Cassity Believes in Part, You Do It for Mom. Talking Senior Day

STILLWATER – It would be real easy to chuck it in on Saturday when West Virginia comes to Boone Pickens Stadium for the home and regular season finale for the 2022 Oklahoma State football season. The record is now 7-4 after losing last week to Bedlam rival Oklahoma 28-13. For the second time this season the Pokes have fallen out of all the rankings including the CFP where they were No. 22 last week. What are you playing for at this stage. How about Mom, is it important to play for Mom? Oklahoma State Cowboy back Braden Cassity will walk for Senior Day and his mother Colleen Hartman, who was married to former Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Mike Cassity. When Braden was young the Cassity family was in Stillwater as Mike was working for then OSU head coach Bob Simmons.

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Colleen Hartman, Braden’s mom.

“It makes you think,” Cassity said when asked about his mom and what an active role she has had in his career. “I have a soft spot about that. My mom raised me and did everything for me. She means everything to me.”

He said he knows she will be crying when he walks out for Senior Day. Cassity also knows his potential last time out as an Oklahoma State player on the home field needs to be a win.

“One hundred percent right, it has to be a win,” he said. “We haven’t lost here in a long time (14 straight wins) and I think that is something all the guys are taking pride in. Then it’s Senior Night.  It didn’t me until last night, ‘This might be my last game in BPS.’ It really does get you thinking. I think everyone has bought in. You can sit around and mope about last week or you can move on. I think we’ve all moved on.”

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Ben Kopenski teams with Kendal Daniels on the play.

Like Cassity, senior defensive end Ben Kopenski, a former walk-on that has achieved major playing status and a scholarship, can come back but he isn’t taking anything for granted.

“We always talk about defending Boone (Pickens Stadium) and we’re 6-0 this season,” Kopenski, who has 10 total tackles with 3.5 sacks, a pass deflected and eight quarterback hurries. “For our fans, the fans are a big part of it, we want that win for them and for us. It means a lot. I have another year and that is something that I am definitely considering after talking with my coaches and thinking about my future. It is still going to mean a lot for me to walk out on Senior Night with my teammates and family.”

Nose tackle Sione Asi does not have another year. Like defensive end Brock Martin, kicker Tanner Brown, wide receiver Braydon Johnson, and others he is a super senior. This is it. Asi, who is from Reno, Nev. originally is married and has a young daughter. His life has changed here a lot. He has been a dedicated and a major contributor in a tough position. Still, with all that he has experienced it feels like his time as a Cowboy football player has flown by.

Sione Asi

Asi with his wife and daughter.

“I agree. It has gone by fast and so much has happened, so many ups and downs,” Asi expressed. “A lot has happened, and I have grown a lot in my time here. This will always be a special place to me.”

It is a special place. That is why it is likely that a number of these guys could be back and walk again, just like the six players that will be walking again before the game with the Mountaineers. They walked before the Bedlam win in 2021. Obviously, quarterback Spencer Sanders is the player that most are curious about, but who will be back from this group to walk again before the season finale in 2023?

Seniors Walking for Saturday’s Senior Day (alphabetical order) 

• Can come back for another season

• Xavier Benson

• Lamont Bishop

• Braden Cassity

• Sean Michael Flanagan

• Alex Hale

• Thomas Harper

• Vance Hooper

• Tom Hutton

• Ben Kopenski

• Tyler Lacy

• Spencer Sanders

• Carson Shelton

• jason Taylor II

• Samuela Tuihalamaka

• Kanion Williams

• Hundter Woodard

• Zeke Zaragoza