Sapulpa 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 The 2020 season brought a lot of new hurdles for teams dealing with the pandemic. One other new hurdle that teams had to deal with was redistricting. The Sapulpa Chieftains, who had spent decades up in Class 6A and then in 6A-2 when it was split into two divisions, moved down to Class 5A. They would start off the year with a close loss to rival Sand Springs but after that, they would go on a run. They won five of their next six games, with just about every one of those wins coming in blowout fashion. However, Sapulpa would struggle down the stretch, losing their last two regular season games and went from 5-2 to 5-5. The Chieftains would ultimately lose in the first round of the playoffs in a heartbreaker to Shawnee and their season would come to an end at 5-5. Head coach Robert Borgstadt would step down and the Chieftains would hire Tim Holt this offseason as their next head coach. Holt graduated from Sapulpa and he comes to the Chieftains after spending the last few seasons as an assistant on Broken Arrow’s staff. Before that, he was the head coach at Coweta. Holt inherrits a very talented Sapulpa roster with six starters coming back on offense and another six starters returning on the defensive side of the ball. We’ll go into it a little further in "Players To Watch" but the combination of senior standout [player_tooltip player_id="38721" first="D’Angelo" last="Mitchell"] and senior quarterback Zac Mason is enough to get excited about the potential of this Chieftain offense. The Chieftains were just outside of our preseason rankings and we won’t be surprised if they’re in the top ten by the end of non-district play or going into October. The big favorite in this district is Collinsville but we believe Sapulpa should be considered a dark horse to make a run in Class 5A. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/05/podcast-coaches-corner-tim-holt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED – Tim Holt Interview</a> <hr /> 2020 Results (5-5 Record - Lost In Class 5A 1st Round) Aug. 28 - Lost To Sand Springs 21-17 Sept. 4 - Beat Edison 61-14 Sept. 11 - Beat Bartlesville 48-21 Sept. 25 - Beat Memorial 61-14 Oct. 2 - Lost To Collinsville 42-17 Oct. 9 - Beat Tahlequah 34-24 Oct. 15 - Beat Nathan Hale 64-0 Oct. 23 - Lost To Pryor 33-18 Oct. 30 - Game VS Claremore Cancelled Nov. 6 - Lost To Glenpool 23-20 1st Round - Lost To Shawnee 35-34 <hr /> Players To Watch [player_tooltip player_id="38721" first="D’Angelo" last="Mitchell"] - 2022 Athlete If you’re looking for a player that is flying under the radar and could be primed for a big 2021 season, look no further. Sapulpa’s [player_tooltip player_id="38721" first="D’Angelo" last="Mitchell"], in our opinion, is without a doubt the most explosive and talented athlete on this Sapulpa roster. Mitchell can move around and provide an impact ability at a variety of positions. We can’t wait to see what he’s able to do in Sapulpa’s offense this season. As we’ll mention earlier with Sapulpa’s quarterback situation, the Chieftains are primed to have one of the better offenses in their district and in Class 5A this fall. Mitchell is going to be making plenty of those trips to the end zone. Zac Mason - 2022 Quarterback Class 5A has some good quarterbacks returning in 2021 and one of the more underrated QB’s is Sapulpa’s Zac Mason. We think that Mason will end up being one of the top quarterbacks in 5A football by the end of the season because of a few things. First up, Mason is experienced and looks the part and has continued to improve. Second, look at some of the talent around him. We’ve already talked about Mitchell but Mason will have several other playmakers that he’s going to be able to get the ball to. We like Mason as a potential breakout player this year for the Chieftains and that won’t surprise anyone who’s followed Sapulpa closely. More Names Colton Morton - 2022 Wide Receiver Connor McCall - 2023 Offensive Lineman Tyreese Jones - 2022 Running Back <hr /> Notable As mentioned earlier, Sapulpa moved down from 6A-2 to Class 5A last season and they were able to earn their way into the playoffs. However, there is certainly a chance that the Chieftains end up moving on back up to 6A-2. Sapulpa will be a playoff contender and they could be a dark horse in Class 5A this fall when it comes to making a deep playoff run. However, this time next year, they could be back up in 6A-2 dealing with the heavy hitters in that class as opposed to Class 5A. Sapulpa is among a handful of schools that is right on the border of either moving up or moving down, based on the latest enrollment numbers. The ADM numbers that generally come out at this time have been delayed by the OSSAA and will come out later in August. That will show us where the Chieftains will be next year. The next ADM numbers could create a seismic shift in the landscape of Oklahoma as enrollment numbers obviously changed drastically for every school in the last year with many families opting for home-schooling with the Covid pandemic happening. Sapulpa will certainly be among many schools that will be paying close attention to when the new numbers come out. <hr /> 2021 Schedule/Games To Watch Aug. 27 - AT Sand Springs Sept. 3 - Edison Sept. 10 - AT Bartlesville Sept. 24 - Memorial Oct. 1 - Collinsville - When it comes to the games to watch, it was hard not to have the Sand Springs game as one of them. The annual rivalry game is always a big one for the Chieftains, but with Sapulpa in Class 5A now, it doesn’t have as much impact on the big picture goals of the Chieftains. This one, in week five, absolutely has an impact on the big picture for Sapulpa as they welcome in Collinsville. The Cardinals are the big favorite to win this district after going undefeated in the regular season a year ago and bringing back their best players. If the Chieftains pull off the upset here, they’ll have a legitimate shot to capture the district crown. Oct. 8 - AT Tahlequah - The following week is the next biggest game of the season as the Chieftains will travel to the campus of NSU to take on Tahlequah. The two top ranked teams in this district are Collinsville and Tahlequah respectively. Sapulpa is right there in the conversation with the Tigers to be that second team in this district. They showed that a year ago when the beat the Tigers. If Sapulpa was to lose to Collinsville, they’ll need to bounce back immediately and get a win here if they are to host a playoff game in the first round. The Chieftains definitely have the talent to finish at least second in this district, but this two-week stretch is going to have a big impact on playoff positioning. Oct. 14 - Nathan Hale Oct. 22 - AT Pryor Oct. 29 - AT Claremore Nov. 5 - Glenpool <hr /> Championship History 0 State Championships