Spring Ball Storylines

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! The offseason in Oklahoma has finally come to an end, at least for the next few weeks. Schools across the state opened spring practices on Monday and will continue next week with team camps and wrap up the following week. Prep Redzone Oklahoma will be out at team camps across the state starting next week. Be sure to check back in for plenty of team reports from those camps as we break down who’s standing out and who some of the new faces might be this fall. Earlier this week, we released our <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2022/05/way-too-early-rankings-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Way Too Early Rankings</a> for the 2022 football season. Later this week, we’ll be checking in with the defending champs in each class. In this post, we take a look at some of the top storylines across Oklahoma right now in high school football. A New Era Begins In 6A-2 As the 2021 football season came to a close last year, a unique era of football history came to a close as well. The Bixby Spartans had dominated Class 6A-2 since it’s inception in 2014. For nearly a decade, it was all about the Spartans as they captured seven state championships in eight years and the one year they didn’t win it all, they settled for silver. Eight years, eight championship game appearances with seven gold balls. Needless to say, many across Oklahoma were happy to see Bixby say goodbye to 6A-2. And with it, a new era begins in 2022. Teams like Booker T Washington, Choctaw and Stillwater have been the main contenders over the last few seasons. Those three are our top three teams in the class as we head into the summer months. All three teams will be in the mix this fall but we’ll also see more competition as well. Deer Creek proved they are a team to watch last year when they made it all the way to the title game. Sand Springs took the first step to contending by knocking off a district champ in the first round a year ago. Also watch out for Muskogee, not only this year but over the next few seasons as head coach Travis Hill has a young team full of talent and ready to have a breakout season. One thing is for sure as we head into the 2022 season, we feel confident saying that one team won’t be winning seven of the next eight state championships. We should see a much competitive season throughout the top teams. Bixby Brings 49-Game Win Streak To 6A-1 While 6A-2 is beginning a new era, the Bixby Spartans are moving up to Class 6A-1 but the expectations are remaining the same. The Spartans have proven over the last few years that they can not only dominate 6A-2, but they can compete week in and week out with any other team in the state. And we’ll find out for sure as the Spartans open up the 2022 season against Owasso. Their annual non-district clash with Jenks is now a district game and we hit the scheduling jackpot in the media because those two powerhouses won’t meet until week ten and there’s a good chance that the winner will be the district champion. Also coming into 6A-1 is a 49-game winning streak, the longest winning streak by an 11-man program in state history. Bixby hasn’t lost a football game in nearly four calendar years. Covid wasn’t a thing the last time they lost a football game. The pursuit of the streak record made all of the headlines in 2021 and now they look to extend that record this season. With only four starters returning on offense and another four starters back on defense, the Spartans not only have a huge target on their back but they’re having to reload. Head coach Loren Montgomery has proven that he can not only reload but reload just as fast as any other marquee program. But the level of competition is certainly going to be tougher week after week and there’s no doubt that Bixby will get everyone’s best shot as long as that streak is in tact. Carl Albert Ready To Start Another Dynasty Carl Albert had a down year in 2021. And that’s a down year by Carl Albert’s standards. Which means their down year was losing in the 5A semifinals. After winning five straight state championships, the Titans fell to eventual champion Collinsville in the semifinal round. It was Carl Albert’s first ever loss in the semifinals in school history. But 2021 wasn’t going to be Carl Albert’s year anyway. The fact that they still won the district and made it to the semifinals was impressive. And it should be frightening for the rest of Class 5A. Because the Titans bring just about everybody back and this is a Titan team that is full of young talent that is ready to not only capture another gold ball this year, but they’re ready to go on another run of championships. Carl Albert is the favorite in Class 5A at this point in my opinion and at this time last year, I was spot on when it came to 5A, almost. I had McAlester 1 and Collinsville 2 at this time last year and those two teams were the top two teams all year. This year, we think that the Titans are the favorite and after that, there’s going to be some serious competition within the class. Last year, the east side teams finally took the top spot in Class 5A after nearly a decade of dominance from the west side. We have a feeling that the power is shifting back over to the west this year and it starts with Carl Albert. Public VS Private Rages On In 3A Disclaimer before we start, we do not have an opinion one way or another when it comes to the public versus private debate. Having said that, MAN it’s a hot topic on social media and gets really heated up with some of the smaller classes. And in Class 3A, it could absolutely catch fire this fall. If you checked out our <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2022/05/way-too-early-rankings-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Way Too Early Rankings</a>, you’ll see Verdigris in the top spot at #1. But after them, the next four teams are private schools with Heritage Hall, Lincoln Christian, Holland Hall and Metro Christian in that order. Heritage Hall, Lincoln Christian and Holland Hall have absolutely dominated Class 3A over the last several years with the Dutch coming into this year as the two-time defending state champions. In fact, five of the top seven teams in those rankings are private schools with Cascia Hall coming in at #7. There’s plenty of people (on social media) that suggest that private schools should only play against other private schools because of certain advantages that they have compared to public schools. Again, not here to suggest one side is right or wrong. Simply stating the fact that 3A features some absolute powerhouse programs and the majority of them are private schools. That conversation will continue to rage on this year, especially in Class 3A. It’ll be interesting to see if Verdigris, with all the talent and experience they have returning, can make a run at not only a state championship, but a run at crashing the private school party. Washington Hopes That The Third Time Is The Charm The Washington Warriors are hoping to return to the state championship game in December for the third consecutive season. And they’re hoping that the third time will be the charm as Washington lost to Metro Christian in the 2020 title game and then lost a heartbreaker to Marlow last year. They’ve had to settle for two consecutive silver balls and they’re hungry for gold. Really since the end of the 2021 season, we haven’t made it a secret that we like the Warriors this season and think that they are the favorites in Class 2A. They bring back so many key pieces and they should have what it takes to make another trip to Edmond. Last year, Washington was the best team in Class 2A until they ran into [player_tooltip player_id="38755" first="Jace" last="Gilbert"] and Marlow. Turnovers killed the Warriors in the title game and the state title slipped away. This year, the Warriors come into the season as the favorites but they’ll have plenty of competition around them. Beggs and Rejoice Christian are two teams that fell to Washington in the playoffs and they’ll be back, not only as contenders but some of the main threats to the Warriors and their championship hopes. I say this every single year and I’ll say it once again as the 2022 season is right around the corner. Class 2A is our favorite class. Year in and year out, it seems like it’s the most competitive and the deepest class in the state and this year appears to be no exception.