Temerrick Johnson and Willie Nelson Earn Prestigious All-State Team in Texas

STILLWATER – Fans, especially fans of the recruiting process love to talk about stars, but those are given by people that are in business of getting subscriptions and believe me, money can get in the way of sound and fair judgement. Besides, do you want to honors coming in or going out. Over the years with recruiting classes that don’t earn as many stars or high ranking, the Cowboys have won a lot of games and their recruits have won a lot of legitimate honors for their senior season performance. 

Oklahoma State Athletics

Temerrick Johnson

Linebacker/defensive end Temerrick Johnson from Midlothian Heirtage and cornerback Willie Nelson from Longview were both named to the Texas Sports Writers Association first-team 2023 Texas 5A All-State team this week. David Kabongo was named to the honorable mention 6A All-State team on Saturday. 

This a a long standing and very legitimate All-State team were players, their performances, and coaches opinions weigh heavy on the selection process. Almost all of the Cowboys high school signees were honored for their performances and we documented that 14 of the 17 signees played on teams with winning records and that 10 of the players were on teams that won double digits and went deep into their state playoffs. 

The 6-3, 210-pound Johnson is already on campus and this past season had 50 total tackles, 17.5 of which were for loss. Johnson led Heritage in sacks with eight in 2023. Over his prep career he racked up 29.5 tackles for loss throughout his career along with 15 total sacks.

Longview News-Journal/Hudl

Nelson returning an interception.

Nelson, not to be confused with the famous country music crooner, is a 5-10, 170-pound ball hawking corner. He helped his team to a perfect 7-0 district record his senior year as he logged 50 total tackles with six pass breakups while pacing the team with six interceptions. Nelson returned two of those picks for touchdowns.

Nelson is also on the Oklahoma State campus this spring. 

Kabongo was part of an unbeaten team in the regular season at Trophy Club Byron Nelson H.S. He recorded 48 tackles, a dozen tackles for loss, two interceptions and a pair of sacks as a senior.