Locust Grove Pirates OK 2023 Team Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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 Locust Grove Pirates.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Locust Grove Pirates</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason Prep Redzone Ranking: UR</strong><br><strong>Preseason Coaches Ranking: UR</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Locust Grove Pirates are beginning a new era of football this season with a new head coach in Paul Hix. The Pirates went 2-8 last season and missed out on the playoffs. The Pirates found themselves in one of the toughest districts in Class 3A and it definitely played out that way. They beat area rival Adair in week two with a 22-8 victory. But the Pirates would lose six straight games after that and they fell out of the playoff picture. They would beat Seminole late in the season but the year came to an end in a blowout loss to district champion Lincoln Christian. Locust Grove finished with a 2-8 record and they are looking to turn things around after several losing seasons in a row. The Pirates bring back the majority of their starters and they are hungry to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2018.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Pirates bring back six starters on the offensive side of the ball but with Hix taking over as head coach, that also means his son will be the new starting quarterback and he enjoyed an outstanding freshman season at Hennessey last fall. The Pirates also bring back some strong skill position players to put around the sophomore quarterback. Six starters return on the defensive side of the ball. But just like last season, the Pirates find themselves in one of the tougher districts in Class 3A this season. Lincoln Christian comes into this season as the favorite to capture another district crown and there are plenty of other teams that are playoff squads and also feature some outstanding individuals. After checking out the Pirates back in the spring at a team camp, we think they will take the next step and get back to winning and potentially making it back to the playoffs.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2022 RESULTS (2-8 Record - Missed Playoffs)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sept. 1 - Lost To Salina 30-0<br>Sept. 8 - Beat Adair 22-8<br>Sept. 16 - Lost To Claremore Sequoyah 56-14<br>Sept. 22 - Lost To Wagoner JV 20-18<br>Sept. 30 - Lost To Stigler 43-14<br>Oct. 7 - Lost To Berryhill 70-6<br>Oct. 13 - Lost To Checotah 39-32<br>Oct. 21 - Lost To Muldrow 36-14<br>Oct. 28 - Beat Seminole 12-8<br>Nov. 3 - Lost To Lincoln Christian 56-0</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Key Loss To Graduation</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lane Atchley - Wide Receiver</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Players To Watch</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["929851"],"_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":"Locust Grove 2024 standout [player_tooltip player_id='929851' first='Chad' last='Adams'] returns at the running back position. Adams ran for nearly 800 yards and five touchdowns. A lot of eyes on the Locust Grove offense will be on the new quarterback. Adams will provide the offense with plenty of experience and production as we head into the new season. As the Pirates start moving on to a new offensive scheme, we think that Adams will be the perfect running mate for Hix in the backfield. The Pirates have the potential to really improve on the offensive side of the ball. With a decent amount of offensive linemen returning as well, the running game as a whole should be able to make a big impact.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["428958"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"We mentioned earlier how the Pirates are going to have a new quarterback this season and we're fired up to see what 2026 signal caller [player_tooltip player_id='428958' first='Titan' last='Hix'] can do in his first season with the Pirates. Hix threw for over 2,500 yards and 26 touchdowns and then he also added over 1,000 yards and 20 touchdowns on the ground. As a freshman, Hix was a dominant playmaker with the air and ground game. From the very first game of the season, Hix was putting up massive numbers. We got a chance to see the 2026 quarterback at a camp earlier this season and he was outstanding. We think he has the chance to be one of the top quarterbacks in Class 3A this fall.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":2,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-64c713dc109e0"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>More Names To Know</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cayson King - 2025 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back<br>Jaquane Shemel - 2024 Athlete<br>Zander Messner - 2026 Wide Receiver</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2023 Schedule/Games To Circle</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aug. 25 - Pryor<br>Aug. 31 - Salina<br>Sept. 7 - AT Adair<br>Sept. 15 - Claremore Sequoyah<br><strong>Sept. 29 - AT Stigler</strong><br>- After four non-district games, the district slate for Locust Grove will actually open up in week five as they go on the road to face Stigler. The Panthers beat up on the Pirates last season and they were one of the playoff teams from this district. But the Pirates will take advantage of having week four off before opening the district schedule on the road against a playoff team. The Pirates will hope that their offense is clicking by this point in the season because this game, even though it's just the first district contest, will go a long way to deciding who the playoff teams are here.&nbsp;<br>Oct. 6 - Berryhill<br>Oct. 12 - Checotah<br>Oct. 20 - AT Muldrow<br><strong>Oct. 27 - AT Seminole</strong><br>- Locust Grove will hit the road in week nine to face off with Seminole in a rematch of last year's only district win. At this point of the season, the Pirates are going to know exactly where they stand in the district standings and the overall playoff race. Before they meet district favorite Lincoln Christian in week ten, they'll face a Seminole team in a game that could very well punch their ticket to the playoffs. Depending on what they accomplish earlier on in the district slate, this game could make or break their chances to play meaningful football in the month of November.&nbsp;<br>Nov. 3 - Lincoln Christian</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Championship History</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>0 State Championships</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->