Road To Wantland - Jenks Trojans

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! The Class 6A-D1 state championship is set for 1PM on Saturday night at UCO’s Wantland Stadium. We’ll see a familiar face in the Jenks Trojans, but their opponent is somewhat surprising after Edmond Santa Fe beat Union in the semifinals on Saturday, making it to their first title game in almost two decades. Prep Redzone Oklahoma will have preview content throughout the week to get you ready for Saturday afternoon’s title game. In this latest post, we take a look at the "Road To Wantland" for the Jenks Trojans, looking back at their 2020 season. Preseason - Ranked Number 1 Coming into the 2020 season, Jenks was ranked at the top of our preseason 6A-D1 rankings. The Trojans were number one after a runner up finish in 2019 and they would bring back 13 starters from that team. Quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="38530" first="Stephen" last="Kittleman"] would return for his second year as QB1. The Trojans returned eight starters on the defensive side of the ball. The offensive line was anchored by Oklahoma State commit [player_tooltip player_id="38493" first="Logan" last="Nobles"]. They had an absolute star in [player_tooltip player_id="38514" first="Jayden" last="Patrick"], a shutdown cornerback who would also line up and play receiver for the Trojans in 2020. The biggest question about the 2020 Trojans would be around the running back and who would replace Will Cox, the breakout star from the 2019 Trojans. We would get that answer very quickly as the season began. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="48281" first="Grant" last="Lohr"] would take over that spot and made an impact immediately. August 28 - Beat Springdale Har-Ber, AR. 31-15 It’s 2020 and I’m sure there were several times earlier this year when many people thought we wouldn’t have a high school football season. However, the Trojans opened the 2020 campaign on time in week zero but against a replacement opponent. In late July, the UIL announced that their larger schools would not start their season on time. That would cancel Jenks’ opener against Mansfield Summit. Within a day or two, Jenks would find a replacement in Springdale Har-Ber out of Arkansas. Jenks would start out the season with a 31-15 victory behind a dominating performance from their defense. The Trojans would force six turnovers in the win, including five interceptions and one that would be returned for a touchdown by senior linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="38621" first="Tyson" last="Ward"]. The Trojans led 17-7 at halftime but a [player_tooltip player_id="48281" first="Grant" last="Lohr"] touchdown and the Ward pick six would put the game away in the third quarter. September 4 - Lost To Bixby 42-35 After not only losing to Bixby in 2019 but being absolutely blown out, this was a game that the Trojans had circled on their calendar before the season began. Last year, they lost 57-7 to Bixby and had to deal with that for a year. This week one battle would be much closer but ultimately it was Bixby getting their second straight win over the Trojans for the first time in over five decades. The Trojans would jump out to a 21-7 lead but the Spartans and their offensive firepower was too much to overcome. In less than three minutes, the Spartans would score three touchdowns to take a 28-21 lead into the halftime locker room. While Jenks would have several rallies, the Spartans would prevail behind big performances from senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="38531" first="Mason" last="Williams"] and junior running back [player_tooltip player_id="38679" first="Braylin" last="Presley"]. The 42 points given up to Bixby were the most given up by the Trojans all year. The loss would drop Jenks to 1-1 on the season and they would look to bounce back the next week against rival Union in the Backyard Bowl. September 11 - Beat Union 28-0 Jenks would get back on the right track with a shutout win over rival Union. The game was held at Allan Trimble Stadium, the first time Jenks had hosted Union on their home field in decades. Similar to the Bixby game, Jenks would get out to a fast start but this time, there was no comeback by the opponent. In fact, it was a shutout for the Jenks defense. The first shutout in this series since 2003, when Union shut out Jenks in the regular season. Patrick would be the star of the game for the Trojans in this one. He caught a touchdown and also threw a touchdown in the first half. And as if that wasn’t enough, when Union did have a scoring threat, it was Patrick that came up with an interception in the end zone to prevent Union from scoring. Jenks would lead 21-0 at halftime, added another score in the second half and would cruise to the victory. Jenks ended non-district play at 2-1 and would have the following week off before district play would begin on the road against Enid. September 25 - Enid Game Cancelled After a bye week following their 2-1 start during non-district play, Jenks hit the road to face Enid in the district opener. However, as you see above, this game never happened. And while we had many games in 2020 get cancelled every week, not many were cancelled roughly 45 minutes before kickoff. Jenks had made the two hour drive to Enid, warmed up on the field and were told that the game would have to be postponed. Eventually, no make up date happened so the district opener was cancelled. Enid made the decision after Guthrie announced multiple positive tests. And with Enid having played Guthrie in JV football earlier in the week, several of Enid’s players had come in contact with the infected Guthrie players. So the Trojans would have to get back on the bus and wait another week to continue their 2020 campaign. October 2 - Beat Broken Arrow 38-30 It wasn’t the ideal situation for the Trojans going into week five and a district clash with Broken Arrow. This was a Tiger team that had beaten them the year before. Jenks hadn’t played since September 11th after having a bye week in week three and week four being called off. However, Broken Arrow was in the same boat. Their week four game against Westmoore was cancelled. The Tigers also had a bye week in week three. The time off didn’t slow down Broken Arrow because the Tigers got off to a fast start. They would lead Jenks 17-0 early on. Jenks would have to rally to win, snapping a three-game losing streak to the Tigers. Jenks should be used to close battles with Broken Arrow as last year’s meeting went down to the wire as well. Jenks would go up 38-30 but would have to survive to get the win. They would force an incompletion on fourth down from their 22-yard line to secure the win. The win over Broken Arrow put Jenks in control of their own destiny when it came to the district standings. October 8 - Beat Norman 42-13 Following a dramatic win over rival Broken Arrow, the Trojans would have a short