Road To Edmond: Collinsville
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The Class 5A state championship is set for 7PM on December 4th at UCO. For the first time since 2005, two east side teams will be playing for the Class 5A state championship. And that might not come as a surprise as it’s the top two teams from the start of the season as #1 McAlester faced off with #2 Collinsville. Prep Redzone Oklahoma will have the most in-depth championship preview and state title game content that you will find anywhere!. In this post, we take a look at the Collinsville Cardinals and their road to Edmond by looking back on the 2021 season.
Preseason – Ranked #2
Coming into the 2021 season, Collinsville certainly had high expectations of this year. After going to the semifinals a year ago with their lone loss coming in that round, Collinsville brought momentum into the new year. The Cardinals brought back seven starters on offense and nearly half of their starters on the defensive side of the ball. Because of that, we had Collinsville right behind McAlester in our preseason rankings in July. The Cardinals have been the second ranked team in 5A, behind McAlester, throughout the season and now it’s a showdown between the #1 and #2 team in Class 5A. Led by their big three of Andrew Carney Andrew Carney 6'2" | LB Collinsville | 2022 State OK , Brayden Gilkey Brayden Gilkey 6'0" | 215 lbs | RB Collinsville | 2022 State OK and Oscar Hammond Oscar Hammond 6'3" | WR Collinsville | 2022 State OK , the Cardinals had plenty of firepower on the offensive side of the ball to be a championship contender in Class 5A.
Sept. 3 – Beat Oologah 54-22
The 2021 season would open up against Oologah in week one and it would be the first of many blowouts during the 2021 campaign. Collinsville jumped out to a big lead at halftime and was able to roll from there. After leading 34-7 at halftime and then 40-7 early in the third quarter, the Mustangs never really had a shot to rally from there. Oscar Hammond Oscar Hammond 6'3" | WR Collinsville | 2022 State OK would catch two touchdowns and also ran for a touchdown in the season-opening win.
Sept. 10 – Beat Skiatook 43-7
It was week two and time for the annual Highway 20 rivalry between Collinsville and Skiatook. Unfortunately for Skiatook, this was a down year for the Bulldogs and they never had a shot in this one. Collinsville would strike on their first possession on another Andrew Carney Andrew Carney 6'2" | LB Collinsville | 2022 State OK to Oscar Hammond Oscar Hammond 6'3" | WR Collinsville | 2022 State OK touchdown and never look back. Brayden Gilkey Brayden Gilkey 6'0" | 215 lbs | RB Collinsville | 2022 State OK would also finish with four touchdowns as Skiatook was shut out for over three quarters in this one.
Sept. 17 – Beat Bartlesville 42-7
Collinsville’s first test came in week three as they went on the road to take on Bartlesville. The Bruins would actually score first and the game was tied at 7 after the first quarter. However, the Collinsville defense shut down Bartlesville from there as Collinsville won 42-7. Gilkey would add three more touchdowns to his total for the season and Collinsville would wrap up non-district play with a 3-0 record and they would go into district play as the heavy favorite.
Sept. 24 – Beat Nathan Hale 71-0
Collinsville’s biggest blowout of the 2021 season came in the district opener in week four as they beat up on a struggling Nathan Hale program with a 71-0 win. Collinsville put up an eye-popping 50 points in the first quarter alone as they dominated immediately. Senior receiver Oscar Hammond Oscar Hammond 6'3" | WR Collinsville | 2022 State OK had three touchdown receptions in the win and Collinsville would improve to 4-0 but a district test against Sapulpa in week five would provide tougher competition.
Oct. 1 – Beat Sapulpa 43-13
There was reason to be concerned about Collinsville on the outside looking in as star quarterback Andrew Carney Andrew Carney 6'2" | LB Collinsville | 2022 State OK was out with a leg injury and it wasn’t known when he would be back. However, it didn’t matter as the Cardinals went on the road and took down Sapulpa 43-13. Despite not having Carney, they still had Gilkey and Hammond, who combined to score five touchdowns in the win and Collinsville reached the halfway point of the regular season at 5-0.
