Grove 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 4A Preseason Ranking: #10) Coming into the 2020 season, we were higher than most on the Grove Ridgerunners because they had some talent in their younger classes that had us impressed. Things were looking good as they started out the year at 3-0. However, they would lose two in a row and then fall to Wagoner in a rout later in the regular season. Grove would still find their way into the playoffs and get a first round victory, blowing out Muldrow. However, the season would come to a close the following week against Hilldale when they lost a heartbreaker by a single point. However, Grove would finish the year 7-4 and those young and talented players are now more experienced coming into 2021 and they come in at #10 in our preseason rankings. The Ridgerunners had an interesting stretch in 2020 where they played three games in the span of nine days because of Covid postponements and the desire to get as much of their district schedule in. They would go 2-1 during that stretch but it's safe to say that we probably won't be seeing anything like that this fall. With six starters back on offense and four back on defense, the Ridgerunners have lofty expectations. The offense is incredibly talented but everyone knows what mountain they are about to climb and it starts in the district. This has been a district that has been owned by Wagoner. The Bulldogs are defending state champions, but they replace nearly everyone and are vulnerable this year. Certainly more vulnerable than last year, when they were smashing everyone. As we've mentioned plenty of times in these previews, Class 4A is going to be wide open this fall. <hr /> 2020 Results (7-4 Record - Lost In Class 4A 2nd Round) Sept. 4 - Beat Vinita 42-32 Sept. 11 - Beat Jay 48-7 Sept. 18 - Game VS Pryor Cancelled Oct. 2 - Beat Catoosa 52-0 Oct. 9 - Lost To Bristow 33-13 Oct. 15 - Lost To Skiatook 42-21 Oct. 19 -Beat Oologah 30-23 Oct. 23 - Beat Cleveland 21-14 Oct. 30 - Lost To Wagoner 59-14 Nov. 6 - Beat Miami 31-13 1st Round -Beat Muldrow 41-13 2nd Round - Lost To Hilldale 43-42 <hr /> Players To Watch [player_tooltip player_id="38818" first="Carson" last="Trimble"] - 2023 Quarterback We mentioned Grove’s talented young players. Well, they’re growing up. Quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="38818" first="Carson" last="Trimble"] is going into his junior season this fall and it will be his third year as the starter. The rest of Class 4A will be ready for Trimble and his backfield mate, who’s an absolute star, to graduate. But they’ll have to wait until the spring of 2023. Trimble continues to show improvement as a passer and on the surface, he looks like he’s your prototypical pocket passer. That’s not the case as he’s shown in plenty of moments that he can tuck the ball and run. [player_tooltip player_id="57158" first="Emmanuel" last="Crawford"] - 2023 Running Back Joining Trimble in this Grove backfield is the running back Emmaunel Crawford. Like Trimble, we’ve been excited about the potential of Crawford since his freshman season. It was obvious, even as a freshman that Crawford has the ability to be one of those highlight reel-type running backs. We’ve seen Crawford on tape and in person and on tape, he looks much bigger than he is in person. Crawford had a steady sophomore season after a huge freshman campaign. He should be ready to become one of the best running backs in Class 4A this year as a junior. More Names Ben Johnston - 2022 Offensive Lineman [player_tooltip player_id="170717" first="Jaydon" last="Hill"] - 2022 Tight End Nick Jackson - 2022 Offensive Lineman <hr /> Notable Grove wants to contend for a state championship. They’re in the same district as the defending state champion Wagoner Bulldogs and everyone is chasing them. While Grove and Wagoner are the only ranked teams in their district, they’ll also have some other competition. However, the Bulldogs and the Ridgerunners are the favorites to come away with the district crown. We’ll have more on this match-up in our next section because it’s going to be the biggest game of the year. However, right here, we’ll break down the history between these two teams because it’s been completely one-sided, in favor of Wagoner. Grove joined Wagoner’s district in 2016 and the Ridgerunners are 0-5 and it’s been blowout after blowout. The average score during that time has been 50-6. 2008 is the last time Grove defeated Wagoner and the Ridgerunners have to turn around history if they’re going to contend for the district and ultimately the state championship. <hr /> 2021 Schedule/Games To Watch Sept. 3 - Vinita - The season opener will be a big one as the Ridgerunners will host Vinita. These two teams both have plans of having breakout seasons and surprising some teams in their respective classes. This is also going to feature a match-up between two of the better running backs in their respective classes. We mentioned Crawford for Grove above. Vinita will counter with 2022 [player_tooltip player_id="38678" first="Kyron" last="Downing"] of Vinita. Downing also plays wide receiver as well as the defensive side of the ball. Both players are absolute playmakers and if they get into the open field, good luck catching them. Sept. 10 - AT Jay Sept. 17 - AT Pryor Sept. 24 - AT Oologah Oct. 1 - Catoosa Oct. 8 - Bristow Oct. 14 - AT Skiatook Oct. 22 - Cleveland Oct. 29 - Wagoner - As mentioned earlier, it’s the biggest game of the year. And we have a little good news/bad news situation to start. Good news, Grove will get the Bulldogs at home in week nine. Unfortunately for the Ridgerunners, the bad news is they have to wait until week nine to get Wagoner. This is a Wagoner team that brings back next to no starters from last year’s state championship team and getting them earlier in the season to take advantage of that inexperience would have been beneficial. Either way, most know that old Ric Flair quote. "To be the man, you gotta beat the man." Nov. 5 - AT Miami <hr /> Championship History 0 State Championships