Pocola 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 Pocola Indians. After moving down from Class 2A to A, the Indians expect to be in the mix in their new class. Pocola Indians (A Preseason Ranking: #6) From going 6-5 and losing in the first round to being a top ten team the following year, the Pocola Indians are on the rise as they drop down from Class 2A to A in 2022. However, the Indians expect to be in the mix in Class A with 13 starters returning this fall. But Pocola will have early tests that feature road game after road game on the 2022 schedule. They will open the season at home on August 26th and then have to play four straight road games and not have another home game until September 30th. Pocola has high expectations and if they can get over all of the games away from home and start having success in the playoffs, the Indians could be one of those teams to watch out for in Class A. Pocola returns seven starters on the offensive side of the ball and they return one of the best young running backs in the class. Then they turn around and bring back six starters on the defensive side of the ball, including several linebackers that will have the chance to be the strength of this defense. We like this Pocola team heading into the 2022 football season but it’s been a while since they’ve had a lot of success and this team is looking to rewrite history. With the exception of the last few years with Cashion winning back to back titles, Class A has generally been one of the more wide open classes and new teams pop up all the time. With the Indians dropping down to Class A, they’re hoping that they can start contending immediately. <hr /> 2021 Results (6-5 Record - Lost In Class 2A 1st Round) Aug. 27 - Beat Wilburton 20-19 Sept. 3 - Lost To Hackett, AR. 36-22 Sept. 10 - Beat Central Sallisaw 47-20 Sept. 24 - Beat Roland 28-14 Oct. 1 - Lost To Keys 26-19 Oct. 8 - Beat Panama 38-0 Oct. 14 - Lost To Vian 37-0 Oct. 22 - Lost To Cascia Hall 40-8 Oct. 29 - Beat Heavener 54-0 Nov. 5 - Beat Spiro 55-28 1st Round - Lost To Antlers 22-0 <hr /> Key Losses To Graduation Andon Jerrell - Offensive/Defensive Lineman Elijah Clouse - Offensive/Defensive Lineman Ian Hardwick - Quarterback/Defensive Back Rickey Mendez - Defensive Back Trinity Bright - Tight End/Linebacker <hr /> Players To Watch [player_tooltip player_id="268315" first="AJ" last="Lyons-Jerrell"] - 2025 Running Back The first of two 2025 prospects that need to be on the radar already is Pocola running back [player_tooltip player_id="268315" first="AJ" last="Lyons-Jerrell"]. The young running back had an outstanding freshman season and he should be considered one of the top running backs coming into this season. He might have surprised some opponents last season but Pocola’s opponents will be setting up to try and limit what he does with the ball. We got a chance to see him in person earlier this year at our showcase camp and he was one of the top running backs in attendance. And that was a pretty talented running back group. We expect him to be one of the top Class A running backs this fall. [player_tooltip player_id="382643" first="Dakotah" last="Terrell"] - 2025 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back Another 2025 prospect to keep an eye on is Pocola’s [player_tooltip player_id="382643" first="Dakotah" last="Terrell"]. While he doesn’t have some of the production numbers that [player_tooltip player_id="268315" first="AJ" last="Lyons-Jerrell"] had last season, the Indians are expecting him to enjoy a breakout season this fall. Terrell is a tall wide receiver at 6’6 and will give the Indians a massive target within the passing game. That’s going to allow their offense to be very balanced and will help the workload in the run game. Terrell is also an outstanding basketball prospect already and he’s having a really strong offseason on the court. But we expect him to be a breakout football prospect this season with Pocola. [player_tooltip player_id="382640" first="Tucker" last="Thompson"] - 2023 Linebacker While there is no doubt that Pocola has some serious talent in their younger classes, they also have some strong prospects returning in the 2023 class and specifically at the linebacker position. This will be a position of strength for the Indians this fall and 2023 linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="382640" first="Tucker" last="Thompson"] will look to be the leader of this defense. He had a really strong junior season and he’s looking for even more this fall. Thompson finished last season with 74 tackles and he also had 15 tackles for loss. We expect Thompson and the other linebackers on this team to be a big part of what they do defensively, especially with stopping the run. More Names To Know Garrett Scott - 2024 Wide Receiver Kanye Gordon - 2024 Offensive Lineman Kolby Masterson - 2024 Athlete Zac Jones - 2023 Linebacker <hr /> 2022 Schedule/Games To Circle Aug. 26 - Heavener Sept. 2 - AT Hackett, AR. Sept. 9 - AT Spiro - From district foes to non-district rivals, Pocola will travel to Spiro to square off in week two in another non-district clash. Last season, Pocola beat the Bulldogs 55-28 in week ten and secured their first playoff appearance since the 2016 season. Spiro will have a first year head coach for the second year in a row but you know that the Bulldogs will have this game circled as Pocola was able to punch their ticket to the playoffs at the expense of the Bulldogs. While this game has nothing to do with playoff seeding, bragging rights are on the line and Spiro will definitely have a little revenge on their mind in this one. Sept. 16 - AT Mena, AR. Sept. 23 - AT Canadian Sept. 30 - Central Sallisaw Oct. 7 - Gore - This week six clash between Gore and Pocola could end up deciding the district championship. Other teams might have something to say about that but Gore and Pocola are the top two teams within this district heading into this season. Gore comes into the season as the top ranked team in Class A and they bring back almost all 22 starters from last year’s playoff team. Pocola was able to get a look at the Pirates earlier this offseason during a team camp in May. The Indians will certainly be tested against the Pirates in week six and that district title might be on the line. Both teams have high expectations this season. Oct. 13 - AT Panama Oct. 21 - Haskell Oct. 28 - AT Porter <hr /> Notable Pocola is hoping that dropping down to Class A this season will help them have more playoff success in the future. It began last season by making the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and for the second time since 2012. And the Indians just haven’t had much success once they’ve made it to the playoffs. They haven’t won a playoff game since the first round of the 2007 playoffs and they have just five playoff wins in school history. And none of those victories have come after the first round. Pocola will be one of the top teams within their district so they should be able to get a favorable seed and set up an easier path in the playoffs. Pocola definitely believes that this is the year that they start to change the luck of Pocola football moving forward. <hr /> Championship History 0 State Championships