Class 5A Season In Review

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2022 football season has come and gone. Once again, the football season has just flown by. A little over a week removed from the final football games of the 2022 season, we officially kicked off our postseason coverage earlier this week. We continue things today with our season in review series. Up next is Class 5A as we take a look back at the 2022 season. We look at who lifted the gold ball, crown a player of the year in the class along with recognizing many other top players from this season. Then we dive into the top storyline from this year and take a very early look at the 2023 season. Keep it locked into Prep Redzone Oklahoma every day for a new class in this week long series taking a look back at the 2022 season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>STATE CHAMPION</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong><em>Carl Albert Titans (12-2)</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2021 was a "down" year for Carl Albert and when we say down year, we're talking about a team that won their district and lost in the semifinals. But that's what building a dynasty brings. Unimaginable expectations after winning five straight gold balls from 2016-2020. And coming into 2022, the Titans were ready to make it back to the mountain top in Class 5A. Carl Albert was the number one team in Class 5A when our preseason rankings were released back in late June. The Titans were the team to beat with nearly everyone returning on both sides of the ball. But the Titans would not have the start that they would have hoped for.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Facing one of the tougher non-district schedules in Class 5A, Carl Albert would begin the season 1-2 and things started off bad on the very first possession of the season. Facing Coweta on the road in a top five match-up in week one, starting quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='150088' first='Reed' last='Dequasie'] would go down with a broken collarbone. The Titans wouldn't be able to overcome the injury that week and fell to the Tigers 44-14. Two weeks later, Muskogee star quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='211556' first='Jamarian' last='Ficklin'] couldn't be stopped as the Titans fell at home 35-28. From there, the Titans wouldn't lose again, despite being in arguably the toughest district in the state.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Titans, in our opinion, began their journey to a state championship in week seven. They would go on the road and face rival Bishop McGuinness, who was unbeaten at the time. DeQuasie would come back from that collarbone injury and breathe new life into the Titans. Plus, junior running back [player_tooltip player_id='360239' first='Xavier' last='Robinson'] let the whole state know that he was one of the top players in Oklahoma with one of his many outstanding performances this year. The Titans would roll on from there. They beat up Guthrie the following week and then took care of Piedmont in the regular season finale to head into the playoffs as district champions once again and 8-2 on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was clear that Carl Albert was turning into a snowball going down the mountain and their momentum was only getting stronger and they would not be stopped in the playoffs. Of all the state champions this year, Carl Albert was one of the more dominant teams in the postseason. Their closest game was in the quarterfinals when they met rival Del City and pitched a shutout, winning 19-0. They would then move on to a showdown with unbeaten Grove in the semifinals and that turned into another blowout victory for the Titans as Carl Albert won 55-21. And in the title game, the Titans would have a complete performance on both sides of the ball as they punished McAlester for all four quarters, winning 49-7 to capture their sixth state title in the last seven seasons. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJXjfqI_-H4u0026amp;t=219s","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJXjfqI_-H4&amp;t=219s </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>PLAYER OF THE YEAR</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["360239"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Carl Albert junior running back [player_tooltip player_id='360239' first='Xavier' last='Robinson'] was one of the absolute breakout stars of the 2022 season and he helped carry the Titans to another state championship, their sixth in the last seven seasons. In the process, Robinson rewrote the record book at Carl Albert for running backs and had some of his best performances in Carl Albert's biggest games of the year. Robinson would finish with nearly 2,600 yards and 39 touchdowns on the ground this season. The Carl Albert standout is a big running back and it's easy to assume that he's just a power runner. But as many opponents found out this season, Robinson could run away from opponents just as easily as he could run them over. Robinson not only became one of the top players in Oklahoma this season, but he became one of the top overall prospects in the state's 2024 class. He was the complete package for the Titans as they captured yet another Class 5A state championship.