Class 6A-1 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 by launching our season in review series. We begin with Class 6A-1, taking 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>Bixby Spartans (12-1)</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2022 football season ended for Bixby the way most have in the last decade and that was with the Spartans lifting up the state championship. But while the 2022 season may have ended the same way, it was full of firsts and the start of a new journey. The Spartans finally moved up to the largest class in the state after dominating 6A-2 since it's creation in 2014. The Spartans won seven state championships in eight seasons and they set the state record for most consecutive wins by an 11-man program with 49 at the end of the 2021 season. But with the Spartans moving up to 6A-1, the question quickly became how they would compete in the state's largest class week to week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It didn't take long to find out the answer to that question. The Spartans opened up the year at TU for the "Battle Of The Burbs" against Owasso. After a close first half, the Spartans opened things up in the second half to run away with a 49-14 victory. The win gave Bixby 50 in a row and they were off to the races in 6A-1. They would then go on the road to Arkansas and handled business there before wrapping up non-district play against their former 6A-2 foe in Sand Springs. Through three games, the Spartans hadn't missed a step.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Then came district play and a week to week grind of playing the largest schools in the state. It didn't matter. Nothing slowed down the Spartans as they mowed down the competition and made it look easy every single week. They absolutely lit up the scoreboard and won games with a high-scoring offense and a special defense along with special teams. But all good things must come to an end and the Spartans had their record winning streak come to an end in the final game of the regular season. Rival Jenks came into Bixby and stunned the Spartans in a nationally televised game. But that loss turned into a blessing in disguise as it forced the Spartans to regroup, refocus and start their pursuit on their ultimate goal of a state championship.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite the loss to Jenks, Bixby still captured the district title and earned a first round bye. They dominated Enid in the quarterfinals before a semifinal rematch with the Trojans, just three weeks after losing in week ten. Bixby got some sweet revenge with a 28-14 win over Jenks and punched their ticket to their ninth consecutive state championship game, tying the state record for most consecutive appearances in the title game. In that title game, they saw another familiar foe in Owasso and made quick work of the Rams to win it all once again. They beat Owasso 69-6 in an absolutely dominating effort in all three phases of the game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now, the Spartans shift their focus on the 2023 season and while their record-breaking winning streak might be done, they do have another record they can put their names next to. In 2023, they will begin their pursuit of something that has never been done before in state history. No team has ever made it to ten consecutive state championship games and the Spartans can be the first. They have to replace a lot of big names on both sides of the ball but as we've learned, this Bixby program just reloads, they don't rebuild. We'd be foolish to doubt the Spartans in 2023.</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=0ApY2sLRCEw","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=0ApY2sLRCEw </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":["197183"],"_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":"We've said it before and we'll say it again here. You won't find many other players in Oklahoma that made a bigger jump than Bixby senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='197183' first='Connor' last='Kirby']. At this time last year, Kirby was strictly a situational quarterback, used only in running situations. This year, Kirby ended up winning the starting job at quarterback towards the end of the regular season and played some of his best football down the stretch, helping lead the Spartans to yet another state championship. The evolution of Kirby as a quarterback was one of the best stories of this football season and Kirby's ceiling moving forward as a prospect is incredibly high. This year, Kirby threw for nearly 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns while adding over 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground. And again, Kirby was splitting time at quarterback for the majority of the regular season. Imagine what those numbers look like if he was QB1 all season long.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-63a5397fcef31"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>BREAKOUT STARS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='427388' first='Anthony' last='Hills'] - Wide Receiver - Owasso<br>[player_tooltip player_id='519610' first='Hank' last='Puckett'] - Linebacker - Bixby<br>[player_tooltip player_id='382965' first='Kamden' last='Sixkiller'] - Quarterback - Norman North<br>[player_tooltip player_id='402378' first='Kaydin' last='Jones'] - Running Back - Broken Arrow<br>[player_tooltip player_id='427389' first='Kunta' last='Jordan'] - Linebacker - Owasso<br>[player_tooltip player_id='133793' first='Tykie' last='Andrews'] - Wide Receiver - Enid</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='194065' first='Cale' last='Fugate'] - Wide Receiver/Defensive Back - Bixby<br>[player_tooltip player_id='287383' first='Devin' last='Robinson'] - Defensive Back - Union<br>[player_tooltip player_id='38789' first='Dietrich' last='Moore'] - Linebacker - Broken Arrow<br>[player_tooltip player_id='219073' first='DJ' last='McKinney'] - Running Back - Union<br>[player_tooltip player_id='374628' first='Ike' last='Owens'] - Quarterback - Jenks<br>[player_tooltip player_id='110740' first='Issac' last='Covington'] - Defensive Back - Union<br>[player_tooltip player_id='38777' first='Jacobe' last='Johnson'] - Wide Receiver/Defensive Back - Mustang<br>[player_tooltip player_id='157457' first='Jalyn' last='Stanford'] - Running Back/Defensive Back - Jenks<br>[player_tooltip player_id='157509' first='Jersey' last='Robb'] - Running Back/Linebacker - Bixby<br>[player_tooltip player_id='55156' first='Luke' last='Hasz'] - Tight End - Bixby<br>[player_tooltip player_id='38821' first='Mason' last='Willingham'] - Quarterback - Owasso<br>[player_tooltip player_id='188014' first='Shaker' last='Reisig'] - Quarterback - Union<br>[player_tooltip player_id='204031' first='Tias' last='McClarty'] - Quarterback - Norman<br>[player_tooltip player_id='200526' first='Tristen' last='Russell'] - Quarterback - Mustang<br>[player_tooltip player_id='98178' first='Ty' last='Walls'] - Wide Receiver/Defensive Back - Jenks</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>Owasso's Massive Turnaround</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We could have gone with a few different storylines in 6A-1 this season. Bixby's streak coming to an end but still raising a gold ball. [player_tooltip player_id='188014' first='Shaker' last='Reisig'] moving from Jenks to Union. But we're going with Owasso starting the season 1-4 and then making it all the way to the state championship game. At the halfway mark of the regular season, the Rams were hurting with a 1-4 record. But anyone who watched Owasso and saw the schedule they were playing knew that a turnaround was inevitable. The Rams played arguably the toughest first five games in the state, regardless of class. They also lost some of their best players on the offensive side of the ball. So the Rams were going to have to work if they were going to make a run when November rolled around. And that's exactly what they did. They also got some breaks along the way. They upset Norman North in the quarterfinals when Norman North was without their star quarterback. Then the next week they shocked Union in a semifinal game that lasted six overtimes and will go down in the history books. While the storybook ending wasn't on the table for the Rams in the title game, seeing a team go from 1-4 to state runner up was one of the best storylines in the state, regardless of class 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>So we began this post with a look at Bixby's championship run and we ended that by saying we were not going to question them going into 2023. But we also acknowledge that they have some serious firepower on both sides of the ball that they will have to replace next season. So while the Spartans are reloading for another championship run, we look around the state and see a few other teams that could step up. We see a team like Union, that will have some new faces on defense but could end up having the best offense in 6A-1 a year from now. Broken Arrow also played quite a few young players in 2022 and the Tigers will be hungry to bounce back in a major way in Josh Blankenship's third season as head coach. Edmond Memorial could be the best team from the west if they become more consistent but we haven't been quiet about how much we like some of their younger talent. Then you have usual suspects like Jenks, Mustang and Owasso that are getting hard by graduation. But in the end, all roads lead back to Bixby and we aren't going to doubt the Spartans moving forward.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->