week to prepare for a road game against Norman on a Thursday night. Despite the short week, and despite five turnovers, Jenks was never in danger as they would beat up on Norman, winning 42-13. Kittleman would connect with Patrick for three touchdowns, all of them coming in the first half. The Trojans would improve to 4-1 on the season but more importantly 2-0 in district play. Jenks on the road back home shifted their focus to the next week with a top five showdown against Edmond Santa Fe. October 15 - Edmond Santa Fe Game Cancelled Week seven rolled around and we had Fall Break. Most schools would take the field on Thursday this week as opposed to the usual Friday night. And Jenks-Edmond Santa Fe was a game that a lot of people had circled on their calendars. Us included, it was one of our top games of the week. Santa Fe stunned Jenks near the end of the 2019 regular season and that helped the Wolves capture the district title. However, we wouldn’t get the rematch as Jenks announced two days before the game was supposed to happen that they would have to postpone. The game was ultimately cancelled. The Trojans had several players and coaches test positive for Covid and were in isolation and the team would not be able to play on Thursday night. Of course, now we know that we’ll end up seeing this match-up after all. And there is a bigger prize then just a district title on the line. October 23 - Beat Yukon 38-7 Jenks would get back on the field the following week and would have a test against Yukon that they passed with flying colors, winning 38-7. Lohr would end up having a huge performance but the Trojan defense should certainly be spotlighted for their performance against the Yukon flexbone attack. Jenks would march down and score on their opening possession of the game. Yukon answered just a couple plays later and tied the game at 7. However, Jenks would shut out the Millers from that point forward. Lohr’s performance came on both sides of the ball. On offense, he finished with a pair of touchdowns and nearly 100 yards rushing. On defense, he had two interceptions, one of which he took back for the score. The win would push Jenks to 5-1 and 3-0 in district play with just two more games to go in the regular season. October 30 - Beat Edmond Memorial 48-6 Jenks would head west for a week nine meeting with Edmond Memorial. There wasn’t much drama before or during the game as Edmond Memorial had struggled all year, they would end up 0-10 on the season. Jenks would roll from the start with a 48-6 victory. The defense was once again dominant in the victory. They didn’t give up more than 150 yards of total offense in the win. The offensive side of the ball featured a very balanced attack from the passing and running game. Lohr would run for three touchdowns in the win. Kittleman threw for nearly 200 yards and played nearly flawless football. With the win, Jenks improved to 6-1 and 4-0 in district play but with only one week left, it would appear that the Edmond Santa Fe cancellation would have a major impact on the playoffs. November 5 - Beat Westmoore 49-21 For the second straight week, Jenks would load up the busses and head west on I-44. The Trojans would square off with Westmoore on a short week, playing on Thursday night. Most of the attention that night was on Bixby as they were playing Booker T Washington on ESPN. However, the Trojans would dominate Westmoore with a 49-21 victory. The Jaguars would keep the game close in the beginning. They were tied with the Trojans at 14 but it was all Jenks after that. Jenks would score the next 35 points to lead 49-14. Lohr and Patrick combined for six touchdowns on the night. Patrick finished with two touchdown catches and also a pick six on the first Westmoore possession of the game. Lohr also finished with three touchdowns, all three coming on the ground. Jenks was now 7-1 and 5-0 in district play. They would have to wait for Friday night as Edmond Santa Fe played Norman. If the game was played and Santa Fe won, Jenks would end up as the second seed out of the district. Jenks needed Norman to pull off the week ten upset. First Round - Beat Moore 51-19 Edmond Santa Fe would beat Norman and with a 6-0 district record, would be the district champ and receive the one seed. Jenks with a 5-0 record would have to settle for the two seed. For the second straight year and the third time in the last four, Jenks would face Moore in the playoffs. And the Trojans would roll again. Last year, the Moore win punched their ticket to the state title game. This year, it was in the added first round game. Jenks would dominate once again from the start, rolling to a 51-19 victory over the visiting Lions. Kittleman would throw four touchdowns and only had three incompletions on the night. He also added a touchdown on the ground as the Jenks offense rolled to the quarterfinal round. Quarterfinals - Beat Norman North 63-16 Jenks picked up right where they left off on the offensive side of the ball when they absolutely torched Norman North 63-16. Norman North beat Norman in a close one to make it to the quarterfinals but the road trip to Jenks ended pretty quickly as Jenks scored a season-high 63 points. Jenks would roll out to a 35-0 lead at halftime. Lohr ran for four touchdowns on the night and also eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards on the season during their win. Kittleman also added a few touchdown passes and at one point in the second half, Jenks led 56-9 and they would have plenty of players get some playing time as they would punch their ticket to the state semifinals. Jenks would get the match-up they wanted as they've been waiting for another shot at the Rams after losing to them in the title game a year ago. It wouldn't be for the title, but we would get 1 VS 2 in the semifinals. Semifinals - Beat Owasso 39-15 Because of Jenks falling to the second seed in the district, that put them on the same side of the bracket as top ranked Owasso. Before the playoffs began, it was assumed that these two would meet up in the semifinals in a championship rematch featuring the top two ranked teams in 6A-D1. And that’s what we would get on a Friday evening in Broken Arrow as the top ranked Rams would face the second ranked Trojans. From the opening snap, Jenks was on a mission to make a statement that they are the top dogs in Oklahoma. On Owasso’s first play from scrimmage, the Trojans forced and recovered a fumble. Two plays later, Kittleman tossed a short touchdown to give the Trojans a lead that they would never give up. Lohr would account for nearly 200 yards and three touchdowns while also having an interception on defense. The Trojans would hold Owasso to a season-low 15 points. It was just the second time all year that Owasso failed to score at least 30. The win over Owasso would send Jenks to their third straight title game and the 27th in their school’s history, the most title game appearances in Oklahoma.