BY DON WILLIAMS l AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Kedrick Dial’s team beat JaQwaylin Arps’ team last season in the third round of the state playoffs. Now the two could be teammates instead of adversaries the next four or five years.

Dial, a defensive end from state champion Sulphur Springs, and Arps, a defensive end from Denison, both made oral commitments to Texas Tech over the weekend. They were among a large group of recruits in for the Red Raiders’ annual spring game at Jones AT&T Stadium.

“I loved the environment,’’ Arps said Sunday. “Everybody seemed happy. The coaches all were excited that I was there. I just really loved it.’’

Dial said he is 6-foot-5 1/2 and 215 pounds and was timed last week at 4.66 seconds in the 40-yard sprint. Arps said he is 6-3 and 219 and has run a 4.78 40. Both said Tech is recruiting them to play defensive end.

“Their school was so nice, and the people were all so nice,’’ Dial said. “They were all out there: They greeted me. They showed me around. They had a lot of good people there. The education that they had was good also, and I really liked it.’’

Dial’s team went 14-2 last season on the way to winning the Class 4A Division II state championship, a first for Sulphur Springs. A first-year varsity player, Dial was credited with 27 tackles, seven sacks, 19 quarterback pressures, a caused fumble and two pass breakups.

Dial said Nebraska, Kansas, Texas A&M and Minnesota also had made him scholarship offers. But after Tech made him an offer about two weeks ago, Dial said he thought he might do something this weekend.

“I already had a good feeling about Texas Tech,’’ he said. “I knew I was going to commit. Tech is a great school, and I didn’t want to be that far away from home.’’

Last month, Dial was named second-team all-District 13-4A in basketball, and he’s also high jumped 6-foot.

Arps’ Denison team had a 12-0 record until it ran up against Sulphur Springs in a 4A Division II regional semifinal at Texas Stadium, but the Yellowjackets lost 42-21.

Arps said he’s been offered a scholarship by Kansas and has gotten recruiting attention from a number of schools, including Oklahoma State, Duke, Northwestern, Colorado State, Colorado and UCLA.

Arps started on both the offensive and defensive lines last season and received first-team all-District 9-4A and honorable mention all-state on both the Associated Press Sports Editors and Texas Sports Writers Association teams. All those honors were for his play at offensive tackle. The Yellowjackets averaged 44.8 points per game.

Both pledges said they feel comfortable committing to Tech, but might look at other schools.

“I might visit other schools,’’ Arps said, “but I don’t think any other schools will outdo Tech’s offer.’’

Oral commitments are non-binding until the national signing period begins next February.

Tech commitments

The following players have given non-binding oral commitments to Texas Tech:

Scotty Young, 6-3, 190, QB, Denton Ryan; Aaron Spikes, 5-10, 185, RB, Dallas Pinkston; Troy Baker, 6-6, 290, OL, Waco Connally; Jackson Richards, 6-4, 247, DE, Southlake Carroll; Kedrick Dial, 6-51/2, 215, DE, Sulphur Springs; JaQwaylin Arps, 6-3, 219, DE, Denison; Zach Winbush, 6-2, 205, LB, Schertz Clemens.

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