Bartlesville Bruins OK 2023 Team Preview
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It’s the month of July and that means it’s preview time! Throughout the month of July and into August, we are publishing well over 100 in-depth team previews to get you completely ready for the 2023 football season. This is something that began in 2021 and has continued to get bigger every single year. We’re looking forward to diving deep into the top teams across the state. From defending champions, to top contenders and plenty of dark horses, we’ll have complete coverage every single day with new teams from Class 6A, all the way down to the addition of 8-man coverage this year with Class B and C. In this post, we take a look at the Bartlesville Bruins.
Bartlesville Bruins
Preseason Prep Redzone Ranking: #6
Preseason Coaches Ranking: #7
Bartlesville began a new era in 2022 as Harry Wright took over the Bruin football program and would take them back to the playoffs in his first season. The year was an up and down season as the Bruins would start the year 1-4 and had two different stretches where they lost three games in a row. But they did what they had to do to earn a spot in the playoffs and would even go on the road and beat Lawton in overtime to get their first playoff win since making it all the way to the 6A-2 semifinals in 2015. There’s no doubt that when you look at 6A-2 this year and even last year, the Bruins find themselves in the tougher district. The preseason rankings feature five of the top seven teams all in the same district so the Bruins have their work cut out for them this season, just like they had their work cut out for them going into last year. But we think that the Bruins are building some momentum coming off a trip to the playoffs and a very successful offseason, where the team continued to work together and get better.
It also helps when you return almost all 22 starters from last year’s team, which is what the Bruins bring back on offense and defense. We really like some of the pieces they bring back on offense as nine starters return, including one of the top running backs in Class 6A-2 and in the state’s 2025 class. We think it’s only a matter of time before college coaches start noticing what he can do with the ball in his hands. Then you look at the pieces around him and the Bruins have experience and they definitely showed some improvement this offseason. The defense also brings back nine starters so the Bartlesville fanbase is definitely hopeful that the defense can take that next step and start slowing down some of those high-powered offenses that they are going to be going against. But there’s no doubt that the schedule is tough for the Bruins this year. We think that they are a playoff team for sure but what seed will they be and can they get a home playoff game or even a bye in the first round? Those are the biggest questions for the Bruins coming into this season. How will they contend with the rest of their stacked district?
2022 RESULTS (5-7 Record – Lost In Class 6A-2 Quarterfinals)
Sept. 2 – Beat Claremore 20-9
Sept. 9 – Lost To Sapulpa 27-21
Sept. 16 – Lost To Collinsville 35-25
Sept. 23 – Lost To Booker T Washington 41-7
Sept. 30 – Beat US Grant 55-0
Oct. 7 – Beat Putnam City West 48-7
Oct. 13 – Lost To Stillwater 55-7
Oct. 21 – Lost To Sand Springs 36-29 (OT)
Oct. 28 – Lost To Muskogee 61-28
Nov. 3 – Beat Tahlequah 28-16
1st Round – Beat Lawton 36-30 (OT)
Quarterfinals – Lost To Stillwater 56-0
Key Losses To Graduation
Ashton Lydon – Linebacker
Kaden Brown – Wide Receiver
Shaun Lickliter – Offensive Lineman
Players To Watch
It feels like 2024 offensive and defensive lineman Cooper Wood Cooper Wood 6’4″ | 220 lbs | ATH Bartlesville | 2024 OK should have graduated at this point. Wood has been a prospect we’ve liked for well over two years and that goes back to his freshman year. Wood has continued to get bigger each season and has transformed himself into a very strong offensive and defensive lineman with the Bruins. Listed at 6’5 and 270 pounds, Wood is going to anchor both sides of the line of scrimmage and as we mentioned earlier, the Bruins have one of the best running backs in Class 6A-2, so Wood is going to be very important to open up those running lanes. Then he’ll go to defense and be a run-stopper on that side of the ball. Last season, he finished with five sacks and is going to be looking for more this fall.
Wide receiver and defensive back Damien Niko Damien Niko 6’1″ | WR Bartlesville | 2025 State OK is the first of three straight 2025 prospects that we think has a very bright future for the Bruins and even at the next level. Niko has really good size at 6’1 and he enjoyed a breakout season last year with the Bartlesville offense. Niko became one of the top targets in the passing game as he finished the year with nearly 40 catches for well over 600 yards and five touchdowns. He also turned around and played defense and had a couple of interceptions, one of which he took back for a touchdown. We anticipate the Bruins to have an extremely balanced offense this fall but Niko is going to be an absolute playmaker in the passing game and then we like what he can bring on defense as well.
