The News Tribune’s 2025 class of Northwest Nuggets — the region’s top football recruits
The News Tribune’s annual presentation of the Northwest Nuggets features the top high school football recruits from the region who are projected to make big impacts in college and perhaps eventually the NFL.
The 38th class includes five seniors from Washington and Oregon. All five signed with programs during the early signing period in December, and Bellevue offensive tackle Demetri Manning enrolled at Oregon on Dec. 27.
The TNT has been producing Northwest Nuggets — the longest-running recruiting package on the West Coast — since 1988. Including the 2025 class, 402 players have been honored, including 260 from Washington, 107 from Oregon, 29 from Idaho, five from Alaska and one from British Columbia.
THE NEWS TRIBUNE’S 2025 CLASS OF NORTHWEST NUGGETS
Jonathan Epperson
Auburn Riverside (Auburn, Wash.)
Linebacker, 6-0, 210
Signed to: Washington
Wherever Auburn Riverside coach Greg Herd lined Epperson up — running back, slot receiver, wide receiver, safety or linebacker — Epperson made a difference in his three years at Auburn Riverside. There’s some question whether Epperson is a safety or a linebacker at the next level at his size, but Herd sees the positional versatility as a plus. “I think for the longest time, people used the word ‘tweener’ as a bad term,” Herd said. “It’s grown into a compliment now. He has the ability to play in the box, from a physicality standpoint. He’s as quick as a cat and he’s as physical and strong as any high school kid is, too. … His ability to close as a tackler and his ability to strike (stand out). A lot of guys are swinging guys down, hitting guys but not stoning guys. He’s getting there quick and he’s finishing guys.” Epperson racked up 56 tackles, eight tackles for loss, had two sacks, two interceptions (including a pick six) and a fumble recovery last fall for the Ravens. Offensively, he had 511 yards and seven touchdowns on 64 carries and caught 18 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns. He’s considered a three-star recruit by 247sports.com and a four-star recruit in 247’s composite rankings. “He’s the ultimate team player and I think that’s why he’s going to succeed so much,” Herd said. “Super mature kid. He’s a great add to any locker room. He’s gonna do great things at UW.”
What 247sports.com national recruiting editor Brandon Huffman says: “He’s one of those guys that had to do a little bit of everything for Auburn Riverside this year. He has the size of a safety, but he’s a really good linebacker. He’ll be able to be used in a lot of packages. He’s a three-down backer who can cover. He’s a real leader, will be kind of the heart and soul of a defense. He’s an emotional leader-type as well.”
Demetri Manning
Bellevue (Bellevue, Wash.)
Offensive tackle, 6-7, 340
Enrolled at: Oregon
Bellevue coach Michael Kneip played on the offensive line at the University of Washington, but he never played with anybody as big as Demetri Manning, even in the Pac-12. At 6-foot-7 and over 300 pounds, Manning towered over his opponents at Bellevue, almost certainly a terrifying sight for the majority of the adolescent defensive ends who had to line up across from him. Kneip said Manning moves well for his size and improved as a downfield blocker over the course of his career, which included a Class 3A state championship in 2023 and a runner-up finish in 2024. “He can anchor so well. He’s a hard kid to bull rush. … He is fast, really coordinated. … Crazy, freak athlete for his size. You don’t see kids like that. … It’s hard to play O-line in our system, especially if you’re a big guy, to get to the linebacker and safeties. … It’s fun to maul guys when you’re young, but you start to realize, ‘If I block the safety or linebacker, the running back gets to score.’ When he got older, he saw the value in that.” Kneip also noted that he played both ways, appearing in around 110 of the 120 or so snaps in the state championship game against O’Dea last fall. Kneip also noted Manning has a jovial, infectious personality to match his size and a kind side, too. When the young daughter of one of Kneip’s assistant coaches was battling cancer this year, Manning gave her shoutouts on social media. Manning is considered a four-star prospect by 247sports.com and the No. 2 player in Washington in the 2025 class. He chose Oregon over offers from UW, Miami, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Arizona State and others. He played left tackle at Bellevue but projects as a guard in Eugene, given his size.
Huffman: “The growth he’s made from freshman year to senior year has been remarkable. He was a big body kid as a freshman and became a big, nasty lineman by his senior year. He has one of the biggest wing spans on anyone in the country. He’s a punishing run blocker. He’ll need to be a pass blocker more; he didn’t have to do much of that at Bellevue. … He’s 100 percent a guard all the way (at Oregon).”
Baron Naone
West Linn (West Linn, Ore.)
Tight end, 6-3, 230
Signed to: Washington
West Linn head coach Jon Eagle knows just how spoiled the Lions were with tight end Baron Naone on the roster and recognizes the impending fall back to reality when the four-star senior joins the University of Washington this fall. Naone dominated both sides of the football, an electric edge rusher who doubled as the state’s top pass-catching tight end. “He moves very well for a big guy,” Eagle told The News Tribune. “He’s very good at route running. He’s a very physical blocker, and we like the term – he sets the edge.” Naone’s lauded by coaches and scouts for his strong and dependable hands sure to keep the chains moving. The three-year varsity starter won state football titles (6A) with West Linn in 2022 and 2024 to cap his high school career as a two-time champion, and he’s considered the No. 2 prospect in Oregon per 247 Sports’ Composite Recruit Rankings after corralling 32 receptions for 363 yards and 14 touchdowns on a run-heavy West Linn offense in 2024. “He has a smile on his face every day,” Eagle said. “He never has a bad day. He does all the things as a coach that you want in a player.” Once an Oregon State commit – the alma mater of his father, Charles, a former Beavers DT in the 1980s — Naone decommitted in December 2023 after a whirlwind of coaching moves. That’s when nearby-Washington tipped the scales, and Naone found his landing spot from a group of 11 Division-I offers. Eagle: “Just the whole package. He’s very bright. He picks things up fast. We could do anything we wanted (schematically), really, because we only had to tell him once.”
