OK Bible Academy Trojans 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>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 Oklahoma Bible Academy Trojans.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Oklahoma Bible Academy Trojans</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 Oklahoma Bible Academy Trojans took a step towards contending for the state championship in 2022 and now they are ready to finish the job this season. At this time last year, the Trojans were preparing for their first season in Class B as one of the newer 8-man programs in the state. For over a decade, OBA had been in Class A but they became an independent team in 2021 to make that transition to 8-man football. And when they started the 2022 season, they started it with a bang. They beat some really strong teams early on in the season, including an eye-opening 58-34 week three win over Seiling. That dominance wouldn't slow down as they entered district play. They ran away with the district championship, with the closest game coming in week six, when they beat Cherokee 54-22. They carried that strong play on both sides of the ball to the playoffs and weren't really tested until the quarterfinals, when they met another unbeaten team in Dewar. It ended up being no test as OBA rolled 46-0 to punch their ticket to the semifinals and a rematch with Seiling. The season came to an end one game shy of the title game after a surprising 46-0 loss to the Wildcats after beating them 58-34 in the regular season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There's no doubt that the Trojans have a sense of “unfinished business” as we head into the 2023 football season. They would go 13-1 and that lone loss was a game they felt like they could win certainly and had the proof of it earlier in the season. But the Trojans will have quite a few pieces to replace off last year's semifinal team if they are going to make it back and potentially further this fall. Oklahoma Bible Academy brings back half of their starters with four starters returning on the offensive side of the ball and another four starters back on defense. All eyes will be on the offense to see if they can match last year's production, where they were one of the better units in Class B. They'll have to replace their quarterback but arguably their best offensive weapon does return at the running back position. The defense will be going through the same growing pains as the offense as they look to replace half of their starters on that side of the ball. This was a defense that had five shutouts on the season last year and there's no doubt that they will want to match that number and potentially go further this season. And if those new starters provide that “instant impact” for the Trojans, we could see them playing deep into November and potentially into December.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2022 RESULTS (13-1 Record - Lost In Class B Semifinals)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aug. 26 - Beat Davenport 46-0<br>Sept. 2 - Beat Southwest Covenant 48-20<br>Sept. 9 - Beat Yale 60-14<br>Sept. 16 - Beat Seiling 58-34<br>Sept. 30 - Beat Waukomis 58-12<br>Oct. 7 - Beat Cherokee 54-22<br>Oct. 13 - Beat Ringwood 56-14<br>Oct. 21 - Beat Garber 48-0<br>Oct. 28 - Beat Kremlin-Hillsdale 51-6<br>Nov. 4 - Beat Pond Creek-Hunter 48-0<br>1st Round - Beat Balko/Forgan 64-22<br>2nd Round - Beat Waurika 45-0<br>Quarterfinals - Beat Dewar 46-0<br>Semifinals - Lost To Seiling 46-0</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>Bodie Boydstun - Quarterback<br>Jakob Colby - Linebacker</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":["933930"],"_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":"Oklahoma Bible Academy 2024 standout [player_tooltip player_id='933930' first='Harrison' last='Crow'] returns to anchor the offensive line at the center position. And while they work in a new quarterback, having that experience from Crow along the line of scrimmage should pay off in a big way. Crow is also a standout on the defensive side of the ball at the linebacker position. OBA's coaching staff feels like Crow is one of the main leaders on that side of the ball so there's no doubt that he's incredibly valuable to their success. He helped lead an offense that put up monster numbers last season and now he will look to be a leader on both sides with what he brings on offense and defense.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["933929"],"_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":"Speaking of leaders, OBA's offense will definitely benefit from having 2024 standout [player_tooltip player_id='933929' first='Jud' last='Cheatham'] returning at the running back position. When you look at what Cheatham did last season, there's no doubt that he's one of the top playmakers in Class B and 8-man football overall. Last season, Cheatham would finish the year with nearly 3,100 all purpose yards and 33 touchdowns. We see those kinds of numbers from time to time in the 8-man game but it's still rare and those are eye-opening results. Cheatham wasn't just a standout on offense. He also finished with well over 100 tackles on defense and was one of the team's leading tacklers.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":2,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-64ca7d2172584"} /--> <!-- 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 - AT Davenport<br>Sept. 1 - Southwest Covenant<br>Sept. 8 - Yale<br><strong>Sept. 15 - Seiling</strong><br>- There are a handful of non-district games that we already have circled when it comes to Class B heading into the season and this is one of them. OBA will host Seiling in week three after facing off with the Wildcats twice in 2022. And the story has already been told as OBA beat Seiling in the regular season, only to have their 2022 campaign end in the semifinals against Seiling. Part of that “unfinished business” we talked about earlier starts right here with another showdown with Seiling.&nbsp;<br>Sept. 29 - AT Waukomis<br><strong>Oct. 6 - Cherokee</strong><br>- Week six brings a home game against Cherokee and it kicks off perhaps the toughest two-week stretch of the season as they face the two teams that finished second and third in the district standings last season. The OBA coaches believe that Cherokee could take a step up this season and they were the team that played the Trojans the closest in district play last season. One week after facing Cherokee, they'll hit the road in week seven to face off with Ringwood.&nbsp;<br>Oct. 12 - AT Ringwood<br>Oct. 20 - AT Garber<br>Oct. 27 - Kremlin-Hillsdale<br>Nov. 3 - AT Pond Creek-Hunter</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>Notable</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As we mentioned earlier, Oklahoma Bible Academy successfully made the transition last year from 11-man football to 8-man football. From 2006-2020, the Trojans were in Class A and while they had a few winning seasons, they had more losing seasons and only one year in that stretch where they won double digit games. After becoming an independent team in 2021 to transition to 8-man football, the Trojans returned to the OSSAA in Class B and immediately won 13 games, which is the most wins in the last two decades. They made it to the semifinals for the first time since 2009 and just the second time in school history. It seems that 8-man football suits the Trojans well and we've seen a few smaller Class A programs go ahead and make the transition to 8-man football and it has ended up paying off. We could see more of it in the future.</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 -->