Another 2025 standout that we’re looking forward to watching this fall is Nate Neal Nate Neal 5’11” | QB Bartlesville | 2025 State OK at the quarterback position. The state’s quarterback position in the 2025 class is absolutely loaded and Neal is looking to prove that he belongs on that list among the best of the best. Last season, Neal threw for nearly 1,700 yards and 15 touchdowns. He appeared to be just scratching the surface on what he can be as a passer and we’re looking forward to seeing how that production goes up this fall. With the skill players they have returning, we think there’s no reason to think it won’t go up. Neal also looked good this offseason when we watched him in our 7v7 tournament back in February. Neal could definitely take the next step this fall and be one of the better quarterbacks in 6A-2.
That running back we mentioned earlier in the preview? It’s 2025 standout PJ Wallace PJ Wallace 6’1″ | RB Muskogee | 2025 State OK and we think he definitely has the potential to be the best running back in 6A-2 this season. Just look at what he did last year as a sophomore. Wallace ran for well over 1,700 yards and was one of the leading rushers in 6A-2 a season ago. He would finish with 14 total touchdowns as he proved to be a threat out of the backfield in passing situations as well. It was around this time last year that we started talking about Wallace being one of the breakout stars during the 2022 season. That played out to be true and now Wallace is looking to outdo his production from a year ago. If he’s able to become a player that flirts with 2,000 rushing yards, that’s going to mean really good things for the Bruins.
Highlights
More Names To Know
Austin Zink
Austin
Zink
5'11" | 190 lbs | ATH
Bartlesville | 2024
OK
– 2024 Linebacker
Brett Eaves – 2024 Defensive Back
Casey Young
Casey
Young
6'0" | 200 lbs | LB
Bartlesville | 2024
OK
– 2024 Linebacker
Chase Eaves – 2025 Linebacker
Haydn Taylor – 2025 Defensive Back
Mason Manley – 2025 Defensive Back
2023 Schedule/Games To Circle
Sept. 1 – Claremore
Sept. 8 – Sapulpa
– Bartlesville’s non-district schedule is full of Class 5A teams that are all looking to be playoff teams this fall. The Bruins will be hosting a Sapulpa team that is going into this season as a top five team in Class 5A and this match-up features two explosive offenses. The Bruins lost a very close game to the Chieftains last season, losing 27-21 in week two. This early season match-up is a perfect measuring stick game for the Bruins. If they can pull off a win early on in the season, we anticipate the Bruins will be a real contender in Class 6A-2.
Sept. 15 – AT Collinsville
Sept. 22 – AT Booker T Washington
– The second of three consecutive road games comes in week four as the Bruins travel to Tulsa to face Booker T Washington. This time it’s the district opener and similar to the Sapulpa game, this is another measuring stick game for the Bruins. Bartlesville is wanting to climb the ranks within their district and there’s no doubt that they are in the tougher district in Class 6A-2. If the Bruins go on the road and knock off a young but talented Booker T Washington team, the Bruins will be a real district contender. The Bruins will look to turn things around in the series against the Hornets.
Sept. 29 – AT US Grant
Oct. 6 – Putnam City West
Oct. 12 – Stillwater
– In week seven, the Bruins are at home again as they host defending state champion Stillwater. The Pioneers had no problems with the Bruins last season as they met twice and won by a combined score of 111-7 with the second time coming in the playoffs. So you know the Bruins are going to be ready for the rematch when the defending state champions come to town. If the Bruins find themselves in a position where they are unbeaten in district play coming into this week, a win here could put the Bruins in a position as real district champion contenders.
Oct. 19 – AT Sand Springs
Oct. 27 – Muskogee
Nov. 3 – AT Tahlequah
Notable
In the first two years of Class 6A-2, the Bruins made the playoffs in each season. They would even make the 2015 semifinals but came up short of making it to their first ever state championship game. However, after going all the way to the 2015 semifinals, the Bruins had missed out on the playoffs four straight seasons. They were able to snap that streak in 2020 when every team in the state could qualify for the playoffs and the Bruins opted into the playoffs. But with the recent change with the Class 6A playoffs, that would open up two more playoff spots in each district and the Bruins were able to take advantage of that. Bartlesville would finish fifth in the district but that was good enough for a playoff spot and the Bruins would go on the road to knock off Lawton in the first round of the playoffs. This year, the Bruins are hungry for much more.
Championship History
0 State Championships