Champion Check In – Heritage Hall Chargers
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We’re deep into the offseason but spring football is right around the corner and it’ll be good to get back on the field and seeing the pads come on. But we wanted to take a look around the state at some of the top programs in Oklahoma today. And who better to feature than the reigning state champions. This article is the fifth installment of what we’re calling our “Champion Check In” as we check in with the reigning state champions across the state of Oklahoma. Up next is Class 3A state champion Heritage Hall as we put a spotlight on the perennial powerhouse and their climb back to the mountain top.
2022 SEASON RECAP
Heritage Hall came into the 2022 season as the #3 team in our Class 3A preseason rankings and they remained in that spot for the majority of the season, up until they captured another state championship. The Chargers brought back the majority of their starters and the offense was going to get a boost from their new quarterback Andy Bass Andy Bass 6'0" | 195 lbs | ATH Heritage Hall | 2024 State OK . The junior signal caller had to sit out his sophomore season and even before the 2021 season, the Chargers knew they had something special with Bass, even if he had to miss that ’21 season. And it didn’t take long for him to have a big impact for the Chargers in 2022.
Heritage Hall opened their 2022 season on the road against 2A rival Millwood on a rainy Thursday night in Oklahoma City. It had rained for hours prior to kickoff, making the grass field at Millwood a mud pit fairly quickly. Bass would lead the Chargers to a 35-28 win and they were off to the races in 2022. The following week, they suffered their only loss of the year when they fell to Clinton at a somewhat surprising outcome. But they bounced back immediately with a 43-0 win over John Marshall in the non-district finale.
The Chargers went into district play with a 2-1 record and a boost from the return of senior standout River Faulkner River Faulkner 5'11" | 205 lbs | ATH Heritage Hall | 2023 State OK , who had to sit out the first three games of the year. The Chargers had a new district slate after the redistricting shuffle but they were still the favorites to capture the district crown. The Chargers were dominant in their new district but their three toughest opponents were in the final three weeks of the season, with the last two games both coming on the road. It didn’t slow down the Chargers as their closest game in district play was a 24-point win in week ten against defending 2A champion and new district foe Marlow.
The Chargers were rolling at the right time and they didn’t stop once the playoffs began. They beat up on Anadarko and Stigler in the first two rounds with ease. Then came a top five showdown with Verdigris in the semifinals. Heritage Hall won by 21 and would punch their ticket to the championship game after three consecutive losses in the semifinal round. The Chargers were big fans of the redistricting shuffle because that put them on opposite ends of the bracket from Lincoln Christian, the team that had beaten them in the semifinals every year from 2019-2021. And they would see a team from Tulsa in the title game but it was Metro Christian after they beat Lincoln in their semifinal clash.
The Class 3A championship game would kick off the first week of title games in Edmond on Thursday night. And the Chargers and Patriots set the bar fairly high with a title game for the record books. Heritage Hall would run for nearly 500 yards and Metro Christian would pass for over 600 yards but the Chargers would win the wild record-breaking shootout 72-56 to capture their first state championship since 2018. Led by their dynamic backfield duo of Bass and Faulkner, the Chargers ended 2022 with another gold ball.
STATE OF THE PROGRAM
This has become a consistent theme with all of the other defending champions during the “Champion Check In” feature every week. When you look at the last ten years, Heritage Hall is right there with fellow champions Bixby, Carl Albert and Wagoner as one of the top programs during that time. The Chargers won it all in 2022 and ended what felt like a championship drought for a program like Heritage Hall. They hadn’t won gold since 2018 after running into a Lincoln Christian-sized speed bump in three consecutive semifinal appearances from 2019-2021.
2022 brought a new opportunity as the redistricting shuffle actually put Heritage Hall and Lincoln Christian on opposite sides of the playoff bracket after both ran away with another district title. But the Chargers wouldn’t have to worry about their playoff rival after Metro Christian took out their fellow Tulsa private school in the semifinal round.
Head coach Brett Bogert officially took over for his dad Andy following the 2014 state championship season. And few coaches had as good of a start as Bogert in his first four seasons as a head coach. As Heritage Hall’s head man from 2015-2018, Bogert had a 53-2 record with three state championships, two of which came in Class 3A and one came up in Class 4A.
The Chargers have won at least ten games in the previous nine seasons and show no signs of slowing down. They’ve made practice on Thanksgiving something that’s just written in permanent marker on the schedule at the beginning of the year. The only season Heritage Hall did not make it to at least the semifinals was in 2016 in their first year up in Class 4A, they went unbeaten in the regular season and then fell in the quarterfinals. They would avenge that by winning the 4A gold ball in 2017 before heading back down to Class 3A.
When we think about the top programs in Oklahoma over the last ten seasons, there is no doubt in our mind that Heritage Hall not only belongs in that conversation, they should be near the top of any list. Look at the dominance they’ve had in Class 3A specifically over the last decade. In the last seven seasons they were in Class 3A, they either won the state championship or fell to Lincoln Christian in the semifinals. Because of their dominance, and other programs like a Lincoln Christian and Holland Hall, there are continued talks about the OSSAA removing private schools from competing against public schools.
We have held strong on our belief that it is not our place to say one way or the other on whether or not that should happen. But one thing we have said and will continue to say is that if these programs, led by Heritage Hall, hadn’t been as dominant as we’ve seen over the last decade, these conversations would not be happening. The same goes for the split in Class 6A a decade ago. Had Jenks and Union not combined for nearly 20 consecutive state championships before the split happened, the split doesn’t happen in our opinion. And we anticipate Heritage Hall won’t apologize for dominating the way they have and they show no signs of slowing down.
A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE
The Chargers are going to be right near the top of Class 3A throughout the 2023 season as they look to defend that gold ball. Heritage Hall is one of several defending champions that have to be considered favorites heading into the new season with all the talent that the Chargers return on both sides of the ball. Heritage Hall has to find a way to replace all of the production of two-way star River Faulkner River Faulkner 5'11" | 205 lbs | ATH Heritage Hall | 2023 State OK at the running back and linebacker position. The graduation of Faulkner is without a doubt the biggest loss for this Heritage Hall team going into the new season.
But returning quarterback Andy Bass Andy Bass 6'0" | 195 lbs | ATH Heritage Hall | 2024 State OK will allow the offense to once again be one of the more explosive units in the state. Bass has proven to be one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the state and he will have some weapons around him. Wide receivers Jordyn Harris Jordyn Harris 6'1" | 165 lbs | DB Heritage Hall | 2024 State OK and Rashaud Smith Rashaud Smith 6'0" | 175 lbs | WR Heritage Hall | 2024 State OK return and running back Barrett Travis Barrett Travis 6'1" | RB Heritage Hall | 2025 State OK is back after getting some meaningful playing time last season when Faulkner was out.
Harris also leads a very talented secondary that will be back, looking to shut opponents down. Harris is going to be joined by Jerrod Williams Jerrod Williams 5'11" | DB Heritage Hall | 2026 State OK , who had a breakout moment in the state championship game, leading the team in tackles as just a freshman. The secondary won’t be the only unit that returns talented players. Defensive lineman Zavier Freeman Zavier Freeman 6'2" | DL Heritage Hall | 2024 State OK has the chance to become one of the more disruptive players in Class 3A up front.
With all of that talent returning, plus names that we don’t even know about yet, it’s hard to put anyone other than Heritage Hall in the top spot of Class 3A as we look ahead to the 2023 football season. The Chargers went a few years without a gold ball and they are determined to stay on the mountain top now that they’ve made it back to the top.