Hooker Bulldogs OK 2024 Team Preview

Get 25% Off Your Subscription By Entering Knight25 In The Coupon Code Area. Enjoy!   It's the month of July and that means it's preview time! Throughout the month of July and even into August, we are publishing well over 100 of the most in-depth team previews that you'll find anywhere to get you completely ready for the 2024 football season. This is something that began for us at PRZ-Oklahoma in 2021 and it continues to get bigger and better every single year. We're looking forward to diving deep into the top teams across the state in every class. From defending champions, to the top contenders and plenty of dark horses and other teams to know, we'll have complete coverage every single day. There will be multiple previews dropping every single day! In this post, we take a look at the Hooker Bulldogs!   Hooker Bulldogs   Preseason Prep Redzone Ranking: #2 In Class A-1 Preseason Coaches Ranking: #2 In Class A-1   Head Coach: Trevor Powers - 8th Season - 68-21 Record At Hooker   2023 RESULTS (12-3 Record - Class A Runner Ups)   Aug. 25 - Lost To Sunray, TX. 49-23 Sept. 1 - Beat Wheeler, TX. 36-16 Sept. 8 - Beat Watonga 61-0 Sept. 22 - Lost To Fairview 56-22 Sept. 29 - Beat Sayre 49-6 Oct. 6 - Beat Mooreland 36-16 Oct. 12 - Beat Texhoma 60-0 Oct. 20 - Beat Burns Flat-Dill City 62-0 Oct. 27 - Beat Merritt 49-13 Nov. 3 - Beat Thomas 21-7 1st Round - Beat Mangum 43-13 2nd Round - Beat Minco 21-20 Quarterfinals - Beat Central Sallisaw 41-0 Semifinals - Beat Hominy 27-24 Championship - Lost To Fairview 34-8   2023 Offensive Scoring Average: 37.3 Points Per Game 2023 Defensive Scoring Average: 16.9 Points Per Game   The 2023 football season was one to remember for the Hooker Bulldogs. For the first time in school history, the Bulldogs would play for the state championship. Hooker began the season with a 2-2 record after dropping the season opener to Sunray, Texas and the district opener to Fairview. They would close out the regular season by winning six in a row and won five of the six by at least 20 points. They would turn into road warriors (more on that later) and cardiac kids after winning in the second round by a point and in the semifinals by three points. That semifinal win would punch their ticket to Edmond, where they ran into district foe Fairview in the state title game. The Bulldogs would come up short in the title game and have to take the silver ball back to the Oklahoma panhandle. But as we sat in the press box at UCO, we looked at the Hooker roster and noticed that the Bulldogs were going to be back in contention as the calendar flipped to 2024. And as we start looking ahead to this fall, the Bulldogs are one of the serious threats to Fairview to take the crown.   2024 OUTLOOK   Nine starters return on the offensive side of the ball and ten starters are back on defense. That's going to make the Bulldogs one of the more experienced teams in the brand new Class A-1. Class A has split into two divisions and Hooker finds itself as one of the smallest schools in the larger division. They find themselves in a district with two-time defending state champion Fairview once again. They also have Cashion in their district and the Wildcats were a thorn in Hooker's side a few years ago in the playoffs. But with 19 starters back, with the majority of production from the skill positions, this is going to be a very dangerous team this fall. Not only do they return plenty of starters, those starters have quite a bit of experience. From the senior class to some of the younger players, this is a very experienced squad. Hooker should once again be in the mix for the gold ball this season. They come into this year as one of the top teams in the class and while they might have snuck up on some opponents last year, that won't be the case this fall. The Bulldogs are hungry to bring the gold ball back to the panhandle for the first time in school history.   KEY LOSSES TO GRADUATION   Adrian Ibarra - Offensive Lineman Braxton Burge - Wide Receiver Omar Gomez - Defensive Back   PLAYERS TO WATCH    Junior linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1322386' first='Ayden' last='Woolridge'] had his breakout moment last year for the Bulldogs. After seeing some playing time as a freshman, he elevated his game to new heights last fall. Woolridge became the team's leading tackler in 2023 and finished the year with 162 tackles on the season. And when the team reached the playoffs, he elevated his game once again. Woolridge would finish the five games in the playoffs with well over 50 tackles. He was a tackling machine and the Bulldogs will expect him to be just that once again in 2024. On a very talented and experienced defense, there's no reason to think he can't match or exceed that production.     Sophomore running back [player_tooltip player_id='1084102' first='Justin' last='Palacios'] was one of the more productive freshmen in Oklahoma last season. And he's right at the top of the list in terms of running backs. Palacios would run for well over 1,700 yards and 21 touchdowns last fall and he's back for much more this season. Just going into his sophomore season, it's hard not to be excited about what the future looks like for Palacios and the production he could end up having over the next three seasons in the Oklahoma panhandle. In that state championship game against Fairview, Palacios was a bright spot with a solid performance on the biggest stage. We're excited to see what he does for an encore.     Junior [player_tooltip player_id='572029' first='Keilan' last='Robinson'] is one of the best two-way players in Class A-1 as we head into the 2024 season. Just look at the production he's had on both sides of the ball. As a freshman, he got everyone's attention as a ball hawk on defense. Last year, he produced on the offensive side of the ball at wide receiver in a run-first Hooker offense. In the last two seasons, Robinson has had 17 interceptions and he's only a junior. Needless to say, he's going to be one of, if not the best athlete on the field, every time he steps on the field. Robinson stepped up in the title game and played quarterback in the second half. Look for Robinson to have another monster year on both sides of the ball.     Senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='572028' first='Kleat' last='Martens'] is going to be going into his third year as QB1 for the Bulldogs this fall. Martens has a 21-7 record as starting quarterback of the Bulldogs and he is a terrific athlete that put up some impressive numbers last season. Martens would finish his junior campaign with nearly 1,400 yards passing and 16 touchdowns with over 1,100 yards rushing. The 1-2 punch of Martens and Palacios was very effective last season and we're looking forward to seeing what they can do this fall. Martens was also a stat sheet stuffer as a sophomore with 21 passing touchdowns and 20 rushing touchdowns. He'll be one of the top quarterbacks in A-1 this fall.     Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1108522' first='Nate' last='Hidalgo'] is one of the more intriguing 2025 prospects to watch this fall when it comes to small town Oklahoma football. Hidalgo was very productive last fall with over 70 tackles and 25 coming behind the line of scrimmage. But Hidalgo also measures in at 6'8 and is also a standout on the basketball floor. But we've seen another 2025 prospect with similar measurements this offseason at Pocola earn major offers from college football powerhouses. So there is a path for Hidalgo to earn his way onto the radar of college coaches for football. The Bulldogs have a few 2025 prospects along the defensive line to keep an eye on this fall and Hidalgo is one of them.     Just like Hidalgo, we think that fellow senior [player_tooltip player_id='1108523' first='Rhett' last='Nunley'] is a 2025 prospect that needs more attention moving forward. Nunley checks a lot of the boxes that college coaches are looking for. The size is there at 6'4 and well over 300 pounds. He lines up on both sides of the line of scrimmage and is dominant on either side. On offense, Nunley was one of Hooker's very best offensive linemen last fall. On defense, he was also a lane clogger on the interior of the defensive line. He finished his junior year with over 50 tackles with 15 coming behind the line of scrimmage. We think that Nunley is definitely a senior prospect to keep an eye on throughout this fall.    MORE NAMES TO KNOW   [player_tooltip player_id='1108524' first='Cale' last='Metcalf'] - 2025 Offensive/Defensive Lineman [player_tooltip player_id='1108521' first='Daniel' last='Quezada'] - 2025 Linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1108554' first='Gunnar' last='Martens'] - 2027 Offensive/Defensive Lineman [player_tooltip player_id='1108527' first='Jonathan' last='Cano'] - 2025 Offensive/Defensive Lineman Landen Lee - 2025 Running Back/Linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1108520' first='Peyton' last='Parker'] - 2025 Running Back/Defensive Lineman   2024 SCHEDULE/GAMES TO CIRCLE   Aug. 30th - AT Sunray, TX. - The season opener is always a date to circle on the calendar. For Hooker, this trip to the Texas panhandle has a feeling of unfinished business. They dropped their season opener against Sunray a year ago and that was when Hooker was missing some of their key pieces that would help them on their run to the championship game. That Sunray team would also make it all the way to the semifinals in Texas before losing to the eventual state champion in 2A Division 2. Sept. 6th - Guymon Sept. 13th - AT Spearman, TX. Sept. 27th - AT Sayre Oct. 4th - Hinton Oct. 11th - AT Cashion - With Class A being split into two divisions, we have new districts in the respective classes and Cashion becomes a new district foe for the Bulldogs but they aren't an unfamiliar name. When Cashion rattled off back to back state championships in 2020 and 2021, the Bulldogs had their season come to an end at the hands of the Wildcats. When week six rolls around and the Bulldogs travel to face Cashion, it won't be a playoff game but it'll feel like it with playoff seeding on the line. Oct. 17th - Fairview - For the Hooker fans out there, this one doesn't need a lot of explanation. But we'll give it anyway. These two teams are 1 and 2 in our preseason rankings. They've been district rivals and met in the state title game a year ago. The Bulldogs have surely wanted another crack at the Yellowjackets since walking off the field at UCO in December. They'll get it in week seven on a Thursday night. This has the potential to be the game of the year in Class A-1 and it could be the first of two meetings. Oct. 25th - AT Merritt Nov. 1st - Watonga Nov. 8th - Crescent   NOTABLE   We mentioned earlier in the preview how the Bulldogs turned into road warriors during their playoff run to the state championship game. They played one game at home, one on the road and three neutral site games. Travel there and back for the four playoff games away from home added up to 1,872 miles. You can go from Hooker, Oklahoma to Boston, Massachusetts and not rack up that amount of miles. You can go from Hooker, Oklahoma to Las Vegas, Nevada, and back and be around the same amount of miles. Look, it's no secret, there's not a lot that's “relatively close” out in the Oklahoma panhandle or in western Oklahoma. But the Bulldogs will be ready to become road warriors once again when the 2024 season kicks off in August.   LAST FIVE SEASONS   2023 - 12-3 - Class A Runner Ups 2022 - 9-4 - Lost In Class A Quarterfinals 2021 - 10-2 - Lost In Class A 2nd Round 2020 - 7-4 - Lost In Class A 1st Round 2019 - 5-5 - Missed Playoffs   CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY   0 State Championships

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