Oregon high school football: 200 players to watch in 2024 (Nos. 20-1)

Here is Part 10 of our list of 200 names to know entering the 2024 Oregon high school football season

A healthy Nolan Keeney could have a monster senior season for Tualatin before heading to BYU. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

As we start to prepare for the Oregon high school football season, we’re counting down our annual list of 200 players we’re excited to see play in 2024. Here is Part 10 of that list.

Earlier installments: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9

One fact becomes clear when making a list such as this: Oregon has a lot of exciting high school football players to watch this year! There are countless other players not listed in the 200 who easily could have made the list — after you see our 200, let us know which other players would make your list. 

(Note that this is not intended to be a rankings list or even a list of the “top” 200 players, but just a list of 200 names that come to mind when thinking about the upcoming season.)

FIND SCHEDULES FOR EVERY SCHOOL

20. C John McGregor, Central Catholic, senior

A year ago, McGregor had to be coaxed by then-Rams coach Steve Pyne to return for his junior season. By year’s end, he was a second-team all-state selection and an anchor for the 6A state champions’ offensive line.

19. WR/KR Danny Wideman, West Linn, senior

Wideman was one of Lions coach Jon Eagle’s picks to have a breakthrough season last year, but even Eagle might not have imagined the season Wideman would have. In the Lions’ crowded wide receiver room, Wideman led the way with 60 catches for 943 yards and 12 touchdowns. And football isn’t his best sport — the University of Oregon commit and first-team all-state outfielder led the Lions to an unprecedented third baseball state title in a row.

18. RB Angel Valenzuela, Mountain View, junior

Valenzuela’s emergence in the Cougars backfield provided the final brick in their road to last year’s 5A championship game. He was a first-team all-state selection, rushing for 1,827 yards and 27 touchdowns.

17. RB/LB Mana Tuioti, Sheldon, senior

Tuioti’s older brother, Teitum, has fit right in at the college level, and Mana is set to join him at the next level next year. Last season, he was a 6A all-state second-team selection at linebacker, making a team-high 70 tackles, forcing two fumbles and breaking up two passes. He was a first-team all-South Central Football Conference pick on offense (296 rushing yards, six touchdowns).

16. WR/DB Zyon Floyd, Lakeridge, senior

A 6A all-state honorable mention free safety as a junior, Floyd is attracting college interest on both sides of the ball. He had 47 tackles, three pass breakups, two fumble recoveries and an interception in the secondary last year and caught 28 passes for 414 yards and a touchdown.

15. QB Baird Gilroy, West Linn, senior

Gilroy had some of the biggest shoes in the state to fill last season, taking over for 2022 SBLive Oregon offensive player of the year Sam Leavitt. Gilroy won a preseason competition with Nick Sakys for the starting job, then had one of the best seasons of any 6A quarterback, earning second-team all-state honors after throwing for 3,098 yards and 29 touchdowns with just seven interceptions, completing 182 of 278 pass attempts (65.5%).

14. WR/DB Jack Foley, Mountain View, senior

Foley was a two-way standout for the 5A finalist Cougars last season, receiving all-state honorable mention in the secondary but making his bones as a first-team receiver, returning from a Week 1 injury to finish with 44 receptions for 709 yards and 17 touchdowns. He is the No. 13 recruit in the 247Sports state rankings and has offers from Air Force and Washington State.

13. OL Jace Eveland, Summit, senior

Eveland has been one of the Northwest’s top offensive line recruits since his freshman season at Putnam. He moved to Central Oregon last year after his father, Jesse, got the athletic director job at Redmond and made an immediate impact for the Panthers, becoming their first 5A all-state first-team pick since 2016. With Jesse no longer working at Redmond, Jace and his brother, Peyton (a sophomore who shows great promise), transferred to nearby Summit. Jace is ranked No. 17 among state recruits by 247Sports and has offers from Dartmouth, Harvard and Princeton.

Note: After originally deciding to transfer to Summit, the Eveland brothers ended up staying at Redmond for the 2024 season.

12. WR/DB Mark Wiepert, Wilsonville, senior

Wiepert staked his claim as the state’s top two-way player last season, when he won 5A defensive player of the year honors for his play at safety for the state champions, making 121 tackles (seven for loss), and garnered first-team all-state recogniton on offense with 72 catches for 1,465 yards and 20 touchdowns. And to think, football isn’t his top sport — the all-state catcher is committed to Oregon State.

