Edmond Memorial 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: 14pt;"><b>Overview</b></span> It'll be a new but familiar era of <strong>Edmond Memorial Bulldog</strong> football as the 2021 season begins. Edmond Memorial alum Logan Thomas takes over the Bulldog program after spending the last few years at Piedmont as an assistant coach. Thomas is also bring back a familiar face in former Bulldog head coach Justin Merideth as one of his assistant coaches. In fact, the Bulldogs will have a few familiar faces in Edmond Memorial alums as coaches this fall. That should help put some juice into a football program that had to suffer through an 0-10 season a year ago and a four-year stretch that saw them go 5-34. It will also help that the Bulldogs return the majority of their starters from a year ago and a 2023 class that is full of some talented athletes that will be able to contribute on both sides of the ball. Edmond Memorial brings back six starters on offense and another seven starters on the defensive side of the ball. When it comes to 2020, the Bulldogs are ready to put the memory of that in the past and Thomas is excited about what 2021 would bring. It's a tall task taking over a program that is coming off a winless season but it's apparent that there are some things to be excited about as we go into a new year. The recent past might be dismal but the near future is incredibly bright as the Bulldogs have a chance to bounce back immediately and then become a team that is in the mix each season with some talented younger classes and a new coaching staff full of familiar faces. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/05/podcast-coaches-corner-logan-thomas/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>RELATED – Logan Thomas Interview</strong></span></a> <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>2020 Results (0-10 Record - Did Not Participate In Playoffs)</strong></span> <strong>Aug. 28 -</strong> Lost To Moore 33-13 <strong>Sept. 11 -</strong> Lost To Norman North 46-7 <strong>Sept. 18 -</strong> Lost To Putnam City 35-7 <strong>Sept. 28 -</strong> Lost To Edmond Santa Fe 46-20 <strong>Oct. 2 -</strong> Lost To Norman 27-20 <strong>Oct. 9 -</strong> Lost To Broken Arrow 46-3 <strong>Oct. 15 -</strong> Lost To Enid 20-7 <strong>Oct. 23 -</strong> Lost To Westmoore 28-27 <strong>Oct. 30 -</strong> Lost To Jenks 48-6 <strong>Nov. 6 -</strong> Lost To Yukon 48-34 <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Players To Watch</strong></span> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="38796" first="Kiefer" last="Mullins"] - 2023 Linebacker</strong> The first of two 2023 prospects in this feature is linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="38796" first="Kiefer" last="Mullins"]. The Edmond Memorial backer probably won’t garner some of the attention that other linebacker prospects will get during the next two years when it comes to recruiting. He might be viewed as too small or not as athletic as some of the others. We don’t buy in to any of that talk. Mullins is an absolute tank on the defensive side of the ball and he can fly all over the field. All you have to do is throw on the tape and watch how he plays the game. Mullins will end up being one of the more productive linebackers in 6A-D1 over the next two seasons. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="157516" first="Markell" last="Johnson"] - 2023 Quarterback</strong> As mentioned at the start, Edmond Memorial has a 2023 class that is full of versatile athletes that we think will make the Bulldogs a darkhorse team this year and a potential team to watch next season as well. And the best of the best of that bunch has to be quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="157516" first="Markell" last="Johnson"]. Just looking at him before he throws the ball, you would assume that Johnson is just a stellar athlete that happens to be playing football. Then you watch him throw and see the arm strength and touch on some of the passes he unleashes. And yes, he is a fantastic athlete and can tuck it and run in the blink of an eye. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>More Names</strong></span> <strong>Camden Peck - 2023 Tight End</strong> <strong>Jacob Varnell - 2022 Linebacker</strong> <strong>J’Quan Whitfield - 2022 Defensive End</strong> <strong>Logan Grayson - 2023 Wide Receiver</strong> <strong>Will Morris - 2023 Offensive Lineman</strong> <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Notable</strong></span> All three Edmond schools used to play their football games in Wantland Stadium on the campus of UCO in Edmond. However, all three schools now have their own stadiums on campus and no longer have to get on a bus for home games. For Edmond Memorial, their stadium opened up in 2019 and they’ve had two seasons of playing home games on their own campus. However, with the Bulldog football program struggling lately, Edmond Memorial is still waiting to christen their stadium the right way. In two seasons, the Bulldogs are winless at their home stadium and are still searching for that first ever win. The lone win in the last two years came on the road against Enid in 2019. As mentioned earlier, head coach Logan Thomas is an alum and his family has some deep roots with Edmond Memorial and Bulldog athletics. We’re sure he’s determined to not only get that first home win this season but to start racking up home victories and make Edmond Memorial one of the tougher places to play in the district. <hr /> <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">2021 Schedule/Games To Watch</span></strong> <strong>Aug. 27 - AT Moore</strong> - Whenever you're coming off a winless season, you have to have that first game circled on the calendar to get that losing taste out of your mouth. This game will certainly be important for a few reasons as the Bulldogs open up the season against Moore. First, the Bulldogs are ready to begin a new era of Edmond Memorial football. Second, this is going to give us a good gauge of how talented the Bulldogs are as they take on a Moore team that is in a similar situation. When district play rolls around, they'll be fighting and clawing for one of the playoff spots and this will be a good early test for both teams. Sept. 3 - Edmond North Sept. 10 - AT Norman North Sept. 24 - Edmond Santa Fe Oct. 1 - AT Norman Oct. 8 - Broken Arrow Oct. 14 - AT Enid Oct. 22 - Westmoore Oct. 29 - AT Jenks <strong>Nov. 5 - Yukon</strong> - We go all the way to week ten for our next game to watch as you could make an argument for any of the district games but we'll go to this last one with Yukon. The main reason is pretty simple. It could be a win and you're in scenario. Depending on how the first six weeks of district play goes, if the Bulldogs get wins over the right teams, they might still be battling for one of the playoff spots with Yukon. There's no doubt that Broken Arrow, Edmond Santa Fe and Jenks are the top three teams in this district going into the season. But after that, it's going to be a mad dash for that last playoff spot. <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Championship History</strong></span> <strong>0 State Championships</strong>