Sand Springs Team Preview
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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 Sand Springs Sandites. After a run to the semifinals a year ago, Sand Springs is ready to take the next step this fall.
Sand Springs Sandites (6A-2 Preseason Ranking: #6)
Fresh off a run to the 6A-2 semifinals, the Sand Springs Sandites are hoping for bigger and better things in 2022. In 2021, the Sandites had some momentum coming off the way they finished the 2020 season and the Sandites started the year off strong. They began the year 5-0 on the season but ran into a three-week stretch where they lost to Bixby, Booker T Washington and Choctaw. Despite that, they won the rest of their games and finished fourth in the district, which put them on the road, facing district champion Del City in the first round. They stunned the Eagles on the road and nearly beat Deer Creek in the semifinals. Fast forward to this year and the Sandites want to reload and become one of the more consistent teams in 6A-2.
That reloading will begin on both sides of the ball as they only return four starters on offense and another four starters on defense. While they’ll have plenty of new faces on both sides of the ball, that doesn’t mean that they’re lacking talent. They come in at #6 in our 6A-2 preseason rankings and have a real chance of being a top five team by the end of the season. They have a few hurdles they’ll have to overcome in order to make a deep run in November. The first features the new starters that they’ll be breaking in on offense and defense. Then you look at their district and it’s stacked once again. Four of the top six teams in our 6A-2 preseason rankings are all in the same district and that means the battle for playoff seeding is going to be intense every single week.
2021 Results (8-4 Record – Lost In Class 6A-2 Semifinals)
Aug. 27 – Beat Sapulpa 53-26
Sept. 3 – Beat Bishop Kelley 34-13
Sept. 17 – Beat Shiloh Christian, AR. 40-33
Sept. 24 – Beat Ponca City 30-13
Oct. 1 – Beat Muskogee 48-34
Oct. 8 – Lost To Booker T Washington 37-31
Oct. 14 – Lost To Bixby 58-14
Oct. 22 – Lost To Choctaw 41-28
Oct. 29 – Beat Bartlesville 41-20
Nov. 5 – Beat Putnam City West 44-7
Quarterfinal – Beat Del City 21-17
Semifinal – Lost To Deer Creek 20-17
Key Losses To Graduation
Blake Jones – Running Back
Connor Light – Defensive Back
Gabe Brown – Linebacker
Landon Hendricks – Defensive Lineman
Ty Pennington – Quarterback
Players To Watch
Brody Rutledge
Brody
Rutledge
6'3" | WR
Sand Springs | 2023
State
OK
– 2023 Wide Receiver
The first of two 2023 wide receivers returning for Sand Springs is
Brody Rutledge
Brody
Rutledge
6'3" | WR
Sand Springs | 2023
State
OK
. The Sandites had three legitimate wide receivers who accounted for most of the production from that position and they return two of them. Rutledge is ready to continue the momentum he built off last season and become even more of a playmaker this year. Rutledge also had a good offseason. We got a chance to see him in action during one of the various 7v7 tournaments during the offseason and he was incredibly consistent and had some of the best hands that we saw that weekend. He’s not the only returning standout at wide receiver either.
Jacob Blevins
Jacob
Blevins
6'1" | 175 lbs | WR
Sand Springs | 2023
State
OK
– 2023 Wide Receiver
Sand Springs’ leading receiver in receptions and yards returns this fall with 2023 wide receiver
Jacob Blevins
Jacob
Blevins
6'1" | 175 lbs | WR
Sand Springs | 2023
State
OK
. He finished with nearly 1,000 yards receiving and will be a big part of the Sandite offense this fall. Combining him with Rutledge and you have a legitimate two-headed monster at wide receiver and the new Sandite quarterback is going to have some options when it comes to the passing game. And for defenses trying to stop Blevins and Rutledge, they’re going to have to have strong play from the secondary otherwise they’re going to get burnt. Blevins is one of the top producing receivers returning in 6A-2.
