quick feet. As he continues to fill out in his lower body he’ll only become a more dominant run blocker but has the agility to be a quality pass blocker in relatively short order.

So while Oklahoma went far from home to land a pair of commitments both players did a strong job carrying the flag in the ‘Boomer Bowl’ in the Pacific Northwest.