Hilldale 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 Hilldale Hornets. This is a team that has been knocking on the door in Class 4A but will 2022 be the year? Hilldale Hornets (4A Preseason Ranking: #6) Hilldale has been in that next tier of Class 4A teams over the last several seasons. They’ve been close to becoming one of the better teams in the class and they’re just waiting on that breakout moment. Last season looked like it could be just that but they were beaten once again by Poteau in district play, got upset by Broken Bow and that dropped them to the third seed in the district, setting up a first round meeting on the road with one of those 4A perennial powers in defending champion Wagoner. The Hornets lost a close one to the Bulldogs and they entered this offseason looking to rebuild to make another run this fall. Coming into the 2022 football season, Hilldale comes in at #6 in the preseason rankings in Class 4A. With nearly everyone back on the offensive side of the ball and the majority of starters back on defense, Hilldale is hoping that 2022 will be the year that they jump up a tier. Hilldale returns nine starters on the offensive side of the ball, including one of the top running backs in Class 4A and one of the more underrated wide receivers in Class 4A as well. While the Hornets will definitely be a run-first team this fall, they’ll also find some sort of balance to include their playmakers in the passing game. Then you look at what they bring back on defense and the Hornets will be more experienced. They’ll look to improve on a defense that gave up a lot of points a year ago. They found themselves in several shootouts throughout the season and they’ll look to limit that this fall. The district will once again provide challenges, including those pesky Pirates from Poteau, but the Hornets are determined to become the new top team in the district behind a strong senior class. <hr /> 2021 Results (8-3 Record - Lost In Class 4A 1st Round) Sept. 3 - Beat Will Rogers 28-20 Sept. 10 - Beat Checotah 45-0 Sept. 17 - Beat Oologah 64-21 Sept. 24 - Lost To Poteau 46-16 Oct. 1 - Lost To Broken Bow 38-31 Oct. 8 - Beat Stilwell 48-8 Oct. 14 - Beat Muldrow 51-14 Oct. 22 - Beat Sallisaw 56-13 Oct. 29 - Beat McLain 45-12 Nov. 5 - Beat Fort Gibson 1st Round - Lost To Wagoner 37-35 <hr /> Key Losses To Graduation Brayson Lawson Cason Albin Jaxon Whittaker <hr /> Players To Watch [player_tooltip player_id="157514" first="Eric" last="Virgil"] - 2023 Running Back Hilldale 2023 running back [player_tooltip player_id="157514" first="Eric" last="Virgil"] is one of the more underrated running backs in the state’s 2023 class. He has put up some serious numbers over the last several seasons and should be mentioned among the state’s best at that position and that’s regardless of class, not just in Class 4A. In fact, he might be one of the top running backs in Class 4A coming into this season. Last year, he ran for nearly 1,400 yards and 24 touchdowns. This came after a breakout sophomore season in which he put up massive numbers as well. We expect Virgil to be one of the top producing players in the state this fall at the running back position. [player_tooltip player_id="57160" first="Evan" last="Keefe"] - 2023 Offensive/Defensive Lineman Ever since an outstanding freshman season, Hilldale 2023 lineman [player_tooltip player_id="57160" first="Evan" last="Keefe"] has been on our radar and he’s routinely been one of the top linemen in every ranking we’ve done for the 2023 class. On offense, Keefe is such a dominating blocker that he has to be one of the best in Class 4A. He’s not the biggest offensive lineman but he knows how to work and put up big pancake numbers last fall. Then you turn around and try to stop Keefe on the defensive side of the ball and it’s tough to do. He recently committed to Air Force and there’s no doubt after watching film and seeing him in person at various events that he’s a D1 talent. [player_tooltip player_id="382267" first="Logan" last="Harper"] - 2023 Wide Receiver While Virgil is one of the more underrated running backs in Class 4A, 2023 wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="382267" first="Logan" last="Harper"] is one of the more underrated wide receivers in the class. Harper absolutely looks the part when he steps on a field and lines up at the wide receiver position. Then you see the production he had last season on a team that was a run-first offense and he should be considered one of the better receivers in 4A going into this season. Harper caught just 24 passes but 8 of those receptions were touchdowns. That’s an outstanding ratio and if he keeps that ratio and expands the receptions this fall, he’ll put up some video game-like numbers. More Names To Know Aiden Jenkins - 2023 Linebacker Caynen David - 2023 Quarterback Hunter Rouse - 2024 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back Jax Kerr - 2025 Quarterback Lamarion Burton - 2023 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back <hr /> 2022 Schedule/Games To Circle Sept. 2 - AT Edison Sept. 9 - Hale Sept. 16 - AT Claremore Sept. 23 - Stilwell Sept. 30 - Ada Oct. 7 - AT Poteau - The Poteau Pirates have been in the spot that Hilldale has been searching for over the last several seasons. Poteau has dominated this district over the last few years and this week six clash will have a lot on the line as Hilldale travels to Poteau. The Pirates will have a new look offense with only two starters returning but they have nearly everyone back on defense, which will challenge Hilldale’s rushing attack. The Hornets want to be the new top dog in Class 4A and specifically in this district and they’ll have to knock off the Pirates on the road to do it. A win here could put them in the driver’s seat for the district championship. Oct. 13 - AT Sallisaw Oct. 21 - Broken Bow Oct. 28 - AT Madill Nov. 4 - Fort Gibson - We had to put a spotlight on this game as well in week ten. While the Poteau match-up is certainly going to be a bigger game, by the time week ten rolls around, this one could feature two top ten teams in Class 4A as well. And the Hornets and Tigers played an absolute classic last year and it ended with Hilldale getting a shootout victory on the final night of the regular season. We can only hope that this match-up turns into another shootout and the two teams play another instant classic this year. The Tigers will have somewhat of a different feel this year as they hired Ryan Nolan to take over the program after he was an assistant at Jenks. <hr /> Notable Hilldale has been a top ten team for the better part of the last several seasons but they still have one major hurdle to overcome and that’s getting wins in November. They’ve been able to have some playoff success over the last few years but not enough to win multiple games in the postseason and punch their ticket to the semifinal round. When it comes to the semifinals in the larger classes, you always hear about “practicing on thanksgiving” because that means you’re one win away from the championship game. Unfortunately for the Hornets, they’re still searching for that first semifinal appearance but it could come this fall. <hr /> Championship History 0 State Championships