Newcastle Racers OK 2024 Team Preview

Get 25% Off Your Subscription By Entering Knight25 In The Coupon Code Area. Enjoy!   It's the month of August and we're continuing our preview series! Throughout the month of July and now 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 Newcastle Racers!   Newcastle Racers   Preseason Prep Redzone Ranking: UR In Class 5A Preseason Coaches Ranking: UR In Class 5A   Head Coach: Jeff Brickman - 8th Season - 38-36 Record At Newcastle   2023 RESULTS (9-3 Record - Lost In Class 4A Quarterfinals)   Aug. 25th - Beat Weatherford 34-14 Sept. 8th - Beat Plainview 35-21 Sept. 15th - Beat Woodward 69-7 Sept. 22nd - Beat Tecumseh 55-6 Sept. 29th - Lost To Blanchard 28-13 Oct. 6th - Beat Bridge Creek 40-3 Oct. 12th - Beat Harrah 43-20 Oct. 20th - Beat Classen SAS 78-29 Oct. 27th - Lost To Tuttle 14-13 Nov. 3rd - Beat Bethany 35-7 1st Round - Beat Elk City 46-21 Quarterfinals - Lost To Poteau 28-18   2023 Offensive Scoring Average: 39.9 Points Per Game 2023 Defensive Scoring Average: 16.5 Points Per Game   The Newcastle Racers came into the 2023 season as a top ten team in Class 4A and they certainly played like it all year. They began the season with some dominant wins, including a 20-point win over Weatherford in the season opener. They would lose to eventual state champion Blanchard in district play but the Racers got right back to winning in October. They won three straight and went into week nine with a 7-1 record. They lost a 14-13 heartbreaker to Tuttle but would bounce back in week ten with a 35-7 win over Bethany. The Racers would go on the road in the first round to western Oklahoma and beat up on Elk City, winning 46-21. That would be their second playoff win in the last decade. The Racers would go from western Oklahoma to southeastern Oklahoma for a quarterfinal showdown with Poteau. They came up short, losing 28-18. The season came to an end with a 9-3 record. The Racers came into the season and looked like a team that could make some noise in Class 4A. The three losses came to the eventual state champion and two perennial powerhouses in 4A football. At this time last year, we talked about how the district could turn out to be a gauntlet and it's hard to argue that it wasn't. Now, the Racers shift their focus on a new district, a new class and new challenges in 2024.    2024 OUTLOOK   Head coach Jeff Brickman is going into his eighth season as head coach of the Racers and he is taking them into a new era as Newcastle enters Class 5A football for the first time in program history. And despite playing in a difficult district, Brickman has turned Newcastle into a consistent winner. In his first four seasons as Newcastle's head coach, he won 17 games. In the last three years, there have been 21 wins. And this season, the Racers bring back the majority of their starters from their 9-win team in 2023. Six starters return from an offense that averaged just under 40 points per game in 2023. They'll have a new quarterback in 2024 and they have to find some new faces on the offensive line. But this offense is going to be headlined by a running back that has been an absolute dude since he was a freshman in 2022. The Racers also bring back six starters on the defensive side of the ball this season. We like the overall experience and talent level that comes back for Newcastle on this side of the ball. And when you look at where the strength of the unit is coming from, look for it to come from the line of scrimmage. They have some potential monsters up front that will cause problems. Now, the Racers are going to really challenge themselves before entering district play in Class 5A. They play three of the top five teams in our Class 4A preseason rankings. And the district is headlined by three of the top six teams in our Class 5A preseason rankings. We thought last season would be a gauntlet but it has nothing on the difficult schedule that the Racers have ahead of them in 2024.   KEY LOSSES TO GRADUATION   Jackson Bergt - Quarterback Shane Lovejoy - Linebacker   PLAYERS TO WATCH    We mentioned earlier in the preview how the strength of this Newcastle defense could end up coming from the line of scrimmage. They have two defensive ends that can absolutely dominate a game. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1365396' first='Hunter' last='Barry'] returns to cause more problems for opposing backfields. Last season, Barry would lead the team in sacks and tackles for loss. He also comes into this season as one of the leading tacklers that returns from last fall. If Barry is able to lead the team in sacks and tackles for loss again, we're looking forward to seeing what that production looks like. He measures in at 6'4 and over 200 pounds and is an absolute nightmare for opponents coming off the edge.     