11. WR/LB Rasean Jones, Baker, junior

Jones has been a can’t-miss prospect in the shadow of the Wallowa Mountains since arriving on campus as a freshman. Last year, the all-state first-teamer ranked in the top three in 4A in all three receiving categories — 76 catches (No. 2) for 985 yards (No. 3) and 11 touchdowns (No. 3) — to help the Bulldogs recover from an 0-4 start to win the Greater Oregon League championship. Jones also is a top hurdling prospect, winning his second state titles in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles in the spring in times that ranked in the top 10 nationally for the class of 2026.

10. WR/S Jackson Doman, Canby, senior 

Doman only scratched the surface of his potential last season, when he was an all-Northwest Oregon Conference honorable mention selection on both sides of the ball, catching five touchdown passes and making 51 tackles (five for loss). He vaulted to No. 2 on 247Sports’ state rankings (No. 5 in Rivals) and committed to BYU in June, continuing a family legacy that has 22 family members donning a Cougars uniform.

9. WR Landon Kelsey, Central Catholic, senior

Kelsey was one of the big-name transfers last year for the Rams, crossing the Columbia River from Ridgefield to become the 6A state champion’s leading target — he caught a team-high 33 passes for 758 yards and 10 touchdowns and earned first-team all-state honors. The state’s No. 9-ranked recruit by 247Sports recently announced his commitment to Eastern Washington.

8. OL Jake Normoyle, West Linn, senior

Normoyle burst onto recruiting radars as a sophomore playing for the 2022 6A state champion, becoming one of five Lions to earn all-state recognition on the offensive line. He moved up from the honorable mention list to the all-state first team last season, when he was the Three Rivers League offensive lineman of the year. He is 247Sports’ No. 3-ranked state recruit and has committed to Oregon State.

7. DL Tony Cumberland, Willamette, junior

Cumberland moved to the Eugene area from Scottsdale, Ariz., where he made 30 tackles (8½ for loss) and 3½ sacks for Desert Mountain last season. He is On3’s No. 2-ranked defensive lineman nationally in the class of 2026 (No. 6 for 247Sports) and is No. 22 in the overall rankings (No. 60 for 247Sports). He committed to the University of Oregon last September.

6. QB Nolan Keeney, Tualatin, senior

Keeney’s junior season came in two parts. It started with him blossoming in the Timberwolves’ fast-paced offense after transferring over the summer from Westview before a separated shoulder suffered in Week 4 cost him the rest of the regular season. He returned for the playoffs and led Tualatin to the 6A final before reaggravating the injury in the second quarter of a 49-21 loss to Central Catholic. The BYU commit and On3’s No. 1 recruit in the state finished the season 92 of 133 for 1,834 yards, 22 touchdowns and five interceptions and rushed for 384 yards and four scores. 

5. RB LaMarcus Bell, Lake Oswego, junior

Bell was half of the Lakers’ “thunder and lightning” backfield while teaming with Zavier Russell last season, serving as the big-play threat who ran for 1,116 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore and made the 6A all-state second team. He ranks No. 3 among class of 2026 state recruits according to 247Sports and On3 and has offers from Nevada, Oregon State and Washington State.

4. TE/DE Baron Naone, West Linn, senior

Naone has sat atop the state’s recruiting rankings since breaking through during the summer before his junior season, retaining that spot after a stellar campaign for which he received 6A all-state second-team recognition as an edge rusher. His future is at tight end, where he caught 10 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown last year as the No. 2 behind Gus Donnerberg (now at Idaho). Naone committed to Oregon State last summer, then had a change of heart and committed to the University of Washington in June. 

3. WR/DB Josiah Molden, West Linn, sophomore

Molden arrived at West Linn last year with plenty of hype, having received an offer from the University of Oregon as an eighth-grader. Quickly, the son of former NFL cornerback Alex Molden and younger brother of Tennessee Titans defensive back Elijah Molden showed the apple didn’t fall far from the family tree. Teams tested him early and learned it was a mistake, and by season’s end, he was a second-team 6A all-state selection — the first ninth-grader to make the 6A team in a full season.

2. OL Zac Stascausky, Central Catholic, senior

Stascausky took a big step in his development during his junior season, rapidly climbing the recruiting rankings as he showed immense improvement week to week. He earned 6A first-team all-state honors for the state champion Rams and committed to (then decommitted from) the University of Minnesota. He’s received an offer from Washington and could head to Seattle.

1. RB Ansu Sanoe, Lakeridge, junior

One of the University of Washington’s early coups under the new coaching regime of Jedd Fisch was getting an April commitment from Sanoe, the state’s No. 2 recruit in the class of 2026 according to 247Sports and On3 who had a breakthrough sophomore season for the Pacers. He made the 6A all-state second team with a team-high 661 rushing yards and eight touchdowns despite missing the last three games because of a high ankle sprain suffered early in Week 8 against West Linn.

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