Yukon 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-D1 Preseason Ranking: #8) For the first time in nearly a decade, the Yukon Millers are coming into a season after making a playoff appearance. The Millers come into the 2021 season looking to build off the momentum of last season’s fourth place finish in the district and playoff appearance. The next step for the Millers is to make it back to the playoffs and then win. They haven’t won a playoff game since making it all the way to the 1997 state championship game. Ever since then, it’s been one and done trips. The Millers will go to work this year under new head coach Marshall Hahn. Jeremy Reed resigned following the 2020 season and is now a coach and athletic director of Bethel College up in Kansas. Hahn has been an assistant for the last few seasons under Reed and has head coaching experience, although it was in a different state. Hahn plans to not change much about the Yukon offense. They’ll still run the flexbone that Reed installed several seasons ago. The Millers bring back just five starters within that flexbone offense but the most important guy returns with quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="38714" first="Brayden" last="Dutton"]. On defense, the Millers will be much more experienced with eight starters coming back from last year’s playoff team. The Millers finally snapped their playoff drought in 2020 and now they want more in 2021. Under a new head coach and some pretty talented players, the Millers have a shot to do just that. They’ll have to navigate a brutal district to do so as district foes Jenks, Edmond Santa Fe and Broken Arrow are all perennial top five teams over the last few seasons. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/06/podcast-coaches-corner-marshall-hahn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED - Marshall Hahn Interview</a> <hr /> 2020 Results (6-5 Record - Lost In Class 6A-D1 First Round) Sept. 4 - Lost To Mustang 35-21 Sept. 11 - Beat Deer Creek 62-40 Sept. 18 - Beat Norman North 41-24 Sept. 25 - Beat Norman 28-14 Oct. 2 - Beat Enid 42-24 Oct. 9 - Lost To Edmond Santa Fe 42-21 Oct. 15 - Lost To Broken Arrow 27-22 Oct. 23 - Lost To Jenks 38-7 Oct. 30 - Beat Westmoore 31-28 Nov. 6 - Beat Edmond Memorial 48-34 1st Round - Lost To Mustang 42-21 <hr /> Players To Watch [player_tooltip player_id="38714" first="Brayden" last="Dutton"] - 2022 Quarterback With Yukon sticking with the flexbone rushing attack, having a three-year starter coming back in [player_tooltip player_id="38714" first="Brayden" last="Dutton"] will give them an incredible advantage coming into the season. Dutton has gotten better and better and Yukon has the advantage of their signal caller being one of the best overall athletes in the school running their offense. Dutton is also a standout basketball player for the Millers. Dutton isn’t just the trigger man of this offense, he can also make some plays with his legs as well. And just when the defense gets sucked in to their rushing attack, he’s shown the ability to step back and make some big throws at the perfect time. [player_tooltip player_id="61223" first="Makari" last="Slaughter"] - 2022 Running Back Yukon’s [player_tooltip player_id="61223" first="Makari" last="Slaughter"] isn’t the biggest running back in the state but he was one of the more productive ones in 6A-D1 last season. When he gets the ball in his hands, he has the chance to make some big things happen. He finished his junior season with over 650 yards and 6 touchdowns on the year. However, he was a big play back as he averaged just over 10 yards per carry. We expect him to touch the ball much more than the 63 carries he had in 2020. Yukon’s rushing attack is incredibly balanced and will have several weapons. But arguably the most electric weapon will be Slaughter. [player_tooltip player_id="61128" first="Lane" last="Parks"] - 2022 Offensive Lineman Our first two players to watch are going to be big parts of the Yukon running game this season. However, they need to have a good offensive line in front of them and they have one of the better senior offensive linemen in the state with [player_tooltip player_id="61128" first="Lane" last="Parks"]. The Yukon big man got on everyone’s radar early on in his junior season and has only continued to get better and better. With Yukon wanting to run the ball the majority of the time, Parks uses his physical style to his advantage and just plows over opposing linemen and opens up holes for that Miller running game. More Names Carson Creach - 2022 Linebacker Keaton Hahn - 2022 Defensive Back Zach Stilwell - 2022 Defensive Lineman <hr /> Notable For the first time since 2013, the Yukon Millers made it to the playoffs in 2020. Yukon had been knocking on the door over the past few seasons and had been so close but were still on the outside looking in. Last year, they finally kicked the door down and earned their way into the playoffs. Now, any school that wanted to play in the playoffs was allowed in the playoffs because of the Covid Pandemic. However, the Millers finished fourth in their district, played a full district schedule and earned their four seed and spot in the postseason. Unfortunately for the Millers, the trip ended abruptly when they lost to rival Mustang in the opening round. With 13 starters returning in 2021, the Millers hope to not only make it back to the playoffs for the second straight year, they hope to take that next step towards contending in the district. As mentioned in our interview with new head coach Marshall Hahn, (link near the top) the Millers are considered a sleeping giant in 6A-D1 and it appears to be only a matter of time before they wake up. <hr /> 2021 Schedule/Games To Watch Sept. 3 - AT Mustang - It’s one of the bigger games on the schedule every year as Yukon opens the season on the road against rival Mustang. The Millers haven’t had much luck against their rival in the last decade. They’ve lost seven of the last eight meetings since Class 6A was split into two divisions. And as we’ve mentioned a few times, the rival Broncos got the best of Yukon in the playoffs and eliminated the Millers, despite Yukon being the higher seeded team. Before three straight home games, the Millers will go on the road to take on their rival and they’re hoping to turn their luck around. Sept. 10 - Deer Creek Sept. 17 - Norman North Sept. 24 - Norman Oct. 1 - AT Enid Oct. 8 - Edmond Santa Fe Oct. 14 - AT Broken Arrow - The top two teams in this district are defending state champion Jenks and two-time defending district champion Edmond Santa Fe. However, sandwiched in between home games with those two teams is a road game against Broken Arrow. The Millers have played the Tigers incredibly close over the last two seasons. They lost 43-42 in 2019 and then 27-22 last season. A win here over the Tigers will keep Yukon’s home playoff hopes alive and will help them avoid the four seed and having to play the other district’s champ. This will also be a game between first year head coaches in Marshall Hahn and BA’s Josh Blankenship. Oct. 22 - Jenks Oct. 29 - AT Westmoore Nov. 5 - AT Edmond Memorial <hr /> Championship History 0 State Championships