Oct. 8 – Beat Claremore 27-3
Collinsville would clash with Claremore in week six and the 27-3 victory would actually be the closest win of their regular season. They wouldn’t have a game decided by less than 20 points until their semifinal win over Carl Albert. Claremore led Collinsville 3-0 after one quarter of play but once again, the Cardinal defense stepped up and shut down the Claremore offense. Gilkey finished with four touchdowns with three coming in the second quarter alone.
Oct. 14 – Beat Glenpool 49-14
On a Fall Break Thursday night, Collinsville would once again dominate their district foe as Glenpool fell 49-14. Brayden Gilkey Brayden Gilkey 6'0" | 215 lbs | RB Collinsville | 2022 State OK was once again unstoppable in keeping the senior running back out of the end zone and he finished with four touchdowns in the win. The Cardinals jumped out to a 28-0 lead after the first quarter and would never be threatened. It would move Collinsville to 7-0 and 6 of those wins came by at least 30 points.
Oct. 22 – Beat Memorial 71-7
Memorial has struggled over the last few seasons and nothing was going to change as they visited Collinsville in week eight. For the second straight year, Collinsville put up at least 70 points on the Chargers in a dominating win. By the way, Andrew Carney Andrew Carney 6'2" | LB Collinsville | 2022 State OK was back in the lineup and looked just fine as he threw five touchdown passes with the first three coming to Oscar Hammond Oscar Hammond 6'3" | WR Collinsville | 2022 State OK . Collinsville would close out the regular season against their two toughest opponents, Pryor and Tahlequah.
Oct. 29 – Beat Pryor 63-8
This game was supposed to be a challenge for Collinsville but instead, it was a week nine blowout as Collinsville absolutely hammered visiting Pryor, winning 63-8 on senior night. Collinsville’s “big three” of Carney, Gilkey and Hammond, all seniors, shined in their final regular season home game. The Cards led 28-8 after the first quarter and shut out the visiting Tigers from there. Up next was a road game against Tahlequah to wrap up the regular season.
Nov. 5 – Beat Tahlequah 55-13
These last two regular season games were supposed to be tougher games for a Collinsville team that hadn’t had a game decided by less than 24 points and the week ten game on the road in Tahlequah was another rout. Andrew Carney Andrew Carney 6'2" | LB Collinsville | 2022 State OK would throw three touchdowns and run for another touchdown in the fourth quarter alone and Collinsville would beat Tahlequah 55-13. The Cardinals finished off a 10-0 regular season and would go into the playoffs as a heavy favorite in Class 5A.
1st Round – Beat Shawnee 60-14
Collinsville picked up right where they left off in the regular season by blowing out Shawnee 60-14 in the first round of the playoffs. The Cardinals scored on the first play and the last play of the first half to jump out to a lead that the visiting Wolves would not be able to overcome. Once again, the “big three” for the Cardinals did the majority of the damage and they would cruise to a big win. This set up a quarterfinal clash with a Bishop McGuinness team that had been to the state title game four out of the last five years.
Quarterfinals – Beat Bishop McGuinness 56-35
Bishop McGuinness made this quarterfinal clash very interesting but Collinsville would still prevail by 21 points, beating the Irish 56-35. The game was tied at halftime and the Irish only trailed by seven points going into the fourth quarter, but the Cardinal rushing attack would not be stopped in this one as they finished with over 600 rushing yards as a team. Carney had a career night with over 300 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground. The win put the Cardinals into the semifinals against the Carl Albert team that eliminated them a year ago.
Semifinals – Beat Carl Albert 27-20
Collinsville might have been the more dominant team coming into this semifinal clash but Carl Albert was still the five-time defending champions of 5A football. In fact, Carl Albert had a perfect 17-0 record in the semifinal round. And the Cardinals would get Carl Albert’s best shot as the champs went down swinging. Collinsville trailed for the first time all season at halftime, losing 14-13. They would take the lead back late in the third quarter to go up 19-14. Carl Albert scored early in the fourth quarter to go up by a point and Collinsville would have to rally. The Cardinals would score with just under two minutes to play and after Carl Albert would fumble on their last possession, Collinsville punched their ticket to the state championship game against McAlester. On Saturday night, it’ll be #1 VS #2 as the Cardinals look for their first title in school history.