Cushing Team Preview

<em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em> 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"><strong>RIGHT HERE</strong></a>. <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Overview (Class 4A Preseason Ranking: #1)</strong></span> Coming into the 2021 season, the <strong>Cushing Tigers</strong> are the team to beat in Class 4A and are our preseason number one team. With defending champion Wagoner only returning two total starters, a new team will be the team to beat in Class 4A. Last year, Wagoner was dominant on their way to a state championship and it didn’t take long for them to establish themselves as the heavy favorites. This year, the race to the 4A crown appears to be more wide open than in years past and Cushing is in the top spot coming into the year. A combination of two things led to the Tigers being on top in our first 4A rankings. The first is we loved the way they ended their 2020 season with several big wins in the playoffs. They also return the majority of their starters, including a few players who were All State selections and breakout players. It’s been pretty apparent for about a year that the Cushing 2023 class was a special one and those prospects are turning into juniors and are ready to take that next step. The Tigers will have to replace a key player in [player_tooltip player_id="105135" first="Hayden" last="Fry"] at the running back and linebacker spot. But we believe we’ve already identified yet another 2023 prospect that will be able to fill that void. Wagoner comes into this season as the defending champs and someone is going to have to take the crown from them. Cushing is our favorite to do so in 2021. </span> <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>2020 Results (9-4 Record - Lost In 4A Semifinals)</strong></span> Sept. 4 - Beat Bristow 19-15 Sept. 11 - Beat Perkins-Tryon 27-7 Sept. 18 - Beat Berryhill 27-17 Sept. 25 - Lost To Tuttle 42-21 Oct. 2 - Beat Harrah 42-35 Oct. 9 - Lost To Tecumseh 49-14 Oct. 15 - Beat John Marshall 21-6 Oct. 23 - Lost To Blanchard 19-14 Oct. 30 - Beat Ada 23-21 1st Round - Beat Bethany 41-17 2nd Round - Beat Weatherford 34-30 Quarterfinals - Beat Hilldale 34-28 Semifinals - Lost To Wagoner 40-14 <hr /> <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Players To Watch</span></strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="54349" first="Blaze" last="Berlowitz"] - 2023 Quarterback</strong> The state’s quarterback group in the 2023 class is one of the better classes in recent memory. Yet another standout in that class is Cushing’s [player_tooltip player_id="54349" first="Blaze" last="Berlowitz"]. We watched Berlowitz in person and on film last year and we loved the jump that he made from freshman to sophomore year. And similar to a few other sophomores, he continued to get better throughout the season and was a big reason why Cushing made a semifinal run. Having seen Berlowitz this spring as well, he appears primed and ready to go for junior season and he has some absolute weapons around him to put up big numbers. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38715" first="Camden" last="Crooks"] - 2023 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back</strong> A player that we’ve been high on since his breakout freshman year is [player_tooltip player_id="38715" first="Camden" last="Crooks"]. He’s an outstanding wide receiver and just as good on the defensive side of the ball. He’s put up numbers on offense and defense during his first two years and there’s no reason to think that he’s going to take a step back this fall. What’s scary is he could put up bigger numbers this year. He was one of only two sophomores that earned First Team All State honors last year after being a home run hitter at wide receiver and an absolute ball hawk on defense in the secondary. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="149337" first="Riley" last="Matheson"] - 2023 Running Back/Linebacker</strong> Our final player to watch might be the breakout star of the 2021 season if everything goes well. We mentioned near the top that Cushing’s biggest test would be replacing the production of running back and linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="105135" first="Hayden" last="Fry"]. Well, let’s introduce [player_tooltip player_id="149337" first="Riley" last="Matheson"], who we believe can step into that role and the Tigers won’t miss a step. Whether it’s on offense or defense, Matheson has the ability to be a game changer for the Tigers and we project Matheson stepping into that role left by Fry and not only succeeding but becoming yet another weapon for the Tigers. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>More Names</strong></span> <span style="font-size: 1rem;">[player_tooltip player_id="149336" first="Brody" last="Berlowitz"] - 2023 Wide Receiver </span><strong>Caleb Peery</strong> - 2022 Linebacker <strong>Landon Pyle</strong> - 2022 Defensive Lineman [player_tooltip player_id="98177" first="Lane" last="Yaunt"] - 2023 Wide Receiver <strong>Noah Jones</strong> - 2023 Running Back <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Notable</strong></span> After a rocky 2020 district schedule, Cushing finished lower in the district standings and went into the playoffs as the underdog. First, they upset Bethany in the first round. Then came back to back close upsets against heavily favored Weatherford and the following week against Hilldale. After the bumpy regular season, Cushing managed to upset Weatherford and Hilldale in back to back weeks. Weatherford was undefeated and expected to contend for a spot in the championship game. Hilldale only had one loss and had been one of the top teams in 4A football all season. Cushing’s luck would run out when they ran into Wagoner in the semifinals and the eventual champs ended the Tigers’ cinderella run. But when you combine the way they ended the season and the talent they return, the Tigers should expect much more in 2021. <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>2021 Schedule/Game To Watch</strong></span> Sept. 3 - AT Bristow Sept. 10 - Perkins-Tryon Sept. 17 - AT Berryhill <strong>Sept. 24 - Tuttle</strong> - This one ought to be a good one as Cushing will host Tuttle and if the rankings stay the same as they are now, we’ll have #1 hosting #2 and the district championship will more than likely be on the line in this one. Tuttle doubled up Cushing last year in a game where the Tigers struggled defending the Tuttle rushing attack and their star sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="38715" first="Camden" last="Crooks"] went down with a serious injury that put him in the back of an ambulance. Cushing certainly has this one circled. We’ll be getting it in the first week of district play but it will have massive playoff implications for the rest of the year. Oct. 1 - AT Classen SAS Oct. 8 - Tecumseh Oct. 14 - AT John Marshall Oct. 22 - Blanchard Oct. 29 - Ada Nov. 5 - AT Harrah <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Championship History</strong></span> <em><strong>2 State Championships</strong></em> 1961 - Beat Harding 15-14 1958 - Beat Ada 9-7