Kenneth Page
Kenneth
Page
6'0" | 200 lbs | RB
Sand Springs | 2024
State
OK
– 2024 Running Back
In addition to a strong passing attack, the Sandites will be looking to have a balanced offense and will have a new running back taking the majority of the carries. 2024 running back
Kenneth Page
Kenneth
Page
6'0" | 200 lbs | RB
Sand Springs | 2024
State
OK
replaces Blake Jones at running back and will look to replicate some of his production from a year ago. Jones had a strong senior season but Page has the ability and chance to outdo that production this fall. He definitely looks the part at the running back position and he got some reps last season as a sophomore. We expect Page to be one of the breakout players in 6A-2 this season when it comes to the running back position.
Marek Matheson
Marek
Matheson
6'2" | 220 lbs | QB
Sand Springs | 2023
OK
– 2023 Quarterback
We’ve seen plenty of quarterbacks moving around the Tulsa area but one underrated move was 2023 quarterback
Marek Matheson
Marek
Matheson
6'2" | 220 lbs | QB
Sand Springs | 2023
OK
moving from Kiefer to Sand Springs. Matheson had an outstanding sophomore season where he threw for over 2,700 yards and 30 touchdowns. Matheson didn’t have near that kind of production last season but he was definitely limited when it came to passing attempts as that number went from 331 in 2020 to 150 in 2021. Now, he’s replacing one of the school’s best quarterbacks in Ty Pennington but he won’t be scared of the challenge after starting the last two seasons.
More Names To Know
Dominic Ornelas – 2023 Defensive Lineman
Drake Fain – 2023 Linebacker
Jabe Schlehuber – 2023 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back
Mason Harris – 2024 Offensive Lineman
2022 Schedule/Games To Circle
Aug. 26 – AT Sapulpa
Sept. 9 – AT Bixby
– Despite Bixby moving on to 6A-1, the Sandites will continue playing them in non-district play to give their team a solid test before district play begins. In week two, Sand Springs will host the Spartans and this will be the ultimate measuring stick game for the Sandites. Despite Bixby moving up to 6A-1, we’re still talking about a program that has won 49 in a row and have plenty of players returning from last year’s dominating championship team. A win can give Sand Springs all the momentum in the world going into district play in week four while a loss won’t do anything to hurt their playoff chances and seeding.
Sept. 16 – Ponca City
Sept. 23 – Muskogee
– From the opening district game, the Sandites will have the playoffs in the back of their mind and they’ll need to start stacking wins to put themselves in a position to contend for the district title. Muskogee and Sand Springs are in similar boats where they’ll look to push district favorites Booker T Washington and Stillwater but before they do that, they’ll square off with one another. Sand Springs beat the Roughers in a shootout last season and the Roughers are one of the younger but experienced teams in 6A-2. The winner here will stay in the mix for a district title while the loser will have a lot of work to do the rest of the way.
Sept. 30 – AT Tahlequah
Oct. 7 – Stillwater
Oct. 13 – Putnam City West
Oct. 21 – AT Bartlesville
Oct. 28 – AT Booker T Washington
– If Sand Springs finds themselves unbeaten in district play when they travel a few miles east to Booker T Washington in week nine, they can lock up the district championship with a win over the talented Hornets. The Sandites played the Hornets incredibly close last season and they’ll look to pull off the win this year. Booker T Washington and Stillwater are the top two teams within this district heading into the season. If the Sandites can beat both of them or even split the two games at 1-1, they’ll put themselves in a great position for the playoffs. This should be a good meeting late in the season.
Nov. 4 – US Grant
Notable
Head coach Bobby Klinck is going into his third season as the man in charge of the Sandite football program. He’s turned it around and turned it back into what we saw from the Sandites when Class 6A was first split into two divisions. In the first three years of 6A-2, the Sandites would make it to the semifinals every year, including a championship game appearance in 2015. The Sandites made it back to the semifinals a year ago and fell short to Deer Creek. They come into this season wanting to continue that playoff success and truly contend for a state championship. As we mentioned earlier, there is a ton of excitement around 6A-2 coming into this season with more teams able to feel like they’re really in the mix for that state championship.
Championship History
1 State Championship
1966 – Beat El Reno 14-7