Pawhuska 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 Pawhuska Huskies. Despite moving up to Class 2A, the Huskies expect to contend immediately. Pawhuska Huskies (2A Preseason Ranking: #6) The Pawhuska Huskies are one of the many teams this season that are moving classes and despite that come in to the new season in the top ten of the preseason rankings. The Huskies are moving up to Class 2A and are #6 in our preseason rankings released in late June. Head coach Matt Hennesy has completely turned this program around and turned it into a consistent winner. Last year, the Huskies went 11-3 and made another semifinal appearance. Despite a 1-2 start, the Huskies rallied to dominate their district. They even got to avenge one of their regular season losses in the playoffs when they beat Hominy in the first round. The Huskies were knocking on the door of Class A over the last few seasons but kept running into Cashion in the semifinals. They don’t have to worry about Cashion anymore, in the playoffs at least, they will square off in early September. But they move into Class 2A, which has been one of the deeper and more competitive classes over the last five years. Despite losing a few prospects who signed with D1 programs to play at the next level, Pawhuska brings back the majority of their starters. Six starters return on the offensive side of the ball but the biggest question mark around the offense will be the wide receiver position. They lost a lot of production in that department and will need new faces to step up. The good news is the backfield is in tact with the quarterback and running back returning. On defense, the Huskies bring back eight starters and this unit has a chance to really lead the Huskies early on in the season while the new starters on offense get used to their new roles. Pawhuska has a few big names to replace on that side of the ball but returning eight starters will give them confidence when they’re facing that tough early season schedule. <hr /> 2021 Results (11-3 Record - Lost In Class A Semifinals) Aug. 27 - Beat Perry 55-21 Sept. 3 - Lost To Victory Christian 39-33 (OT) Sept. 17 - Lost To Hominy 33-31 Sept. 24 - Beat Commerce 75-14 Oct. 1 - Beat Fairland 62-12 Oct. 8 - Beat Quapaw 57-6 Oct. 14 - Beat Oklahoma Union 44-0 Oct. 22 - Beat Afton (Forfeit) Oct. 29 - Beat Wyandotte 48-0 Nov. 5 - Beat Ketchum 62-0 1st Round - Beat Hominy 43-12 2nd Round - Beat Colcord 53-29 Quarterfinal - Beat Elmore City 47-0 Semifinal - Lost To Cashion 35-31 <hr /> Key Losses To Graduation Dalton Hurd - Wide Receiver Jack Long - Linebacker Lesharo Wildcat - Defensive Lineman Mason Gilkey - Wide Receiver <hr /> Players To Watch [player_tooltip player_id="384015" first="John" last="Reed"] - 2023 Linebacker Despite Pawhuska having one of the best offenses over the last few years, they’ve also had a pretty stout defense and it just hasn’t gotten as much publicity as the high-scoring offense. Leading the way for the defense over the last few years has been 2023 linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="384015" first="John" last="Reed"]. As he goes into this fall, Reed will be a four-year starter for the Huskies and is a leader on a unit that brings back nearly everyone from last year’s starting lineup. The Huskies are going to score a lot of points. That’s what Matt Hennesy teams do. But they’re also going to play strong defense and Reed will be at the center of that defense. [player_tooltip player_id="360244" first="Noah" last="Wilson"] - 2024 Tight End One Pawhuska prospect that we’re looking forward to watching this fall is 2024 tight end [player_tooltip player_id="360244" first="Noah" last="Wilson"]. This is a young prospect who began his high school career as an offensive lineman. This offseason, he’s trimmed up and will now be moving to the tight end position. Pawhuska has one of the top passing attacks in the state, regardless of class so having another weapon to catch passes will certainly help the Pawhuska offense. The Pawhuska coaches are expecting for Wilson to experience a breakout season this fall and become one of the top tight ends in the state’s 2024 class. He’ll definitely be a name to watch in Class 2A. [player_tooltip player_id="157511" first="Todd" last="Drummond"] - 2023 Quarterback Pawhuska has had one of the best quarterbacks in the state over the last several seasons and it’s come from the same family. First it was Bryce Drummond, who’s now at North Texas. Then [player_tooltip player_id="157511" first="Todd" last="Drummond"] debuted last season as a junior and he recently committed to play at South Dakota. Drummond was one of the top passers in the state a season ago and has firmly established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the state’s 2023 class. Drummond is also a very strong athlete who is just as dangerous running the ball as he is throwing it. One thing to watch with Drummond is his connection to receivers as they lose quite a bit of production to graduation. More Names To Know Connor Easley - 2023 Offensive Lineman Deacon Hendren - 2024 Defensive Back Devon Big Horse - 2023 Defensive Lineman Mason Snodgrass - 2024 Linebacker Tyrel Richardson - 2023 Running Back <hr /> 2022 Schedule/Games To Circle Aug. 26 - Caney Valley Sept. 2 - Cashion - It’s going to be one of the top non-district games within the small classes. Despite being in two different districts, Cashion and Pawhuska have developed quite the rivalry over the last few seasons. They’ve met in back to back years in the semifinals and they’ve had close games in both years. Despite being in different classes, both teams are expecting to contend for state championships. This also begins a three-week stretch where Pawhuska faces three top ten teams in Class A with Cashion, Hominy and a road game against Woodland. A win here over a young Cashion team will give the Huskies a ton of momentum. Sept. 9 - Hominy Sept. 16 - AT Woodland Sept. 23 - AT Vinita Oct. 7 - AT Nowata Oct. 13 - AT Salina Oct. 21 - Claremore Sequoyah Oct. 28 - AT Adair Nov. 4 - Rejoice Christian - Pawhuska will wrap up the regular season in week ten as they host Rejoice Christian. Coming into this season, Pawhuska and Rejoice are the top two teams in Class 2A. They’re the top two ranked teams and it’s hard to argue that anyone else should be favored over these two teams. The Huskies will host a Rejoice team and the district championship will more than likely be on the line. This match-up will feature two of the top quarterbacks in the state’s 2023 class. On paper, it looks like this match-up is going to be a shootout. The winner will more than likely capture the district title and be set up for a long run in the 2A playoffs. <hr /> Notable It should be mentioned and noted that what head coach Matt Hennesy has done this decade is quite impressive. He’s turned around two losing programs in a matter of two seasons. He’s done it twice! First, he took over a Locust Grove program in 2012 after they went 2-28 in the three seasons before that. He would go 5-5 in his first season and then had a three year stretch where the Pirates went 37-3 and were championship contenders. Then he did it again at Pawhuska. The Huskies went 0-10 in 2017. Hennesy took over in 2018 and had a 6-5 record. And over the last three years they’ve gone a combined 34-6 and despite moving up to Class 2A, they are going to be in the hunt for the state title once again this fall. <hr /> Championship History 0 State Championships