It's not easy to replace a four-year starter at the quarterback position but that will be one of the bigger challenges for Newcastle this season. Senior signal Caller [player_tooltip player_id='898159' first='Jackson' last='Schanuel'] appears to be the next guy in line to run this Newcastle offense. Schanuel saw limited playing time in 2023 and when he was asked to throw the ball, he could absolutely fire it. His stats came in that limited time but some of these numbers are crazy. He had just 13 completions on 22 pass attempts but still finished with over 400 yards passing and six touchdowns. Based on those numbers, we can only imagine what his stats will look like when he has a full season under his belt.     As Newcastle works in a new quarterback into this offense, they'll benefit from the return of [player_tooltip player_id='449184' first='TJ' last='Bradford'] at the running back position. Bradford is that guy that we mentioned earlier that has been a playmaker for Newcastle since his freshman season. Last year, he ran for nearly 1,400 yards and 19 touchdowns. Bradford can also turn around and make plays on defense as a cornerback. But when we've watched Bradford in person or on film, we see a potential star on the offensive side of the ball. This season, Bradford comes into the year as not only one of the top running backs in Class 5A but he's one of the better running backs in the state and should put up big numbers.    MORE NAMES TO KNOW   Ayden Elcyzyn - 2025 Tight End/Defensive End Ben Rogers - 2027 Running Back/Linebacker Blake Allen - 2026 Offensive/Defensive Lineman Kayden Longman - 2026 Athlete Person Scagnetti - 2027 Wide Receiver/Linebacker Rex Heskew - 2025 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back Taj Smith - 2025 Offensive/Defensive Lineman   2024 SCHEDULE/GAMES TO CIRCLE   Aug. 29th - Bartlesville Sept. 6th - Tuttle Sept. 13th - AT Blanchard Sept. 20th - AT Elgin - In week three, Newcastle ends their brutal non-district schedule on the road against an Elgin team that is the preseason number one team in Class 4A. These two teams were 4A district opponents from 2014-2021 and this series was fairly even. During that stretch, Elgin held a 4-3 record against the Racers. This season, Elgin has state championship aspirations and will give Newcastle their final test before they enter district play. Elgin's offense will be one of the better units Newcastle sees in 2024. Sept. 27th - Duncan Oct. 4th - AT Midwest City - The first tough district contest comes in week five as Newcastle goes on the road to face off with Midwest City. The Bombers are ranked number six in our 5A preseason rankings. The Bombers will be similar to Newcastle this fall as they are headlined by a strong running game while working in a new quarterback. Newcastle definitely has a good shot to be a playoff team in their first season in Class 5A. And if they get a win here in week five, they will be in a good spot in the district standings. Oct. 18th - AT Classen SAS Oct. 25th - AT Lawton MacArthur Nov. 1st - Bishop McGuinness - In week nine, Newcastle hosts Bishop McGuinness and it's the last match-up with one of the top teams in the district. The Irish are in a similar position to Newcastle. They were supposed to be in a different class altogether this season but they dropped back to Class 5A and landed in a different district in April. The Racers will look to beat a Bishop McGuinness team that is one of the more consistent winners in Class 5A over the last decade. A win here will put Newcastle in a great position for the playoffs. Nov. 8th - Southeast   NOTABLE   For the first time in school history, Newcastle finds themselves competing in Class 5A. That's not the way the 2024 season was supposed to play out but here we are. In April, several OKC-area private schools won a decision that forced an emergency redistricting shuffle and when that happened, Newcastle was bumped up from staying in Class 4A to Class 5A. And based on the latest ADM numbers from this summer, Newcastle is the smallest school in Class 5A other than Bishop McGuinness. And coincidentally, those two are in the same district. Newcastle will be challenged as they move up to Class 5A and we're not quite sure when they'll move back down to 4A, if ever. But as we've mentioned earlier in the preview, the Racers have been challenged over the last several years with a very tough district in Class 4A. They'll be ready for the boost in competition.    LAST FIVE SEASONS   2023 - 9-3 - Lost In Class 4A Quarterfinals 2022 - 7-4 - Lost In Class 4A 1st Round 2021 - 5-6 - Lost In Class 4A 1st Round 2020 - 7-3 - Lost In Class 4A 2nd Round 2019 - 4-6 - Missed Playoffs   CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY   1 State Championship   1992 - Beat Marlow 21-11

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