By Bryce McKinnis
Khalil Stoker, a Daniel Webster High School freshman, plays football and basketball for the Warriors.
“It’s going good,” Stoker said. “It’s a little bit harder and a longer game. They’re [opposing players] a little bigger and a little tougher and speed. It’s a deeper playbook, a little.”
Stoker, a wide receiver, plays alongside his twin brother, Jeremiah, on Webster’s spread offense.
“I’ve been coaching these two guys since they were in seventh grade now. They will be freshmen this year,” Webster head coach Everett Davis said, “and as a coach, you always have that one guy you like, ‘I wish I had another him’ or something along the lines of that, and here at Webster, I have just that: two wonderful athletes that are just the same.”
If you ask either of them, they might say otherwise.
“We’re very competitive,” Khalil said. “Like, breaking tackles, running the ball harder and juking, I’ve got to show him that I’m faster. We make each other better.”
Khalil considers himself better on his feet, creating space with his shifty moves and heads-up ball-carrying. Jeremiah, he said, is more of a bruiser.
“His best skill is running the ball hard,” Jeremiah said.
Khalil spent the offseason laboring in the weight room, increasing his max on several lifts, sharpening his footwork and boosting his speed. He’s not a finished product yet, but he entered his debut season prepared for whatever the game throws at him. His goal for this season is to reach 1,000 yards. For his high school career, it’s to surpass his cousin, Jenks High School receiver Kaylib Barnett.
“I want to be faster than him,” Khalil said. “He’s one of the top receivers in the country.”
Both Stoker brothers also play basketball for the Warriors. Khalil’s ambition is to become a college football player alongside Jeremiah.
“We’ll be top players and we’ll be known,” Khalil said. “We’re going to be the first in our immediate family to go to college.”
Khalil considers his uncle Gabriel his greatest inspiration.
“He’s a good person and he takes care of us,” Khalil said.