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63a64953c29d4"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>BREAKOUT STARS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='353419' first='Caden' last='Davis'] - Defensive Lineman - Carl Albert<br>[player_tooltip player_id='334118' first='Colton' last='Howard'] - Quarterback - Sapulpa<br>[player_tooltip player_id='446439' first='Kaden' last='Rush'] - Quarterback - Collinsville<br>[player_tooltip player_id='449039' first='Matt' last='Lund'] - Running Back - Elgin<br>[player_tooltip player_id='219074' first='Na'Kylan' last='Starks'] - Athlete - Coweta<br>[player_tooltip player_id='393974' first='Rodney' last='Fields'] - Athlete - Southeast</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>OTHER TOP PLAYERS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='38817' first='Brandon' last='Harper'] - Wide Receiver - Noble<br>[player_tooltip player_id='215197' first='Cannon' last='Wood'] - Athlete - Piedmont<br>[player_tooltip player_id='428158' first='Carson' last='Flanary'] - Linebacker - Coweta<br>[player_tooltip player_id='38818' first='Carson' last='Trimble'] - Quarterback - Grove<br>[player_tooltip player_id='38793' first='Chaz' last='Bradley'] - Defensive Back - McAlester<br>[player_tooltip player_id='51855' first='DeAngelo' last='Irvin Jr'] - Quarterback - Midwest City<br>[player_tooltip player_id='57158' first='Emmanuel' last='Crawford'] - Running Back - Grove<br>[player_tooltip player_id='91049' first='Erik' last='McCarty'] - Running Back/Defensive Back - McAlester<br>[player_tooltip player_id='57157' first='Jaedon' last='Foreman'] - Defensive Lineman - Del City<br>[player_tooltip player_id='38778' first='Kanijal' last='Thomas'] - Wide Receiver/Defensive Back - Del City<br>[player_tooltip player_id='215200' first='Ladainian' last='Fields'] - Wide Receiver/Defensive Back - Southeast<br>[player_tooltip player_id='51871' first='Mike' last='Taffe'] - Running Back - Bishop McGuinness<br>[player_tooltip player_id='150088' first='Reed' last='Dequasie'] - Quarterback - Carl Albert<br>[player_tooltip player_id='215198' first='River' last='Warren'] - Quarterback - Bishop McGuinness<br>[player_tooltip player_id='165365' first='Tashawn' last='James'] - Wide Receiver/Defensive Back - Carl Albert</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>TOP STORYLINE</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>New Teams Have Immediate Impact</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2022 season brought along a new district cycle as teams moved up and down and also got placed into new districts. In Class 5A, we saw four new teams as Del City and Midwest City moved down from Class 6A-2 and Elgin and Grove moved up from Class 4A. And all four new teams had an immediate impact on their new class. All four teams not only made it into the playoffs this season, but all four spent time this season in the top ten and two (Grove and Midwest City) were district champions. Before the season, Del City, Grove and Midwest City looked like the best picks for that instant impact on making it to the playoffs in their first season in Class 5A. But Elgin has to be one of the bigger surprise teams this year, regardless of class. Not only are they into the playoffs, but they even battled Midwest City for the district crown in week ten. The new teams entering the mix helped make Class 5A one of the deepest and most competitive classes in the state this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>EARLY LOOK AT 2023</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Back in August, we put out our bold predictions for the 2022 season. One of those predictions included Class 5A and how Carl Albert was about to go on another dynasty-like run. The prediction was that not only would Carl Albert win it all in 2022, but they would rattle off at least three consecutive titles, giving them eight in nine seasons. The Titans got title number one and they'll be a favorite once again in 2023. After the Titans, you have to remain in that 5A-2 district because not much will change next year as Bishop McGuinness, Guthrie, Piedmont and even Southeast will all be teams that could be either top ten or borderline top ten teams when our preseason rankings come out next summer. We anticipate that district to dominate Class 5A once again in 2023 but they won't be alone. While the majority of the contenders this season lose quite a bit to graduation, there are other teams like Elgin and Sapulpa that took massive leaps in 2022 and with a strong core of guys returning, they could become true contenders when the calendar flips to 2023. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->