Piedmont Wildcats 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 Piedmont Wildcats!   Piedmont Wildcats   Preseason Prep Redzone Ranking: #8 In Class 6A-2 Preseason Coaches Ranking: #6 In Class 6A-2   Head Coach: Jeff Hall - 6th Season - 38-22 Record At Piedmont   2023 RESULTS (7-4 Record - Lost In Class 5A 1st Round)   Aug. 25th - Beat Noble 52-26 Aug. 31st - Beat El Reno 14-6 Sept. 8th - Beat Blanchard 21-7 Sept. 15th - Beat Duncan 54-3 Sept. 22nd - Beat Southeast 49-6 Sept. 29th - Lost To Guthrie 35-0 Oct. 6th - Beat Lawton Eisenhower 43-26 Oct. 19th - Beat Shawnee 55-0 Oct. 27th - Lost To Bishop McGuinness 19-14 Nov. 3rd - Lost To Carl Albert 38-24 1st Round - Lost To Elgin 20-0   2023 Offensive Scoring Average: 29.6 Points Per Game 2023 Defensive Scoring Average: 16.9 Points Per Game   The Piedmont Wildcats might have played their last season in Class 5A in 2023 as they are moving up to Class 6A-2 starting this season. And with the way the community and enrollment numbers have been growing, they might not be back down. Piedmont would go out with a 7-4 record and lost to district champion Elgin in the first round. The WIldcats came up short in one of the toughest districts in the state. This was a district that featured two of the top three teams in the class with Carl Albert and Guthrie. Then you add a Bishop McGuinness team that would make a run to the semifinals and it was a gauntlet. Piedmont started the season with some impressive wins, including a 21-7 win over eventual 4A champion Blanchard. In fact, Piedmont would start the season with a 5-0 record by the halfway mark of the season. They would get shut out on the road against Guthrie but they still came into the final two weeks of the regular season with a 7-1 record. Unfortunately, they wouldn't win another game. They were stunned by Bishop McGuinness in week nine and then lost to reigning 5A champion Carl Albert in week ten. The Wildcats would go on to the playoffs and fall to Elgin and the season came to an end at 7-4. So the season clearly didn't end the way they'd like but 2024 brings new beginnings for the Wildcats to bounce back in a major way. 6A-2 brings new challenges, but they also no longer have to deal with one of the more competitive districts in 5A football over the last several years.    2024 OUTLOOK   Piedmont will make their debut in Class 6A-2 as a preseason top ten team in their new class. There are three major reasons behind that. The first is their style of play. They bring their flexbone option attack into 6A-2 and when you look at the landscape of this class, you don't find that very often. So right from the jump, they could have an advantage when their offense is on the field. Then you throw in the players that are running that system and you have both talent and experience. Six starters are back on the offensive side of the ball. We like what the Wildcats have along the line of scrimmage and that will be able to set the tone for their rushing attack. They will have to replace their quarterback as well as the leading rusher from a year ago. That won't be easy but Piedmont's coaches are excited about the potential of those new names coming up this season. The defense also brings back six starters and we think this is where Piedmont can really shine. This unit gave up around 16 points per game last season and because of the style of offense, they didn't get into many shootouts. The defense has experience up front and in the secondary. They'll need some new names to step up at linebacker but again, the coaches are high on the potential for those positional groups. But despite the new class, Piedmont expects to keep their playoff streak alive. They've been a playoff team in six straight seasons. They have four wins during that time. Before this streak, they only had two playoff wins in school history. The bar has been raised and so has the competition.    KEY LOSSES TO GRADUATION   Brogan Hardy - Linebacker Cannon Wood - Athlete Joey Mars - Quarterback   PLAYERS TO WATCH    Senior defensive back [player_tooltip player_id='470675' first='Ethan' last='Shelton'] will be going into his third season as a starter for the Piedmont secondary. Shelton first got on our radar during the offseason last year. He dominated at one of our camps and immediately became a cornerback that we wanted to see more of. Piedmont's coaches know what they have when it comes to the senior. He's a guy that has blazing fast speed and technique that will make him one of the best cover corners in 6A-2 football this season. Shelton is not going to shy away from the challenge of a new class. And 6A-2 has some terrific quarterbacks and wide receivers. Shelton will be ready week in and week out.     