Broken Arrow Team Preview
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It’s the month of July and that means it’s preview time! Throughout the month of July, we are publishing 100 team previews to get you ready for the 2022 season. This is something that began last year and has become even bigger and better this year. We’re looking forward to diving deep into the top teams across the state. From defending champs, to top contenders and dark horses, we’ll have complete coverage every single day with new teams from Class 6A down to A. In this post, we take a look at the Bixby Spartans. One of the best teams over the last decade is moving up to 6A-1 after dominating 6A-2 since it’s inception.
Broken Arrow Tigers (6A-1 Preseason Ranking: #6)
Year two of the Josh Blankenship era will begin this season and the Tigers have some momentum after making it to the semifinals a season ago and pushing Union, falling just shy of the state championship game. The Tigers also come into this year after finishing 2021 strong. In addition to pushing Union in the semifinals, the Tigers won five in a row after starting the season 3-3. That included beating an Owasso team in the playoffs that had dominated them 42-3 in the regular season. Now as we look at the 2022 season, the Tigers won’t be happy with taking momentum into the offseason. They want to get back into the state championship picture in 6A-1 and this has become a class that just got a little more crowded and competitive. The Tigers welcome the challenge.
Leading the way for the Tigers this year will be their offensive line as nearly everyone is back. In addition, they return a total of six starters on the offensive side of the ball while just three starters return on defense. But as you’ll read later on in our “Players To Watch” section, the Tigers might be inexperienced on the defensive side of the ball but those new faces are extremely talented and ready to help lead the Tigers to new heights this fall. Broken Arrow comes in at #6 in our preseason rankings and we have a feeling that they could be much higher by the end of the season.
2021 Results (8-4 Record – Lost In Class 6A-1 Semifinals)
Aug. 27 – Beat Mansfield Legacy, TX. 42-13
Sept. 3 – Lost To Union 38-28
Sept. 10 – Lost To Owasso 42-3
Sept. 23 – Beat Westmoore 19-12
Oct. 1 – Lost To Jenks 31-14
Oct. 8 – Beat Edmond Memorial 47-14
Oct. 14 – Beat Yukon 45-14
Oct. 22 – Beat Edmond Santa Fe 47-42
Oct. 29 – Beat Norman 28-13
Nov. 5 – Beat Enid 55-7
Quarterfinal – Beat Owasso 41-40
Semifinal – Lost To Union 17-14
Key Losses To Graduation
Maurion Horn – Running Back
Robert Spears-Jennings – Wide Receiver
Players To Watch
Demarius Reynolds
Demarius
Reynolds
6'0" | DL
Broken Arrow | 2023
State
OK
– 2023 Defensive Lineman
Broken Arrow is going to be working some new names into the starting line up on the defensive side of the ball this season but that’s a defense that we’re not really worried about. As you’ll see, they have several playmakers within the defense and it all starts up front with 2023 defensive lineman
Demarius Reynolds
Demarius
Reynolds
6'0" | DL
Broken Arrow | 2023
State
OK
. The 2023 defensive lineman is outstanding coming off the ball and he gets into the backfield in a hurry. He’s definitely going to be a name to watch this fall as the Tigers look to bring some of the more inexperienced names along. Reynolds will be able to help stop the run as well as terrorize opposing quarterbacks.
Dietrich Moore
Dietrich
Moore
6'0" | 210 lbs | LB
Broken Arrow | 2023
State
OK
– 2023 Linebacker
If you watched Broken Arrow last season, you would see the talent from the future D1 players like Maurion Horn and Robert Spears-Jennings. However, another Broken Arrow standout would flash signs of brilliance and that was 2023 linebacker
Dietrich Moore
Dietrich
Moore
6'0" | 210 lbs | LB
Broken Arrow | 2023
State
OK
. What’s so impressive about Moore, in addition to his abilities as a linebacker, is that he helps the Tigers on special teams. Moore is definitely going to be a player to watch for the Tigers this fall and the only question we have about him is how many ways is he going to score a touchdown this season? He’s currently the top rated linebacker in the state’s 2023 class.
Elishah Wilson
Elishah
Wilson
6'1" | 170 lbs | DB
Broken Arrow | 2023
State
OK
– 2023 Defensive Back
We watched Broken Arrow at one of the team camps this spring and it didn’t take long to become very impressed with their defensive unit. And they have a potential star in 2023 safety
Elishah Wilson
Elishah
Wilson
6'1" | 170 lbs | DB
Broken Arrow | 2023
State
OK
. This defensive prospect absolutely looks the part and when we got a chance to see him in action, he was doing a little bit of everything. He was coming up and smashing a running back or dropping back in coverage and either being a ball hawk or separating the receiver from the ball and being incredibly physical while he’s at it. This is definitely a defensive back to keep an eye on this fall as the Tigers look to contend.
