Texas high school football is fast approaching its first practices, and excitement grows as fans, players and coaches with high aspirations anticipate the return of Friday night lights in West Texas.
Despite the turnover from departing senior classes, many of the nearly 40 teams in the Standard-Times coverage area retained plenty of young talent, as well as brought in some new faces, looking to make their mark on the 2024 season.
Before the season begins, the Standard-Times will highlight the top local players at seven position groups — quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, defensive backs and linebackers.
Today, we highlight the top returning offensive linemen to watch in West Texas.
As a sophomore, Braden helped Wall dominate all the way to the Region I final against Canadian.
In Houston Guy’s flex-bone scheme that prioritizes offensive line play, he entrenched himself as a starter and helped the Hawks rush for 3,776 yards at 7.8 yards per attempt. He was named to the 2023 first-team all-district.
Kalamafoni has been a staple for the Bobcats’ offensive line at right tackle for the past two seasons.
Now one of the most experienced players on the field, he will look to help the Bobcats improve on an offense that averaged 442.7 yards per game in 2023.
Kelly was integral to the Bulldogs’ offensive success over the past two seasons.
As the highest-graded offensive lineman on the team, he helped Miles put up 5,400 yards in 2023 and was an All-West Texas second-team selection.
