Ardmore Team Preview

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! Stay tuned to Prep Redzone Oklahoma every day as we release more individual team previews as we get closer to the start of the 2021 football season. In case you missed it, you can check out our Preseason Rankings <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/06/2021-preseason-rankings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RIGHT HERE</a>. Overview (Class 5A Preseason Ranking: #4) There are plenty of teams that are ready to kick off a new season and put the memories of 2020 in the rear view mirror. You can put the Ardmore Tigers in that boat as they had a very strange 2020 season. They come in as our #4 team in the 5A preseason rankings and this is after they won just four games total in 2020. Granted, they only played eight, with two coming in the playoffs. This isn’t official, but it seems likely that Ardmore has the highest ranking in our preseason rankings with the lowest amount of wins from the year before. The Tigers had four of their games get cancelled in 2020. They were playing in week eight, battling for playoff positioning and had only played three games prior to their week eight game against El Reno. Eventually, the Tigers would lose to eventual champion Carl Albert in the second round. The Tigers never got into any kind of rhythm in 2020 and that won’t be the case as we’re getting as close to normal as possible. The Tigers also benefit from having nearly everyone back from last year’s team. They return nine starters on offense and nine starters on defense and this Tiger offense has the potential to be one of the best in Class 5A. Ardmore is a few years removed from making a run to the title game. They come into this year expecting to make a trip to Wantland Stadium in December. <hr /> 2020 Results (4-4 Record - Lost In 5A 2nd Round) Sept. 4 - Beat Ada 21-0 Sept. 11 - Game VS Shawnee Cancelled Sept. 18 - Game VS Ponca City Cancelled Sept. 25 - Beat Southeast 54-16 Oct. 2 - Game VS Altus Cancelled Oct. 9 - Lost To Duncan 35-28 Oct. 15 - Game VS Capitol Hill Cancelled Oct. 23 - Lost To El Reno 34-16 Oct. 30 - Beat Noble 49-27 Nov. 6 - Lost To Lawton MacArthur 37-22 1st Round - Beat Woodward 35-14 2nd Round - Lost To Carl Albert 49-14 <hr /> Players To Watch [player_tooltip player_id="98174" first="Cal" last="Swanson"] - 2023 Quarterback The first player to watch is one that we can’t wait to see this fall. We got a chance to see 2023 quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="98174" first="Cal" last="Swanson"] a handful of times this offseason at various 7v7 events and we walked away very impressed with his arm. He can throw it all over the field and he has some serious weapons to distribute the ball to at the receiver position. You check out his sophomore tape from last year’s limited action and he made throws at each level and can also change his throwing motion to make the correct throws. Look for Swanson to have a huge junior season. [player_tooltip player_id="38706" first="Dakaree" last="Scott"] - 2022 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back One of the versatile athletes that Swanson will be able to throw the ball to is [player_tooltip player_id="38706" first="Dakaree" last="Scott"]. We really like Scott’s game going into his senior season. Scott is an outstanding weapon at the wide receiver position but he also has the ability to be a gamechanger on the defensive side of the ball. That athleticism and versatility is a great reason why he’ll be one of the more valuable players in 5A football. Ardmore has a few players that will be able to be considered gamechangers in this offense and Scott is one of them. Don’t be surprised if Scott ends up being Ardmore’s YAC specialist. [player_tooltip player_id="30990" first="Jalen" last="Reed"] - 2022 Wide Receiver Staying at the wide receiver position with our last Player To Watch is 2022 wideout [player_tooltip player_id="30990" first="Jalen" last="Reed"]. While Scott is more of a slot receiver and will use his speed to beat opposing defensive backs, Reed is a big receiver that will be Ardmore’s big play threat at the position. Reed is so quick off the line and Ardmore was at their best last year on offense by throwing the ball downfield. Reed is an outstanding big play receiver and with his size at 6’3, he’ll be able to make play after play in the red zone for the Tigers. He proved it already last fall as a junior that you just need to throw it up an let Reed go get it. More Names Antone Scallion - 2022 Running Back Derek Meely - 2024 Defensive Lineman [player_tooltip player_id="38745" first="Evan" last="Smith"] - 2022 Athlete Jackson Hedger - 2022 Tight End Ricky Smith - 2022 Wide Receiver Shedrick Jones - 2023 Offensive Lineman <hr /> Notable If you missed out on Ardmore football last season, you missed the transition of their offense. For a long time, the Tigers ran the flexbone option offense and ran ran ran the ball. That wasn’t the case last year as they ran a balanced offense and actually threw it all over the yard. A lot of that certainly has to do with the personnel that they have on their roster. We mentioned it in "Players To Watch" with quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="98174" first="Cal" last="Swanson"] and his receivers, they’re some of the best in 5A football. Forcing a strong throwing quarterback like Swanson to turn into an option QB would have been tough and the Tigers now have a chance to be one of the more explosive offenses in the state. With nearly everyone back and a year under their belt in the new system, expect Ardmore to put up big numbers every week this fall. <hr /> 2021 Schedule/Games To Watch Sept. 3 - AT Ada Sept. 10 - Shawnee - Ardmore's non-district schedule will have some speed bumps and definitely won't be a cake walk. However, the toughest test will arguably come in week two when they play host to Shawnee. The Wolves have an offense that will want to run the ball and keep Ardmore's potent offense off the field. It will be up for Ardmore's defense to not give up the big play and not allow Shawnee to put together lengthy drives that eat up a ton of clock, limiting how many possessions their offense gets. This will give us an early gauge of how serious Ardmore is as a contender. Sept. 17 - AT Ponca City Sept. 24 - AT Southeast Oct. 1 - Altus Oct. 8 - Duncan Oct. 15 - AT Capitol Hill Oct. 22 - El Reno - The top two teams in this district are Ardmore and El Reno. The Indians have had the edge over the last two years but Ardmore comes into the season as the district favorite. We'll have to wait until week eight for this district showdown, which benefits El Reno, who's working in a new quarterback. Ardmore gets the benefit of playing the Indians at home and away from El Reno's grass field. Ardmore's offense has speed everywhere and playing on turf certainly helps. This district features some really good teams but these are the top two coming into the year. The district title will more than likely be on the line here. Oct. 29 - Noble Nov. 5 - AT Lawton MacArthur <hr /> Championship History 3 State Championships 1992 - Beat Douglass 34-14 1990 - Beat Lawton MacArthur 41-0 1982 - Beat Bixby 14-7