Jamison Mejia
Jamison
Mejia
6'5" | 270 lbs | OL
Broken Arrow | 2023
State
OK
– 2023 Offensive Lineman
We flip to the offensive side of the ball for our final player to watch and it comes on the line of scrimmage with 2023 offensive lineman
Jamison Mejia
Jamison
Mejia
6'5" | 270 lbs | OL
Broken Arrow | 2023
State
OK
. While the Tigers are working in a new quarterback, they’ll lean on the running game this fall and they have a strong offensive line unit that also has a lot of experience. One of those offensive lineman is Mejia and the first time we saw him in person was earlier this spring. We were impressed with his skillset and size already and there’s more room for him to grow and develop. He’s one of the faster rising offensive lineman prospects in this class and should be an anchor to BA’s line.
More Names To Know
Auzten Newell – 2023 Linebacker
Briley Ferguson – 2023 Defensive Back
Chance Marick – 2023 Offensive Lineman
Donovan Hardaway – 2024 Defensive Back
Jaylon Franklin
Jaylon
Franklin
5'11" | 165 lbs | DB
Broken Arrow Highschool | 2023
OK
– 2023 Defensive Back
Joshua Wilhite – 2023 Tight End
Nate Jones
Nate
Jones
5'9" | RB
Broken Arrow | 2023
State
OK
– 2023 Running Back
Reid Adams – 2023 Offensive Lineman
Taylor Griffin
Taylor
Griffin
5'10" | 175 lbs | DB
Broken Arrow | 2023
OK
– 2023 Defensive Back
2022 Schedule/Games To Circle
Aug. 26 – AT Bentonville, AR.
Sept. 2 – Union
Sept. 9 – Owasso
– Broken Arrow, like many of the Tulsa-area schools play a tough non-district schedule. It’s mainly tough because they’re playing each other and this year is no different. After traveling to Arkansas and facing a Union team that beat them in the semifinals a year ago, the Tigers will face off with Owasso in their annual rivalry game. After Owasso beat Broken Arrow 42-3 in the regular season a year ago, there weren’t many that expected the Tigers to get their revenge that year in the quarterfinals. But Broken Arrow stunned the Rams and ended their season. Owasso will come into this one looking for a little revenge.
Sept. 22 – AT Southmoore
Sept. 29 – AT Norman North
Oct. 7 – Westmoore
Oct. 14 – AT Bixby
– In week seven, it’s fall break and while the majority of the games will be on Thursday night, this clash between Broken Arrow and Bixby will be on Friday. The Tigers travel to face a Bixby team that is looking to dominate 6A-1 just like they dominated 6A-2 for the last eight seasons. The Spartans won seven out of eight championships and come into this season with a 49-game winning streak. The big question for the Spartans is how long will that streak last with them playing 6A-1 opponents every single week. If Broken Arrow has hopes of winning the district title, they need to win here or they’ll need some help down the stretch.
Oct. 20 – Enid
Oct. 28 – AT Jenks
– Broken Arrow’s two toughest district games are both on the road as they’ll travel to face Jenks in week nine. If Broken Arrow comes into the week nine clash with an unbeaten record in district play, they can all but lock up the district championship with a road win over the two-time champion Trojans. Jenks handled Broken Arrow when the two met in the regular season a year ago but the game was back and forth and close during the first quarter. The Tigers just have to put together a complete game if they’re going to go on the road and knock down the two-time champions. A loss here could put them on the road in the playoffs.
Nov. 4 – Moore
Notable
Last fall was Broken Arrow’s 21st consecutive appearance in the playoffs and it doesn’t appear that the Tigers are going to slow down anytime soon. Despite being in a district with heavy hitters Bixby and Jenks, the Tigers believe that they belong in the same conversation and should extend that playoff streak again this fall. Broken Arrow has another streak within the playoff streak as well. They’ve won at least one playoff game in five consecutive seasons. Last year, they met up with Union in the semifinals and that regular season rivalry has become somewhat of a playoff rivalry as well. The Tigers and Redhawks have met in the playoffs three straight years now and five out of the last six times.
Championship History
1 State Championship
2018 – Beat Jenks 28-20