Metro Christian Patriots OK 2023 Team Preview

<!-- 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>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 Metro Christian Patriots.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Metro Christian Patriots</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason Prep Redzone Ranking: #6<br>Preseason Coaches Ranking: #3</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Metro Christian Patriots had immediate success as they moved up from Class 2A to 3A last season. That was to be expected as they came into the 2022 season as a top five team in the preseason rankings with a loaded offense, led by one of the best quarterbacks in the state. The Patriots would get everyone's attention in week two when they went on the road and stunned a Poteau team that was a top five team in Class 4A. And the Pirates don't lose at home very often. Then they absolutely dominated their way through the district schedule. All seven of the district match-ups were decided by 25 points or more as they were never really challenged for about two months. The first challenge that was believed to happen was when they had a showdown with Lincoln Christian in the semifinals in a match-up featuring the top two teams in Class 3A. The Patriots took advantage of early turnovers to win a shootout and punch their ticket to Edmond. They fell to Heritage Hall in a game that had a bit of controversy. Early on there were two plays that were simply officiated incorrectly and it directly resulted in two Heritage Hall touchdowns. But there was no stopping Heritage Hall as they ran for well over 400 yards and would win 72-56 in a championship shootout.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This season, it's going to be a little different as the Patriots have to rebuild that high-powered offense that lit up scoreboards last season. They lose their highly regarded quarterback and the Patriots are going to look a little different on the offensive side of the ball. Don't get us wrong, the Patriots are still going to be a pass-heavy team as that's what they've done for years and years. It's just going to be packaged in a different way. Only three starters return on the offensive side of the ball and they will benefit from having some experience along the offensive line but all of the skill players are gone and will be new names this season. Fortunately, the defense has more experience returning with six starters back on the defensive side of the ball. But this is no doubt going to be a Metro Christian team that will have to grow up in a hurry if they want to punch their ticket to Edmond and contend for the Class 3A state championship again. And after the way last season ended, we have no doubts that the Patriots are hungry to avenge that title loss this season. But before they can start thinking about Edmond in December, they have to take care of business in the regular season in a challenging district and tough non-district slate.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2022 RESULTS (13-1 Record - Class 3A Runner Up)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sept. 2 - Beat NOAH 41-9<br>Sept. 9 - Beat Poteau 35-31<br>Sept. 16 - Beat Prairie Grove, AR. 41-21<br>Sept. 23 - Beat Mount Saint Mary 50-14<br>Sept. 30 - Beat Perkins-Tryon 63-28<br>Oct. 7 - Beat McLoud 35-0<br>Oct. 13 - Beat Kingfisher 42-7<br>Oct. 21 - Beat Mannford 55-6<br>Oct. 28 - Beat Anadarko 45-6<br>Nov. 4 - Beat North Rock Creek 41-12<br>1st Round - Beat Pauls Valley 41-14<br>Quarterfinals - Beat Cascia Hall 49-19<br>Semifinals - Beat Lincoln Christian 49-35<br>Championship - Lost To Heritage Hall 72-56</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Key Losses To Graduation</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Breck Nauman - Wide Receiver<br>Kirk Francis - Quarterback<br>Mario Darrington - Wide Receiver<br>Tagg Campbell - Athlete</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":["898347"],"_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":"There are two big names that Metro Christian has to replace in terms of production from last season and the first is running back and defensive back Tagg Campbell. 2024 running back [player_tooltip player_id='898347' first='Corley' last='Wagner'] appears to be the guy to fill those shoes on both offense and defense. But Wagner is a little bigger than Campbell and will come down into the box and line up at linebacker on defense. On offense, we anticipate Wagner to set the tone early on in the season. The Patriots do bring back some experience along the offensive line so Wagner could take advantage and have some strong games early on in 2023. It seems like every season the Patriots have a player that has a breakout season on offense and Wagner could be that guy this fall.