Junior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1339151' first='Grayson' last='May'] looks like he'll be the guy at QB1 for the Wildcats this season. He'll be stepping into big shoes following the graduation of a three-year starter. And it seems like we say this every time we write about option teams, but the quarterback is so obviously critical to their success. But May has definitely shown the ability to be a breakout player for the Wildcats this season. He's already impressed the coaching staff with his ability to run the option so there might not be a drop off at the position this season. They also mentioned his arm strength for when the Wildcats do need to throw the ball. This could be a breakout season for May.     At this time last year, we thought that [player_tooltip player_id='595674' first='Lane' last='Whitworth'] was going to be with Deer after moving there in the offseason. But Whitworth ended up back at Piedmont, where he went into his third season as a starter in the Wildcat secondary as a safety. Whitworth is going to be a very intriguing name to watch for the Wildcats this season. First off, he's going to be one of the more experienced players in 6A-2 as he's going into his fourth year as a starter. He'll be a vocal leader for this Piedmont team and be an extension of the coaching staff on the field. We've also seen Whitworth perform really well on both sides of the ball. While he's known for defense, don't overlook him being a playmaker on offense.    MORE NAMES TO KNOW   Gregory Owen - 2026 Running Back/Linebacker Jayedon Fulston - 2025 Athlete Jesse Knap - 2025 Defensive Lineman Mikah Rocco - 2025 Defensive Back [player_tooltip player_id='595691' first='Scott' last='Logan'] - 2026 Offensive Lineman   2024 SCHEDULE/GAMES TO CIRCLE   Aug. 30th - AT Midwest City - In the season opener, Piedmont will go on the road to take on a Midwest City team that's in the top ten of our preseason rankings in Class 5A. At this time last year, this would have been a battle of 5A teams. And in 2022, it was as they met each other in the first round of the playoffs. Piedmont would stun Midwest City, who came into the playoffs as a district champion. Get to the game early for this one because both teams have strong running games and they'll lean on them here. Sept. 6th - AT El Reno Sept. 20th - Norman Sept. 27th - Choctaw - District play begins in week four and for Piedmont, it'll be a massive measuring stick game to see how they stack up against some of the best teams in 6A-2. Obviously every district game is important but when they host Choctaw, this will show us where they are compared to some of the top teams in the class. Choctaw once again has high expectations coming into this season and has the majority of their starters back. This game will be a massive challenge for the Wildcats but one to watch. Oct. 4th - AT Northwest Classen Oct. 11th - U.S. Grant Oct. 18th - AT Lawton Eisenhower Oct. 25th - Southmoore Oct. 31st - AT Stillwater Nov. 8th - Putnam City - In the final week of the regular season, Piedmont will host Putnam City and there is no doubt that for these two teams, playoff seeding and positioning will be very important. Both the Wildcats and Pirates are in similar positions coming into this season. They are top ten teams but they are looking to break into those top two spots in the district. Piedmont expects to be a playoff team in their first year in 6A-2. This game will help figure out what seed they'll be when they get there.   NOTABLE   Piedmont's move up from Class 5A to Class 6A-2 has been inevitable for some time now. With the steady growth of that community, the enrollment numbers continued to climb and a little over a year ago, those numbers finally climbed to the point where the Wildcats were officially in 6A-2. But it wasn't until April that Piedmont probably felt comfortable with the district that they were placed in. At least comfortable from a geographic standpoint. Originally, Piedmont was slated to be in a district with Bartlesville, Capitol Hill, Muskogee, Northwest Classen, Ponca City, Sand Springs and Stillwater. Now, the Wildcats are in a district with Choctaw, Lawton Eisenhower, Northwest Classen, Stillwater, Southmoore and U.S. Grant. There will still be some decent road trips but they aren't near as bad as the previous district. And another plus they won't be in a district with the two teams that played for the 6A-2 state title a year ago. We think that Piedmont will find success in year one in Class 6A-2. There's no doubt they should be a playoff team. What will be interesting is to see where they stack up compared to the rest of the class.    LAST FIVE SEASONS   2023 - 7-4 - Lost In Class 5A 1st Round 2022 - 7-5 - Lost In Class 5A Quarterfinals 2021 - 5-6 - Lost In Class 5A 1st Round 2020 - 5-4 - Lost In Class 5A 2nd Round 2019 - 10-3 - Lost In Class 5A Semifinals   CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY   0 State Championships

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