Collinsville Team Preview

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! 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 Collinsville Cardinals. The Cardinals won their first ever state championship in 2021 but graduation has hit the Cards hard. Collinsville Cardinals (5A Preseason Ranking: #10) 2021 was a season to remember for the Collinsville Cardinals as they were the best team in Class 5A from start to finish and had a great senior class. So that preseason ranking might surprise some people as they come into this year ranked #10 in our preseason rankings as a defending champion. We’ll make an assumption that all of the main publications that do rankings will have the Cardinals much higher. We get it. They’re defending champs. There is a philosophy that "until you knock them off, they have the crown". But when the Cardinals only bring back two starters on offense and another three starters on defense, and when you look at all of the production that they lose, it’s not a far stretch to think that the Cardinals might not run the table again this fall. But now that we got all of the "doom and gloom" out of the way, we actually like this Collinsville team after going over the numbers and some of the players that they do return. A few of these players might be ready to step into the spotlight and be breakout stars in Class 5A football. Only time will tell on that. The Cardinals are also right there in the mix to be the best team in their district. Other teams like Bishop Kelley, Grove and Pryor will have something to say about that but it wouldn’t surprise us if the Cardinals captured another district championship. That would also set them up with a much easier path to defendingt heir Class 5A title. This time last year, we were all over the Cardinals as one of the best teams in Class 5A behind their three-headed monster of Andrew Carney, Brayden Gilkey and Oscar Hammond. Those guys aren’t easy to replace so the Cardinals will go thru some growing pains early on. But they’ll still be in the mix when November rolls around. <hr /> 2021 Results (14-0 Record - Class 5A State Champions) Sept. 3 - Beat Oologah 53-20 Sept. 10 - Beat Skiatook 41-6 Sept. 17 - Beat Bartlesville 42-6 Sept. 24 - Beat Hale 71-0 Oct. 1 - Beat Sapulpa 43-13 Oct. 8 - Beat Claremore 27-3 Oct. 14 - Beat Glenpool 49-12 Oct. 22 - Beat Memorial 71-7 Oct. 29 - Beat Pryor 63-6 Nov. 5 - Beat Tahlequah 55-12 1st Round - Beat Shawnee 60-12 Quarterfinal - Beat Bishop McGuinness 56-35 Semifinal - Beat Carl Albert 27-20 Championship - Beat McAlester 42-35 <hr /> Key Losses To Graduation Andrew Carney - Quarterback Brayden Gilkey - Running Back Cannon Howard - Offensive Lineman Joey Rigby - Defensive Back Oscar Hammond - Wide Receiver <hr /> Players To Watch [player_tooltip player_id="375218" first="Blake" last="Gilkey"] - 2023 Running Back/Linebacker Another Gilkey is ready to help carry the Cardinals this fall. In fact, 2023 running back and linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="375218" first="Blake" last="Gilkey"] allowed older brother Brayden to have the senior season he had. Because Blake stepped up into a larger role at linebacker, Brayden was able to focus on running back, where he finished with well over 30 touchdowns on the ground. Blake ended up being one of the top tacklers on the team and the expectation is for him to take that to the next level this fall as one of the leaders of this Cardinal defense. [player_tooltip player_id="375219" first="Hudson" last="Henslick"] - 2024 Defensive Back The first of two 2024 prospects to keep an eye on for the Cardinals is defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="375219" first="Hudson" last="Henslick"]. Last year, as a sophomore, Henslick was one of the top defensive backs for the Cardinals. He was great in 1 on 1 situations and knew how to get in between the ball and the intended receiver. Now, that was when Collinsville’s opponents threw the ball. Look at their district lineup and it features a lot of teams that want to run the ball. Henslick will also have to help out in run defense this fall. [player_tooltip player_id="375220" first="Jack" last="Keith"] - 2024 Running Back/Defensive Lineman Another 2024 prospect that we are fired up to see in person is running back and defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="375220" first="Jack" last="Keith"]. At 6’0 and 230 pounds, Keith is already one of the strongest players on the team and we cannot wait to see what he can do with the ball in his hands. He carried the ball a little over 40 times last year but we expect him to have more of an expanded role in the offense. Then you throw him on the defense and he’s going to be an absolute wrecking ball on that side of the ball. This is definitely a player to remember for this fall. [player_tooltip player_id="167834" first="Zach" last="Stein"] - 2023 Athlete Another Collinsville two-way player to keep an eye on is 2023 athlete [player_tooltip player_id="167834" first="Zach" last="Stein"]. The senior tight end is 6’1 and 210 pounds and had an excellent junior season. He had over 350 yards receiver and three touchdowns in an offense that did not throw the ball a lot and when they did, it usually went to Hammond. Stein has a chance to be the go-to receiver within the Collinsville offense as they break in a new quarterback. Stein has the ability to do more than that and like many other Cardinal standouts, expect him to play on both sides. More Names To Know Colten Christian - 2024 Offensive Lineman DJ Whittley - 2023 Offensive Lineman Landon Appleberg - 2023 Defensive Lineman Nate Davis - 2025 Defensive Back <hr /> 2022 Schedule/Games To Circle Sept. 2 - Oologah Sept. 9 - AT Skiatook Sept. 16 - AT Bartlesville - Collinsville absolutely dominated their way thru the regular season last year but with just five starters back total, this year will definitely be more interesting. The Cardinals wrap up non-district play on the road against Bartlesville. The Bruins have a first-year head coach but a lot of young talent and the excitement level there is definitely on the rise after the offseason they’ve had. This will be a test for the Cardinals as they go into district play. Almost all of their 2021 games were over by halftime but that won’t be the case this fall. Sept. 23 - Pryor Sept. 30 - Bishop Kelley - Bishop Kelley is a new district foe after redistricting put the Comets in Collinsville’s district. We’re already fired up for this one as the Comets will be making the trip up to Collinsville. These are two teams that pride themselves on defense, toughness and running the football. So we expect this to be a very physical game to say the least. Bishop Kelley has had Collinsville’s number in recent memory. The Comets have won the last three meetings with the last match-up coming in the first round of the 2019 playoffs. Bishop Kelley won 27-0. Oct. 7 - AT Hale Oct. 13 - AT Will Rogers Oct. 21 - Grove - Our preseason favorite in the district is Grove as we head into the season. Despite moving up from Class 4A and tougher competition on the way, the Ridgerunners have the majority of starters back on offense and that’s a unit that can put up some points this fall. The running game will definitely be a focus as their running back is one of the best players in the state. If the Cardinals can slow him down and contain this Grove offense, they’ll have a chance to win. This game will have a lot of importance for the playoff picture. Oct. 27 - AT Edison Nov. 4 - Claremore <hr /> Notable The Cardinals had a season to remember in 2021. They captured their first ever state championship and made plenty of history in the process. Before they even made it to the title game, they took down 5-time defending champion Carl Albert in the semifinals. That was the first time Carl Albert had ever lost in the semifinal round and ended their dynasty run. Then in the title game against McAlester, they played the best championship game of the 2021 season. The Cardinals were able to hold off [player_tooltip player_id="91049" first="Erik" last="McCarty"] and the Buffs and Collinsville’s three-headed monster of Carney, Gilkey and Hammond led them to their first ever title in a historic season. <hr /> Championship History 1 State Championship 2021 - Beat McAlester 42-35