Five Players Added to Roster

Oregon State head football coach Mike Riley announced Tuesday the addition of five walkons to the 2014 football roster. Joining the Beavers for the opening of practice Mon., Aug. 4 will be offensive lineman Mason Johnson, long snapper Connor Kelsey, fullback Iona Pritchard and wide receivers Drew Kell and Gabe Ovgard.

Johnson, Kelsey, Kell and Ovgard are true freshmen while Pritchard is a post-graduate fifth-year senior from BYU.

Johnson (6-1, 308) is a graduate of Kentlake High School in Kent, Wash. He was named the offensive lineman of the year last season for the South Puget Sound League 4A division. In addition to first team honors on offense, he earned the same accolades as a defensive lineman making him the only player in the conference with that distinction.

Kelsey (5-11, 211) arrives on the OSU campus from Carpinteria High School in California, located near Santa Barbara. He was named Carpinteria’s special teams player of the year the last two seasons and was selected All-Tri Valley League and to the News-Press All-County Team.

Kell (6-1, 183) is the brother of former Beaver defensive end four-year letterman Devon Kell.  Drew missed most of his senior year at Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis with a knee injury after transferring from his home state of Hawai’i.

Ovgard (5-10, 181) is a graduate of Klamath Union High School in Klamath Falls, Ore. He was one of the state’s top sprinters and long jumpers last year after winning multiple prep titles at Triad Christian in Klamath Falls as a junior. He also excelled at basketball.

Pritchard is the older brother of Beaver redshirt-freshman defensive end Baker Pritchard, who also transferred to OSU from BYU.  Iona played 30 games for the Cougars and graduated spring term with a degree in philosophy with a minor in business and by doing so is immediately eligible to play his final season at OSU. He is the second Beaver to be added to the roster this summer after graduating from their previous institution joining former California tight end Jacob Wark.

OSU officials expect to announce the full roster later this week on osubeavers.com. Practice for the 2014 season officially begins at 10:20 a.m. Monday at the Tommy Prothro Football Complex. The public is invited to attend all practices.

Season tickets remain available in all sections of the stadium. Purchases can be made by contacting the ticket office via this link, or during business hours at Gill Coliseum or at 1-800-GO-BEAVS. The seven-game home schedule includes the 118th edition of the Civil War, presented by The Oregon College Savings Plan, PacificSource Health Plans, Your Local Ford Stores, Wells Fargo and McDonald’s. The remainder of the home slate includes Portland State, San Diego State, Utah, California, Washington State and Arizona State.