Stillwater 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 6A-D2 Preseason Ranking: #5) Coming off back to back seasons that have ended in heartbreak, the Stillwater Pioneers are reloading for another run at a potential state championship. The Pioneers made back to back championship appearances in 2018 and 2019 and had to settle for the silver ball. Last year, it was Choctaw stunning the Pioneers on a field goal as time expired in the semifinal round. Last year was supposed to be the year for the Pioneers as they had one of the more experienced and talented teams in the state. Unfortunately, Choctaw had other plans and pulled off the upset of the Pioneers. Now, Stillwater comes into 2021 and things look a little different at the top of the rankings. The Pioneers are ranked #5 in our preseason rankings for 6A-D2 with Bixby and Choctaw at #1 and #2 respectively. The Pioneers will have a completely new offense with a new quarterback, new running back, new receivers and a retooled offensive line. The defense isn’t as bad as they return some really good players, especially in their front seven. But after lighting up the scoreboard for several seasons, the Pioneers will need to rely on that defense to step up while the offense finds a rhythm. Things will certainly look different now that record-breaking running back [player_tooltip player_id="38521" first="Qwontrel" last="Walker"] isn’t in the backfield after starting for four years. Walker will be one of the toughest players to replace in any class of high school football this fall. And look, it’s not going to be an easy task, but the Pioneers are not lacking talent and are still going to be one of the top teams in the state. Can they make another run to the state championship? Only time will tell on that. But they come in as a top five team and are looking to remain the favorite in their district and then make another potential trip to Wantland Stadium. <hr /> 2020 Results (9-1 - Lost In 6A-D2 Semifinals) Sept. 4 - Beat Edmond Santa Fe 45-32 Sept. 11 - Beat Mustang 62-21 Sept. 18 - Game VS Bixby Cancelled Sept. 25 - Beat Deer Creek 62-16 Oct. 2 - Beat Del City 48-27 Oct. 9 - Game VS U.S. Grant Cancelled Oct. 16 - Beat Lawton 70-17 Oct. 23 - Game VS Northwest Classen Cancelled Oct. 30 - Beat Midwest City 31-10 Nov. 6 - Beat Putnam City North 40-14 1st Round - Bye Week Quarterfinal - Beat Sand Springs 49-17 Semifinal - Lost To Choctaw 38-35 <hr /> Players To Watch [player_tooltip player_id="153666" first="Gabe" last="Brown"] - 2022 Linebacker As mentioned earlier, the Pioneers had a very senior-heavy team in 2020 and they’ll have quite a few new faces on offense and defense this fall. one of the returning stars is three-year starter at linebacker in [player_tooltip player_id="153666" first="Gabe" last="Brown"]. He had a breakout season as a sophomore and immediately became an impact player on this Pioneer defense. Last year, he took more of a leadership role and helped bring some of the young guys along. Now as he goes into his senior season, the Oklahoma State commit is ready to take the next step and become one of the best linebackers in the state. He’s already high up as a prospect and is looking to have that impact on the field. [player_tooltip player_id="157517" first="Gage" last="Gundy"] - 2023 Quarterback The Pioneers had three years of Gunnar Gundy at quarterback followed by [player_tooltip player_id="38540" first="Caleb" last="Allen"] for the 2020 season and now another Gundy is ready to take over the Pioneer offense. 2023 QB [player_tooltip player_id="157517" first="Gage" last="Gundy"] is the next in line to run the Pioneer offense and while he is one of the better quarterbacks in this 2023 class, he’ll need some other guys to step up. With a rebuilt offensive line, the graduation of star running back [player_tooltip player_id="38521" first="Qwontrel" last="Walker"] and the Pioneers having basically a completely new receiver group, Gundy will have his work cut out for him to keep up the offensive production we’ve gotten used to seeing from Stillwater. [player_tooltip player_id="50786" first="JaKobe" last="Sanders"] - 2023 Offensive Lineman For the last two years, [player_tooltip player_id="50786" first="JaKobe" last="Sanders"] has been the young gun on a very experienced and talented offensive line. Now, Sanders is going into his junior season and will be expected to take the next step as a leader being a three-year starter. Sanders is continuing to move around to see what the natural position will be for him at the next level. Expect to see him at center or guard this fall for the Pioneers. Sanders and the Stillwater offensive line will have plenty of eyes on them as they try to replace several starters and a new running back. It won’t be an easy task but the Pioneers have a head start with Sanders. More Names Brady Osborn - 2022 Linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="101413" first="Chance" last="Clements"] - 2022 Linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="38716" first="Eli" last="Williams"] - 2022 Defensive Back <hr /> Notable The Pioneers are in the middle of one of their best stretches in decades. They’ve gone undefeated in the regular season for three straight years. They’ve also captured three consecutive district championships and that hadn’t been done at Stillwater since the late 80’s. In fact, before winning the 2018 district championship, the last time the Pioneers were district champs was 1995. Now they head into another year and are three-time defending district champions. Now, the only thing that is up next is that elusive gold ball. In the last three years, Stillwater is a combined 33-3 and all three losses have come in the playoffs with two of them coming in the state championship to Bixby. In fact, the last two seasons have ended with heartbreak for the Pioneers. The 2019 title game was decided in the final minutes with a late Bixby touchdown and we’ve already mentioned last year’s finish on a Choctaw field goal as time expired. Stillwater comes into this season looking to turn the page and they’ll have plenty of new faces but the expectations are going to remain the same for this group of Pioneers and that’s to win a fourth straight district championship and bring that gold ball back to Stillwater for the first time since 1967. <hr /> 2021 Schedule/Games To Watch Sept. 3 - AT Edmond Santa Fe Sept. 10 - Mustang Sept. 17 - AT Bixby - Covid cancelled plenty of games in 2020 but no cancellation upset the state as much as the week three battle with Bixby traveling to Stillwater. It would be a rematch of the 2018 and 2019 state championship games and feature the top two teams in the state. It was one of the more highly anticipated match-up’s of the 2020 non-district season. After the cancellation and not facing off in the playoffs, Stillwater will travel to Bixby. Maybe some of the hype isn’t as big because of Choctaw’s emergence but this is still a massive game in 6A-D2, especially for the Pionners as they look to turn around their luck against the three-time defending champs. Sept. 24 - AT Deer Creek Oct. 1 - Del City Oct. 8 - AT U.S. Grant Oct. 14 - Lawton Oct. 22 - AT Northwest Classen Oct. 28 - Midwest City - We wrote above that the Pioneers are in the middle of a run in districts with three straight district titles. As long as they don’t trip up earlier in the year against Del City or Lawton, the Pioneers will go into the final two weeks against their toughest competition and look to lock up a fourth consecutive district title. Stillwater will host Midwest City in week nine and then the following week they travel to Putnam City North. Those two games will be massive to deciding this district championship race and the playoff seeding. The Pioneers had no problems with either teams in 2020 but both are experienced and improved. Nov. 5 - AT Putnam City North <hr /> Championship History 1 State Championship 1967 - Beat Okmulgee 15-7