Plainview Indians 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 Plainview Indians</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Plainview Indians</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason Prep Redzone Ranking: #7</strong><br><strong>Preseason Coaches Ranking: UR</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For the first time in two decades, the Plainview Indians are coming into a new football season after missing out on the playoffs the year before. In 2022, the Indians would go 5-5 with four straight losses to close out the regular season and keep them on the outside looking in on the postseason. Plainview had a strong start to the season, having just one blemish on their record heading into week seven. But they would lose to Pauls Valley and Sulphur by a combined three points and that made the difference on making the playoffs or checking in the equipment early. As we start looking ahead to the 2023 football season, the Indians have reloaded for another run at the playoffs. They will look to replicate the strong start they had to the season last year and finish the job in 2023, punching their ticket back to the postseason.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>12 starters return for the Indians with six starters back on the offensive side of the ball. The strength of the offense will be in the running game. They are working in a new quarterback and will have a few new faces along the offensive line. But having a potential star at running back will certainly give them a big boost. On defense, they have six starters back as well and will look to improve from last season. During their 5-1 start last year, the defense was lights out, giving up just 14.5 points per game. But in the final four weeks of the season, they gave up nearly 40 points per game. If improvement comes and some of those new faces come along on the offensive side of the ball, we think that 2023 could be a big bounce back year for Plainview. One of the biggest hurdles will be their district. It features defending state champion Heritage Hall and other top ten teams like Marlow and Sulphur, who are all ready for deep runs this fall.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2022 RESULTS (5-5 Record - Missed Playoffs)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sept. 2 - Beat Pilot Point, TX. 27-0<br>Sept. 9 - Lost To Newcastle 30-13<br>Sept. 16 - Beat Comanche 48-18<br>Sept. 23 - Beat Douglass 28-6<br>Sept. 30 - Beat Dickson 34-12<br>Oct. 7 - Beat Lone Grove 42-21<br>Oct. 13 - Lost To Pauls Valley 35-34<br>Oct. 21 - Lost To Heritage Hall 50-14<br>Oct. 28 - Lost To Marlow 40-7<br>Nov. 4 - Lost To Sulphur 29-27</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>Dru Nayor - Offensive Lineman<br>Garrett Keith - Offensive Lineman<br>Grant Graves - Quarterback<br>Morgan Pearson - 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":["360247"],"_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":"As Plainview works in a new quarterback, they'll be able to rely on 2024 running back [player_tooltip player_id='360247' first='Blake' last='Stewart'] to be a workhorse on the offensive side of the ball. Some of the numbers that Stewart put up last season are just mind-boggling. On offense, he would finish his junior season with 243 carries for over 1,500 yards and 14 touchdowns. That's nearly 25 carries a game and he would turn around and was one of their leading tacklers on defense with over 100 tackles on the season. Stewart had high expectations coming into the 2022 football season but it's easy to say he exceeded those as one of the top two-way players in Class 3A. Stewart was an instant impact player for the Indians in 2022 and he'll look to carry more of a load this fall, if that's even possible.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["288687"],"_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":"Prior to the 2022 football season, we mentioned 2025 wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id='288687' first='Shepherd' last='Sisemore'] as a potential breakout star for the Indians. And that's exactly the kind of sophomore season Sisemore had as he led the team in receiving. We also mentioned last year how the Indians are going through quite the run of tall playmaking wide receivers. From Blake Nowell to Morgan Pearson and now with Sisemore in the 2025 class, Plainview has had some absolute playmakers at the position and Sisemore is the next one up. Like Nowell and Morgan, Sisemore first grabbed attention with his abilities at wide receiver with his size and athletic ability. It will be interesting to see how much he ends up playing on defense as he is one of the more athletic players on the team.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":2,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-64ada588c28e0"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>More Names To Know</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ashton Glazner - 2025 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back<br>Austin Eubanks - 2024 Defensive Lineman<br>Braden French - 2025 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back<br>Braden Walden - 2026 Wide Receiver/Linebacker<br>Jared Trotts - 2024 Offensive/Defensive Lineman<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1256011' first='Jhett' last='Price'] - 2026 Athlete<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1345893' first='Keegan' last='Williams'] - 2025 Offensive/Defensive Lineman<br>Matt Chapa - 2026 Defensive Back<br>Toby Stedman - 2025 Linebacker</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 - Pilot Point, TX.<br><strong>Sept. 8 - AT Newcastle</strong><br>- Before Plainview jumps into a tough district slate, their hardest non-district game comes in week two when they hit the road for the first time in 2023 against Newcastle. The Racers are one of the top ten teams in Class 4A heading into the 2023 season and they were able to hand Plainview a 30-13 loss last season. As mentioned earlier, the Indians were able to bounce back immediately and would rattle off four straight wins. They'll be tested in this one by a Newcastle offense that has some absolute firepower. It will prepare them for what they'll see later on in district play. <br>Sept. 15 - Comanche<br>Sept. 22 - Douglass<br>Sept. 29 - AT Dickson<br>Oct. 6 - Lone Grove<br>Oct. 12 - AT Pauls Valley<br><strong>Oct. 20 - Heritage Hall</strong><br>- Plainview will play host to defending champion Heritage Hall in week eight and if the Indians have district championship aspirations, this is a must win as the Chargers come into this season as the district favorite. This also kicks off a three week stretch which will make or break Plainview's playoff hopes when it comes to district championships, home playoff games and much more. The Indians will attempt to slow down a Heritage Hall offense that is going to be one of the better units in Class 3A. They can do that by keeping them off the field with their strong rushing attack. <br>Oct. 27 - AT Marlow<br><strong>Nov. 3 - AT Sulphur</strong><br>- By the time week ten rolls around, we're going to have a decent picture of the playoff seedings but this game will absolutely have an impact on who goes where. Depending on what happens earlier in the season, the Indians could still be alive for the district crown or at least a home playoff game in the first round. These southern Oklahoma foes are going to go at it in week ten and it was a close game in 2022, with the Bulldogs surviving and winning by two. Arguably the three toughest district games come in the final three weeks and two of them are away from home. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Notable</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We mentioned a few times how Plainview has unfinished business as we head into the 2023 football season. The 2022 season was the first time since 2003 that the Indians missed out on the playoffs. Plainview had one of the longer active streaks in Oklahoma and specifically in Class 3A and after losing four straight to close out the regular season, that streak came to an end. And with that, another impressive streak came to an end as the Indians had 18 consecutive trips to the playoffs. But they also had a streak within a streak. Plainview had won at least one playoff game in 12 consecutive playoff trips. That streak dated all the way back to 2009 when they were tripped up in the first round. So not only will Plainview want to start a new playoff streak this fall, they'll want to start that streak within the streak of winning at least one game in the postseason. And this group is hungry for much more.&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>0 State Championships</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->