OKBlitz.com Top 30 -- Zack Langer, Jenks High School
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Kyle Dierking
OKBlitz.com Mobile Journalist

JENKS, Oklahoma -- One of Jenks' greatest contributors didn't enter the season with a lot of press. In fact, Jenks' Zack Langer began last season as a back-up.

Further hurting his chances at being an impact player was the pain in his shoulder. He played almost all of last season with a torn labrum.

“If I got hit there it would hurt for a while,” Langer says of the injury, “but some games I really didn’t get hit in the shoulder so I really didn’t feel the pain.”

Really, it was opposing defenses that were hurting. Langer rushed for 2,446 yards and 38 touchdowns last season, including an eye-popping performance against Bartlesville where he ran for 294 yards and seven touchdowns.

Langer had offseason shoulder surgery and has fully recovered from the injury he suffered in his first start against Union last September.

Since the season ended, his footwork and speed has improved and Langer says his legs are a lot stronger. You might also see him catch more passes, which is another intangible the senior says is better.

Langer says he isn’t focused on his personal numbers though – just two glaring ones – losing in the state title game to Union the last two seasons.

“We want to win a state championship – there’s no greater feeling than that,” Langer said. “It sucked the last two years losing in the state championship game.”

Langer’s strong performance in 2009 had colleges taking notice. He is verbally committed to play football at the University of Tulsa.

“Tulsa’s a great fit for me I believe,” Langer said. “It’s right here in town, it’s close to my house and it’s a really good program. I think they’re getting a lot better and coach (Todd) Graham is a really good guy.”
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OKBlitz.com Bio -- Zack Langer

Height: 6’0"
Weight: 190 pounds

Favorite Food: Pizza
Favorite Video Game: Madden NFL series
Listening to Right Now: New hip hop and rap
Role Model: Adrian Peterson
Favorite Movie: 300