2022 WR Chase Sowell generating offers, interest after breakout performance

Not many people knew about Chase Sowell when Humble Atascocita opened the 2021 football season.

That has certainly changed since Friday.

Atascocita went into Eagle Stadium and knocked off perennial power Allen, handing Allen its first ever loss inside its $60 million stadium that opened in 2012 and snapping an 84-game regular season winning streak that began in Kyler Murray’s first ever varsity start. Sowell played a major role in a victory that has everybody across the state talking.

The senior receiver emerged as the go-to target for Atascocita senior quarterback Gavin Session during Friday night’s game. Sowell grabbed seven passes for 182 yards and a whopping four touchdowns, taking advantage of how Allen defended him and the rest of the Atascocita offense.

“We noticed that they were double-teaming our other great receiver, Keith Wheeler. They were double-teaming him the whole game, so we were just trying to go one-on-one with their DBs,” Sowell explained. “We were doing a lot of vertical routes past them and stuff like that. Taking shots.”

Sowell broke out in a big way as he made big catch after big catch against the Allen defense. One of his four scores came at the very end of the first half when Atascocita threw a deep ball to Sowell to give the visiting team a three-point lead going into halftime.

The performance caught the attention of many on Friday night. Sowell immediately became the talk of Texas high school football after playing a key part in Atascocita breaking Allen’s regular season winning streak. Coaches from programs around the country began to hit him up soon after the game on Friday concluded.

Sowell was a relative unknown in the recruiting world before Friday. A talented baseball player that holds opportunities to play the sport on the next level, Sowell spent the summer playing on the diamond instead of attending prospect camps.

“Most of the summer, my recruiting for football wasn’t really that high because baseball. I didn’t go to really any camps or anything like that,” Sowell said. “I was just basically doing stuff at the school, doing my stuff like lifting and working with the team, and stuff like that.”

Just hours following his performance against Allen, Northern Iowa and UTSA became the first two programs to extend a scholarship offer to the class of 2022 wideout. Sowell said that other programs have been in contact since Friday, as well.

“I wasn’t really expecting (the offers),” Sowell said with a laugh. “I was expecting a few calls or whatever, not really any offers. But it was great (to receive the offers).”

Sowell made the trip to Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday for the first game of the Steve Sarkisian era at Texas. He has talked with both the football staff and the baseball staff at UT and said that he enjoyed the game.

“The environment was crazy,” Sowell said. “I was down there (on the field) before pregame, just watching all the players, how big they were, how strong they were, how fast they were. The fans and the energy before the game and after the game was just crazy. It was just a great environment overall.”

Sowell’s father, Ronnie Sowell, played baseball at Florida and the younger Sowell is a highly regarded baseball player in his own right. He does hope to play both sports in college, but he is just looking for the best fit as his recruitment begins to heat up. Relationships will ultimately be the biggest factor.

“Obviously, I’m looking at relationships (with the coaching staff). That’s how I am going to stay at the school, build with the coaches, fall in love with the school. This is where I am going to be for the next four years of my life, so I don’t want to go somewhere that I don’t want to be or where I am not wanted,” Sowell said.

“Relationships are the best thing for me.”