All-State football team: Stillwater's Jesse Vester takes pride for playing a part in the Pioneers' turnaround

“We were sitting in the locker room after the Ponca City game, and one of our assistants who is from Owasso came in yelling, ‘Oh my God; Owasso just beat Union,'” Vester said. “So that's when we realized that was gonna be a pretty big game for us.”

Vester cites playing as a freshman as one of this proudest, most memorable achievements at Stillwater.

“That was pretty big for me,” Vester said. “Not many at Stillwater have gotten to play as freshmen, and those are guys like Matt Holliday and Josh Fields.”

Vester is still adapting to life without high school football, and it hasn't been easy, he said.

“We've been at the basketball games, and hearing the band play some of the same things they play at the football games is kinda heartbreaking,” Vester said.

“But life goes on. There's no better feeling than Friday nights; I'm gonna miss it, but bigger and better things are coming.”

He's hoping those bigger and better things are a college football scholarship.

“I've been in contact with Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Wyoming, Kansas and a couple small schools,” Vester said. “I just want to play football and get a chance to show what I can do, at any level. That's just the biggest goal for me.”