TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Northeastern State football coach Rob Robinson today announced the signing of nine high school seniors to national letters of intent for the 2014 season.
 
NSU has added seven players from the state of Oklahoma and two from the state of Missouri. The class features four offensive players, four defensive players and one running back/linebacker.
 
The RiverHawks finished the 2013 campaign 2-9 overall and 2-8 in the MIAA.

Video of Steve Patterson
Video of Bradley Thomas
Video of Rob Robinson

NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH ROB ROBINSON
Statement…
"The class we have this year is an MIAA class. It's very thin right now as far as numbers, but that's to go with the timeline we were working with. Recruiting starts earlier these days and it's hard to get in on a player when you had to start a little later than everybody else like we did this year. We will continue to recruit after signing day to get our numbers up where they need to be. We have a few late qualifiers on our big board that we are going after.  I've been in this situation before with late qualifiers. Sometimes those guys end up being your best players. Overall, our class as a whole is filled with MIAA-caliber players. The big thing we have got to start addressing here is getting the quality of kids we need to compete in this league."
 
On recruiting the state of Oklahoma…
"I was very happy with all the Oklahoma players we were able to sign. They came with the relationships we were able to establish, and a lot of them were pre-established before I was here. We were happy they let us in their schools and allowed us to talk to them. We didn't do as good a job locally because a lot of it was based on position needs. There are a lot of quality players in the area that were in more of the skill department that we probably missed out on. We had to recruit for what our needs are and not just recruiting great players at certain positions. You'll see some kids from around this area that are going other places, and that fires me up. I'm not happy with that, but that's just the nature of the beast and where we're at. The big players will be gone early, because that's always the biggest need in this league. We didn't have time to get some of the skill players because those positions weren't high on our board."
 
Below is a list of all the newest members of the NSU football team (in alphabetical order).
 
Kevin Bell – DB – 6-0, 175 – Lawton, Okla. (Lawton HS)
Kevin Bell comes to Northeastern State from Lawton, Okla., where he was coached by Randy Breeze. Bell was an all-district performer during his senior year. He is the son of Kevin T. Bell, Sr., and plans to study kinesiology at NSU.
 
Quincy Dotson – DE – 6-3, 205 – Oklahoma City, Okla. (Millwood HS)
Quincy Dotson competed at Millwood High School, and was coached by Darwin Franklin. As a senior, he registered 57 tackles and four sacks. He also had three forced fumbles and three fumbles recovered. He also had 163 yards receiving and three touchdowns on 10 receptions. He scored a touchdown following a fumble recovery and scored a touchdown following a punt block. Dotson also won a 3A state championship in basketball as a junior. He plans to major in accounting at NSU and is the son of Tonya Dotson and Quincy Smith.
 
Jacob Drysdale – TE – 6-3, 220 – Arnold, Mo. (Fox HS)
Jacob Drysdale competed at Fox High School under the tutelage of Brent Tinker. He was named to the all-state second team senior year. Other accolades earned in 2013 included landing on the all-conference first team, the KJFF Missouri Dream Team and the Suburban West All-District First Team. He was a first-team all-district performer in basketball and an all-conference pitcher and third baseman junior year. He is the son of Jon and Sheila Drysdale.
 
Josh Farley – OL – 6-2, 280 – Norman, Okla. (Norman HS)
Josh Farley competed at Norman High School under the tutelage of Greg Nation. He was an All-6A-4 district honorable mention and an All-Mid State Conference honorable mention his senior year. Farley is the son of Andrea Lay and Jeff and Jennifer Farley. He is planning to study biology at NSU with an emphasis in wildlife and fisheries management.
 
Tazden Jevons – RB/LB – 6-0, 205 – Dibble, Okla. (Dibble HS)
Tazden Jevons competed at Dibble High School under J.R. Conrad. He was named an all-state kick returner as a junior by the Daily Oklahoman. He was also a three-time all-conference honorable mention selection and the team's defensive co-MVP senior year. For his career, Jevons recorded 3,521 rushing yards and 52 rushing touchdowns. He had 222 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. He also registered seven kickoff return TD's. On the defensive side of the ball, he had 323 career tackles (87 for loss), six sacks, six interceptions, and three INT's returned for touchdown. He was a member of the Dibble squad that won the 2011 district championship. He also competed in track and won the 3A state championship in the 100m dash as a junior. Jevons is the son of Stephen and Kathleen Jevons.
 
Brandon Jones – DT – 5-11, 290 – Midwest City, Okla. (Midwest City HS)
Brandon Jones was an all-state selection by the Oklahoma Coaches Association his senior year at Midwest City High School. He was coached by Darrell Hall. Jones was also landed All-Big City First Team accolades from The Oklahoman. He was second on the team with 77 tackles and registered a team-leading 10 sacks as a senior. He also recorded 50 tackles and seven sacks his junior year. Jones plans to pursue a degree at NSU in criminal justice. He is the son of James Jones and Tammy LeSure.
 
Payton Rawlins – QB – 6-1, 200 – Seneca, Mo. (Seneca HS)
Payton Rawlins competed at Seneca High School under Dan Scheible. He was named to the Missouri Football Coaches Association All-State Class 3 First Team and the Missouri Sportswriters All-State Class 3 First Team as a senior. He picked up MFCA All-District 3-4 First Team honors both junior and senior years, and the Springfield News Leader named him to the All-Ozark Class 3 First Team as a senior. He was named to the Southwest Missouri Football Coaches Association All-Area First Team and the Big 8 Conference First Team senior year. He also picked up multiple postseason accolades for three years as the team's punter. During his senior year, Rawlins led Seneca to the Class 3 State Championship game and an 11-4 record. He threw for 2,865 yards and 24 touchdowns his senior year, completing 174-of-279 passes. As a junior, he threw for 1,943 yards and 28 touchdowns, completing 118-of-207 passes. For his career, Rawlins registered 6,080 passing yards and amassed 82 total touchdowns. He was a member of the baseball team and also picked up all-state accolades on the diamond his junior year. He is the son of David and Jackie Rawlins.
 
Cole Ridgway – OT – 6-2, 290 – Norman, Okla. (Norman HS)
Cole Ridgway was an all-district and all-conference performer at Norman High School under Greg Nation. He is the son of Kimberly Ridgway and is planning on studying accounting at Northeastern State.
 
Ryan Woolman – DE – 6-2, 265 – Locust Grove, Okla. (Locust Grove HS)
Ryan Woolman was an all-state selection by both the Daily Oklahoman and the Tulsa World as a senior playing for Locust Grove High School under Matt Hennesy. He registered 136 tackles and nine sacks, while also being named the district offensive lineman of the year. He was named to the all-district team on both sides of the ball and was also named all-metro, all-county and all-conference by the Tulsa World. Woolman is the son of Milt Woolman and Stacy Thomas.
 
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