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["898348"],"_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 strength of the Metro Christian offense could come from the offensive line. 2025 lineman [player_tooltip player_id='898348' first='Jake' last='Campbell'] has the ability to anchor that offensive line that does bring back some experience. But listed at 6'4 and 280 pounds, Campbell is definitely a prospect that we're going to keep an eye on. And just like we said with Wagner, it's not impossible to see Metro Christian's offense become more run oriented then what we've seen over the last decade. Campbell certainly has the size to open up some running lanes for not only Wagner but for a few other players in this Metro Christian offense. As the passing game comes along with new receivers stepping into those roles, we expect Campbell to be a mauler up front along the line.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["192621"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"The other offensive player that the Patriots have to replace is their star quarterback in Kirk Francis. Stepping into that role is 2024 standout [player_tooltip player_id='192621' first='Jaxson' last='Grimes'] who will bring a little more athleticism to the position. Grimes has been an overall athlete for the Patriots over the last year or so as he could be moved around to different positions and provide a spark, whether it was offense or defense. This year, Grimes is projected to be QB1 for the Patriots and he's definitely going to bring something different to the Metro Christian offense. And as we mentioned with the other players to watch, the running game could have a lot of success, especially early on this season. Grimes definitely has the athleticism and ability to become a dual-threat QB in this Metro offense.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":3,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-64a9a746bda90"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>More Names To Know</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1235924' first='Blake' last='Parmley'] - 2026 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back<br>Eason Wagenblatt - 2025 Wide Receiver/Linebacker<br>Jack Michalcik - 2024 Offensive/Defensive Lineman<br>Kaedon Goodman - 2025 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1292050' first='Kincayde' last='Eng'] - 2026 Quarterback/Defensive Back<br>Nate Jackson - 2026 Wide Receiver/Linebacker<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1161909' first='Ty' last='Guest'] - 2026 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back</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>Sept. 1 - AT NOAH<br><strong>Sept. 8 - Poteau</strong><br>- This was already going to be one of the top games early on in the season without all of the late game dramatics from last season's meeting. You throw in what happened the last time Metro Christian and Poteau took the field and you have one of the marquee games early on in the season. The Patriots went on the road and stunned the Pirates with a last second touchdown pass to win 35-31. The Pirates are definitely going to be hungry for this one with the way last year's meeting ended. Both teams are ranked in their respective classes and should be title contenders. <br>Sept. 15 - Prairie Grove, AR.<br>Sept. 22 - Mount Saint Mary<br><strong>Sept. 29 - AT Perkins-Tryon</strong><br>- Metro Christian and Perkins-Tryon were the top two teams in district 3A-1 last season and there's no reason to think that they won't be again this fall. This time, the Patriots have to hit the road to take on the Demons in week five. This is going to be the first road game after three straight home contests and the first time that the Patriots are going to leave Tulsa county. Last season, the Patriots used that high-powered passing attack to beat Perkins-Tryon and that win would decide the district championships. With both teams ranked, it's not crazy to think the district title will be decided here again. <br>Oct. 6 - AT McLoud<br>Oct. 13 - Kingfisher<br>Oct. 20 - AT Mannford<br>Oct. 27 - AT Anadarko<br>Nov. 3 - North Rock Creek</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Notable</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last season's redistricting shuffle put Metro Christian in no man's land as they moved up from Class 2A to Class 3A. The Patriots won back to back Class 2A state championships in 2019 and 2020 and would move up to Class 3A in 2022. And when that happened, they found themselves as a Tulsa team in a district primarily made up of schools well over an hour away. We mentioned this last year when the shuffle happened. But Metro Christian's closest district opponent is Mannford and they are still 35 minutes away. And another thing that we mentioned was the majority of their district games last season were at home but that's flipped so the Patriots will be hitting the road for a few lengthy road trips this season. When the new ADM numbers come out in August, we'll have an idea of what the classes will look like moving forward and one thing that should be a priority is getting Metro Christian into a district with schools that are much closer.&nbsp;</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>2 State Championships</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2020 - Beat Washington 48-37<br>2019 - Beat Vian 42-34</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->