Huffman: “Baron’s best football will be played in college. He’ll be utilized more in the passing game. At West Linn, early on, he was mostly a defensive end. He became their best receiver this year. Had a good week at the Polynesian Bowl. Very good route runner, pass catcher, athletic, rangy, a traditional all-around tight end. He won two state championships in football and potentially could win four in a row in baseball.”
Zaydrius Rainey-Sale
Bethel (Spanaway, Wash.)
Outside linebacker, 6-2, 220
Signed to: Washington
At the high school level, most of the jaw-dropping, “wow” type of plays come from players with the ball in their hands. But on the defensive side of the ball, Rainey-Sale delivered those types of plays all season long for the Bison, closing down space in the blink of an eye, blowing up plays with an almost freakish athleticism. The ideal blend of speed and size, Rainey-Sale’s quick first step and obsessive film study meant he was meeting ball carriers wherever they were on the field, sideline to sideline. When he hit them, they felt it. “He’s the real deal, the real package,” Bethel coach Travis Domser told The News Tribune in December. “If someone asked me what an NFL kid looked like … he would be it. … He runs to the football. He plays with reckless abandon. He plays at a high level, super fast all the time.” Just ask Jeff Logan, the head coach of Bethel’s district rival, Graham-Kapowsin. “He’s so damn fast,” Logan told the TNT during the season. “You can’t get away from him. You can clearly see why he was so highly coveted as a recruit out of high school at linebacker. He just does some incredibly special things, his first step is fast and he makes ground on everybody.” Rainey-Sale was the TNT’s 2024 All-Area player of the year and a TNT all-state selection. The 4A SPSL South division MVP had 98 tackles and an SPSL-leading 87 tackles in league play with four scores on defense, taking three interceptions back for touchdowns and one scooped fumble returned for a touchdown. At wide receiver on offense, had 10 touchdowns in 10 games. A near 4.0 student, Rainey-Sale is considered a four-star prospect and the No. 1 player in Washington in the 2025 class by 247sports.com, ranked No. 137 nationally on 247’s national rankings, is ranked the No. 128 player nationally in ESPN’s Top 300 list and the No. 226 player in Rival’s Top 250 list. Committed to Washington twice in the recruiting process, initially committing to Kalen DeBoer’s Huskies before re-committing later to Jedd Fisch’s program. Chose the Huskies over Oregon, Alabama, Miami, Texas and others.
Huffman: “The most intriguing thing about him is the fact that he didn’t turn 17 until November. The ACL tear probably keeps him out — unless he has a really fast recovery — he may not play as a true freshman. With his size, skill set, athleticism, he will be an impact player. He was the clear-cut top player in the state. It’s a huge (recruiting) victory for Washington.”
Zac Stascausky
Central Catholic (Portland, Ore.)
Offensive tackle, 6-6, 275
Signed to: Oregon
As Central Catholic head coach Charlie Landgraf surfs through season highlights and compiles “teach tape” for film study this fall, Zac Stascausky appears everywhere. The 6-foot-6, 275-pound left tackle established the screen game, bolstered inside zone schemes and was equally good at pass protection — the foundational piece who made everything go for the Rams offense. “Two years from now, I can pull a practice film of Zac and say, ‘Hey, this is the standard,’” Landgraf said, who considers the four-star lineman Oregon’s most dominant player. Scouts agree: Stascausky was named the 6A Mt. Hood Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and is Oregon’s top recruit in the 2025 class, per 247 Sports. He was a focal point in every Rams game plan, someone who practiced like he played and elevated the standard for teammates. “He’s got that nastiness that you want out of an offensive lineman,” Landgraf said. “I mean, there’s times where he’s on the back side of outside zone and he’s got his guy 40 yards downfield. That’s just his commitment to doing things right all the time.” Central Catholic’s head coach remembers when a freshman Stascausky joined the football program in 2021 when Landgraf was the offensive line coach and the budding lineman aspired to play basketball. His coach insisted: “Hey, man, you’ve got an opportunity to be pretty special if you put on some weight and commit to the football thing.” A year later, Stascausky was starting on Central Catholic’s front five, and it’s now safe to say things worked out. He is No. 166 on 247’s National Recruit Rankings and No. 260 on 247’s Composite Rankings. Thought to be a multi-year Power 4 starter, Stascausky fielded some 16 Division-I offers before signing with the University of Oregon, the school and team he grew up rooting for. “He was a Ducks fan growing up, his grandpa was really involved at Oregon, his mom was a big Oregon fan … so Oregon has kind of always been in the family,” Landgraf said. “And so I think for him, that was super cool.”
Huffman: “He was probably the most improved offensive player in the region going from junior year to this year, becoming a badass. He’s playing through the whistle, sometimes after the whistle. That nasty streak, he looks like a prototypical left tackle, but he can play either tackle spot.”
BEST OF THE REST
TE Noah Flores, Graham-Kapowsin (Graham, Wash.)
Signed to: UCLA
S D’Aryhian Clemons, Spanaway Lake (Spanaway, Wash.)
Signed to: Washington
OL Willi Wascher, Bellevue (Bellevue, Wash.)
Signed to: USC
ATH T’Andre Waverly, Kamiak (Mukilteo, Wash.)
Signed to: Oregon State
DL Dominic Macon, Adrienne C. Nelson (Happy Valley, Ore.)
Signed to: Washington
TE Jackson Doman, Canby (Canby, Ore.)
Signed to: BYU
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "The News Tribune’s 2025 class of Northwest Nuggets — the region’s top football recruits."
