Practice Report: Jenks

Here at Prep Redzone Oklahoma, we’re dedicated to bringing you the most in-depth and widespread coverage of Oklahoma high school football. Every week, we’ll have practice reports, featuring some of the best teams in the state as they prepare for a big game on Friday night. We’ll give a breakdown on how the team is doing, how some of the top stars are shining and who are some of their breakout performers. This report features 6A-D1 #1 Jenks as they set their sights on getting a little revenge against 6A-D2’s #3 Bixby. <strong>Last Week - Beat Springdale Har-Ber, AR. 31-15</strong> Led by six turnovers on the defensive side of the ball, Jenks dominated Springdale Har-Ber from start to finish in a 31-15 win. Jenks hit a few bumps in the road on their way to the win but the visitors from Arkansas were never a threat to the Trojans. Jenks jumped out early and led from start to finish. "I was pleased with where we were at considering everything that’s happened," head coach Keith Riggs said. "We probably had a little more rust than usual for a week one game but that’s to be expected after the spring and summer we’ve had." Jenks’ defense finished with five interceptions and one fumble recovery to dominate the game. <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>INDIVIDUAL SPOTLIGHT</strong></span> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="48281" first="Grant" last="Lohr"] - 2021 Running Back/Safety</strong> The biggest question with Jenks coming into the season was who was going to replace Will Cox. The former Trojan standout was the breakout star last season. This year, we might have that answer already. [player_tooltip player_id="48281" first="Grant" last="Lohr"] has emerged as a big play candidate for the Trojans. He totaled over 120 yards of total offense last week. He won’t be alone at running back, as he’ll split carries. That will open up Lohr to also make plays on the defensive side of the ball. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38514" first="Jayden" last="Patrick"] - 2021 Wide Receiver/Cornerback</strong> We wrote about [player_tooltip player_id="38514" first="Jayden" last="Patrick"] last week in our <strong><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/08/uncommitted-spotlight-week-zero/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Uncommitted Spotlight</a></strong> piece. He had a breakout season as a junior on the defensive side of the ball. However, the Jenks coaches knew that he had the potential to be a home run threat on the offensive side as well. He hadn’t played wide receiver in several years but he’s already made a big impact in the first couple weeks of the season. However, his biggest impact is still as a shutdown corner. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38806" first="Milton" last="White"] - 2023 Offensive Lineman</strong> Jenks has a wealth of talent returning from last year’s team. The senior class has several players that are big time prospects. However, we got a good look at the future on Friday night. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="38806" first="Milton" last="White"] has established himself as a starter along the offensive line. White has great size and the fact that he’s been able to burst into the lineup on a team this loaded with talent should say something. Circle this name and remember it for years to come. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38530" first="Stephen" last="Kittleman"] - 2021 Quarterback</strong> Jenks starting quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="38530" first="Stephen" last="Kittleman"] is more confident and more comfortable in that role as he heads into year two as the starter. Kittleman showed that in their season-opening victory, throwing for a pair of touchdowns early in the game. That’s the biggest difference in Kittleman’s game as we look at him going into this season. He knows what to expect, what his role is in this offense and this should be a good year for the Trojan offense. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38621" first="Tyson" last="Ward"] - 2021 Linebacker</strong> Arguably the top performers from Jenks’ win over Springdale Har-Ber was senior linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="38621" first="Tyson" last="Ward"]. The linebacker standout led the team with 15 tackles. He also got in on the interception mix with a pick six in the victory. Ward was one of the best tacklers in Oklahoma as a junior. He has certainly picked up where he left off last season. When it comes to recruiting, Ward is certainly an available prospect to watch in Oklahoma’s 2021 class. <strong>This Week - AT 6A-D2’s #3 Bixby</strong> This game is going to be one of the best in week one. It wasn’t a great game in 2019 as Bixby absolutely shredded the Trojans in a 57-7 blowout. However, that was a year ago. And all Jenks has heard since then was the 50-point beatdown at the hands of the Spartans and you know they’ll be ready to go on Friday. "We actually haven’t talked about it, we don’t need to talk about it," Riggs said. "These kids that played in the game last year remember what that felt like." On the other side of the match-up, Bixby started their season in style with a dominating 34-0 win over Union. Bixby has certainly closed the gap in this rivalry with Jenks. We aren’t expecting a blowout for either side, but we are expecting a very good game.