Rejoice Christian 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 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. Rejoice Christian Eagles (2A Preseason Ranking: #3) Rejoice Christian moved up to Class 2A in 2020 and the Eagles have steadily improved over the last two seasons. They had a rare losing season in 2020 and would explode in 2021 by going 11-2 and falling to Washington in the quarterfinals. Fast forward to today and the Eagles have high expectations going into a new season and those expectations are warranted. Rejoice Christian comes into this season as the #3 team in our Class 2A preseason rankings and they’ll be one of the top contenders in the class. In fact, they have the two teams above them on their hit list for this season with #1 Washington and #2 Beggs handing Rejoice their only two losses last season. The Eagles will have one of the most explosive offenses in the state, regardless of class. They bring back eight starters on the offensive side of the ball and that includes a finalist for last year’s Prep Redzone Oklahoma Player Of The Year award. On the defensive side of the ball, they also bring back six starters. The schedule will provide a huge challenge as the non-district schedule features strictly teams ranked in the preseason rankings. The district won’t be much easier, despite the Eagles being the favorites to win the district title. Rejoice has been knocking on the door of their first ever gold ball in the last few years and they’re ready to kick that door in this season. <hr /> 2021 Results (11-2 Record - Lost In Class 2A Quarterfinals) Aug. 27 - Beat Cashion 34-27 Sept. 3 - Lost To Beggs 74-48 Sept. 17 - Beat Luther 42-20 Sept. 24 - Beat Salina 56-14 Oct. 1 - Beat Kansas 63-26 Oct. 8 - Beat Claremore Sequoyah 63-0 Oct. 14 - Beat Nowata (Forfeit) Oct. 22 - Beat Dewey 64-0 Oct. 29 - Beat Adair 64-30 Nov. 5 - Beat Sperry 48-14 1st Round - Beat Kiefer 61-30 2nd Round - Beat Antlers 62-0 Quarterfinal - Lost To Washington 54-28 <hr /> Key Losses To Graduation Caden Marley - Linebacker Caleb Woods - Defensive Lineman Logan Linnell - Defensive Lineman Ryan Stockton - Linebacker <hr /> Players To Watch [player_tooltip player_id="294265" first="Cale" last="Marley"] - 2025 Athlete Rejoice Christian has some versatile athletes but one of the best young prospects on the roster is 2025 athlete [player_tooltip player_id="294265" first="Cale" last="Marley"]. Last season, Marley did a little bit of everything for the Eagles. He lined up at wide receiver, defensive back and he also returned kicks on special teams. And he was really good in that department. Marley finished with four touchdowns between kick and punt returns combined and he only had 17 returns on the season. That’s a pretty good success rate for touches and touchdowns. Marley’s role in all three phases this fall will be expanded and it’s easy to see why. [player_tooltip player_id="157515" first="Chance" last="Wilson"] - 2023 Quarterback Few quarterbacks had better 2021 seasons than Rejoice Christian’s [player_tooltip player_id="157515" first="Chance" last="Wilson"]. The Rejoice signal caller threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 40 touchdowns. He also had nearly 1,300 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground. Wilson established himself as the best dual-threat quarterback not only in Class 2A but in the state overall. His stellar junior season made him a finalist for the Prep Redzone Oklahoma Player Of The Year award. Wilson expects to not only be one of the top players in the state this fall but he expects to be THE top player. With so much talent coming back on offense, Wilson’s production could go up, which is a scary thought for 2A defenses. [player_tooltip player_id="380469" first="Jay" last="Miller"] - 2023 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back While Wilson was one of the best players in the state, he had to have plenty of talent around him to help with those passing numbers and that’s where 2023 wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="380469" first="Jay" last="Miller"] came in. Miller was Rejoice’s leading wide receiver last season with 15 touchdowns on over 700 yards receiving. At 6’3, Miller was a massive red zone target and ended the season as a touchdown machine. This comes after he had over 1,000 receiving yards as a sophomore. It goes without saying but there should be some high expectations for the Wilson to Miller combo this season in Class 2A. [player_tooltip player_id="286908" first="Josh" last="Hendricks"] - 2024 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back Miller won’t be the only big target within the Rejoice passing game. 2024 wide receiver and defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="286908" first="Josh" last="Hendricks"] also returns after a very successful sophomore season. Hendricks had some numbers on offense but had an outstanding season on defense with 59 tackles and 4 interceptions. After a really strong offseason, we believe that Hendricks will be able to show more of his abilities on the offensive side of the ball, while also doing what he does best which is at defensive back. Rejoice not only has one of the best quarterbacks in the state, but they have plenty of skill players around him. [player_tooltip player_id="287384" first="Solomon" last="Morton"] - 2023 Athlete Arguably the most important skill player around Wilson is 2023 athlete [player_tooltip player_id="287384" first="Solomon" last="Morton"]. Better known as Solo, the dynamic athlete excelled last year in his first season with Rejoice Christian. Morton did a little bit of everything for the Eagles and was truly explosive. He finished with nearly 800 yards and nine touchdowns receiving. He also added seven interceptions on the defensive side of the ball and also returned kicks. He finished the season with two touchdowns in the kick return category. Rejoice will take advantage of having another dynamic player that can help them in all three phases. More Names To Know Bryce Revard - 2023 Wide Receiver [player_tooltip player_id="215030" first="Cooper" last="Auschwitz"] - 2025 Linebacker Dalton Close - 2023 Offensive/Defensive Lineman Drevin Reed - 2024 Running Back/Defensive Back Isaac Barnett - 2025 Running Back/Linebacker Jace Jenkins - 2024 Running Back/Defensive Back Marshall Hefner - 2023 Offensive/Defensive Lineman Nathan Price - 2024 Offensive/Defensive Lineman Peyton Cole - 2023 Linebacker Tommy Mulkey - 2024 Offensive/Defensive Lineman <hr /> 2022 Schedule/Games To Circle Aug. 26 - AT Cashion - Rejoice Christian will open up the season on the road against two top ten teams in different classes. Up first is a road game against the two-time champions in Class A with Cashion. The following week, they’ll take on Cascia Hall, who’s ranked in the top ten in Class 3A. Before they can focus on that, they’ll have a trip west to take on a Cashion team that is rebuilding after winning back to back state championships and have made three straight trips to the title game in general. And the Wildcats will be ready for the visiting Eagles after Rejoice stunned them in the season opener a year ago. Sept. 2 - AT Cascia Hall Sept. 9 - Beggs - So this one is a no brainer in terms of highly anticipated games for Rejoice Christian this season. This one got a little out of hand last year. Beggs ran for about a million (exaggeration) yards last season and the Eagles gave up 70+ points in the loss. It turned into a shootout real fast and could potentially turn into another one with both teams returning plenty of talent. The Eagles will definitely be ready for the match-up this time around and look to get a win before a much needed bye week and then district play will open up. This is also a match-up between two teams ranked in the top five in Class 2A. Sept. 23 - Salina Sept. 30 - Claremore Sequoyah Oct. 7 - AT Adair Oct. 13 - Vinita Oct. 21 - AT Nowata Oct. 28 - Caney Valley Nov. 4 - AT Pawhuska - We know that the district schedule is done by the luck of the draw but man this was a good draw for fans of high school football. In the final week of the regular season, Rejoice Christian will hit the road to take on Pawhuska, who is a new district foe after moving up to Class 2A. These two teams are the top two teams in the district heading into the season and the district championship could very well be on the line when they clash in week ten. The playoffs will be here early as these two square off. It’s also a match-up between two of the best 2023 quarterbacks in the state. <hr /> Notable Rejoice Christian has a nice little streak going as they head into the 2022 season. This year will be their 11th season playing within the OSSAA. Ever since joining in 2012, the Eagles have made the playoffs every single season. Something else that’s impressive about that is the fact that they’ve won at least one playoff game in every single year. However, they also have another streak going over the last three seasons and it hasn’t been so nice. Rejoice Christian has lost to the eventual state champion in the last three seasons. They lost to Ringling in 2019 before moving up to Class 2A in 2020. Then they lost to Metro Christian and last year they fell to Washington. The Eagles are one of the top teams in Class 2A so they expect to extend those playoff streaks but they don’t want to lose to the eventual champion. They want to be the eventual champion. <hr /> Championship History 0 State Championships