Pawnee 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 A Preseason Ranking: #7) Well if we would have published this preview about three weeks ago, it would need to be refreshed. It doesn't happen very often, but sometimes teams lose their head coach just a month before the season begins. It doesn't normally happen to top ten teams but that's the case here as the Pawnee Black Bears are a month away from opening up their 2021 season and as of right now, they do not have a head coach. Earlier this month, Russell Cook resigned to take a job at Bartlesville. Before publishing this, we did as much research as we could on the subject and as far as we know, they have not yet hired a new head coach. That is certainly an interesting storyline as we head into the month of August. Practices will be opening up in a matter of weeks and the Black Bears expect to be one of the top teams in Class A yet again this fall. Two years ago, they went 13-1 and followed that up with a 9-2 season last year and a trip to the quarterfinals. This year, they expect to be a contender again with six starters coming back on offense and another seven returning on defense. Last season, the Black Bears had two regular season games get cancelled and they had a bye week in the first round of the playoffs. This season, they play one of the toughest schedules not only in Class A, but in the state all together, but we'll have more on that in the "Notable" section of this preview. As we go into August, one of the bigger storylines of Class A will be who will be Pawnee's next coach and how will they look, especially early on in the year. 6 Starters Offense 7 Starters Defense <hr /> 2020 Results (9-2 Record - Lost In Class A Quarterfinals) Aug. 28 - Lost To Washington 35-14 Sept. 4 - Beat Mooreland 38-14 Sept. 12 - Beat Okemah 38-14 Sept. 25 - Beat Hominy 36-0 Oct. 2 - Beat Woodland 28-8 Oct. 9 - Beat NOAH 54-49 Oct. 15 - Game VS Chelsea Cancelled Oct. 23 - Game VS Morrison Cancelled Oct. 30 - Beat Chouteau 48-8 Nov. 6 - Beat Caney Valley 46-6 1st Round - Bye Week 2nd Round - Beat Quapaw 66-28 3rd Round - Beat Colcord 58-15 Quarterfinals - Lost To Thomas 35-34 <hr /> Players To Watch Barrett Stevenson - 2023 Linebacker One of the top returning players on this Pawnee team is junior linebacker Barrett Stevenson. He'll be the leader of the defense and also help out the offense from time to time. While Malique Barber (listed below) is more of the electric running back, Stevenson is certainly a power back who plays the position like you would see from a linebacker. On defense, that's where Stevenson shines brightest and was a big part of Pawnee's season a year ago. Defensively, Pawnee was one of the better teams in their district and they'll look to continue that this fall with Stevenson leading the way. Jake Mitchell - 2022 Quarterback The Black Bears will have a new head coach and they'll have a new quarterback under center. Jake Mitchell will take over this year as he goes into his senior season. What we see from Mitchell under center will be big in just how competitive this Pawnee team will be. They obviously are in a tough situation trying to work in a new head coach with so little time before the season. Having Mitchell back there controlling things on offense and being a steady presence will be very important. Mitchell has prototypical size and Pawnee likes to throw it around a little, he could be poised for a breakout season. More Names Chuck Long - 2022 Offensive Lineman Malique Barber - 2022 Running Back Nick Caesar - 2022 Linebacker <hr /> Notable Whoever steps into the head coaching position at Pawnee is going to be tested immediately. The Black Bears will be playing one of the toughest schedules in the state, regardless of class. You'll see below their 2021 schedule and four of the ten games are against teams that are ranked in our preseason rankings. They'll open up the season against a 2A top ten team in Washington that made it all the way to the Class 2A state championship game a year ago. The following week they square off with fellow Class A top ten team Mooreland. And in their district, they have more ranked opponents with Woodland and Morrison. Throw in another non-district game at the halfway point of the season against NOAH and you have a tough schedule. NOAH and Pawnee got into quite the shootout last season and we have no reason to think that NOAH won't be able to push the Black Bears once again this season. The Black Bears certainly have talent and they are a ranked team themselves and one of the favorites in their district, but this is an absolute gauntlet of a schedule. <hr /> 2021 Schedule/Games To Watch Aug. 27 - AT Washington Sept. 3 - Mooreland - We could have highlighted the season opener for Pawnee as they travel to face Washington. The Warriors were one of two teams that beat Pawnee a year ago. But we're going with this week one clash between the Black Bears and Mooreland. This will be a match-up between two teams ranked in our preseason top ten for Class A. Because of that, we think that it has a little more weight than the match-up with Washington. With Pawnee having an absolutely brutal district, getting a good gauge on just how competitive the Black Bears will be is important and this is the perfect game for that. Both of these teams expect to contend and they go head to head early in the year. Sept. 10 - Okemah Sept. 24 - Hominy Oct. 1 - AT Woodland - Just like with the Mooreland game, we had a couple options here to highlight in district play but we're going with this week five clash as Pawnee travels to Woodland. The Black Bears had no problems with Woodland last year and the Cougars will certainly have some revenge on their mind. This game will be a big deciding factor in the district title race but of course the week eight match-up at home against Morrison will be very important as well. One of the games that was cancelled last year was Morrison and that game will also be a highlight of the season and just as important as this week five match-up. Oct. 8 - AT NOAH Oct. 14 - AT Chelsea Oct. 22 - Morrison Oct. 29 - Chouteau Nov. 5 - AT Caney Valley <hr /> Championship History 1 State Championship 2004 - Beat Tonkawa 31-14