A Look Back At 2024 In Class 5A

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong><em><strong><em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em></strong></em></strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2024 football season is in the books and was certainly a memorable one. This week, our postseason content really kicked into high gear and today, we continue our “Looking Back” series for each class. In this breakdown, we're taking a look back at the 2024 football season in Class 5A. Carl Albert came into the 2024 football season with the crown and they walked out of the year still kings of Class 5A football. We look back at the season as a whole, crown the 5A Player Of The Year and take an incredibly too early look at 2025.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>CARL ALBERT'S DYNASTY ROLLS ON</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Carl Albert dynasty made more history in 2024 and they reached a number that head coach Mike Dunn didn't think was possible a few decades ago when he was a Carl Albert player. With their championship win over Guthrie, the Titans captured their 19th state championship in school history and moved into a tie with Ada for most football titles in state history. When Dunn was a player, he won a championship or two and that was back when Carl Albert was still 10+ titles away from tying Ada. He mentioned after that title game that back then, getting to 19 seemed impossible. But when you rattle off three straight state titles and eight of the last nine, you climb up those charts pretty quickly.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This was the second straight season where Carl Albert came into the year as the unquestioned team to beat in Class 5A. We made comments at various times during the last two years that it would be a monumental upset if anyone stopped the Titans from capturing the state championship. Nobody could. This season, the Titans lost some key pieces off of last year's title team but it didn't matter. The defense was arguably the best unit in the state and the offense still had plenty of playmakers to light up the scoreboard. Carl Albert would go 14-0 for the second straight year and they won their first five games this year with a shutout. All in all, the defense had eight shutouts on the year. They gave up 53 points total this year and left absolutely no doubt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Titans were led by playmakers everywhere. Everyone knows about the trio of OU signees in [player_tooltip player_id='377954' first='Marcus' last='James'] [player_tooltip player_id='294261' first='Trey' last='Washington'] and [player_tooltip player_id='598824' first='Trystan' last='Haynes'] but they had much more than that. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='353419' first='Caden' last='Davis'] is going to be an All State 1st Team selection for the third straight year, they had arguably the best kicker in the state with [player_tooltip player_id='615813' first='Ethan' last='Spiwak'] and countless other players that might have flown under the radar made big plays throughout the 2024 season. Ada won their 19th state championship in 1996 and hasn't won another one. Something tells us that Carl Albert isn't going to go into a championship drought that last decades moving forward. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>DEL CITY RELOADS INSTEAD OF REBUILDS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Del City made a run to the state title game in 2023 but they lost so much talent to graduation that we thought they could take a step back in 2024. Wrong. Very wrong. The Eagles lost their season opener to Edmond Memorial but they wouldn't lose again until running into powerhouse Carl Albert in the semifinals. And in our opinion, that semifinal match-up featured the top two teams in Class 5A and was certainly a championship-level match-up. The rise of junior [player_tooltip player_id='587262' first='Ricklan' last='B Holmes II'] on both sides of the ball, along with several other standout two-way players made Del City a threat all season. And it became obvious, very quickly into the season that the Eagles had just reloaded and there would be no rebuild in 2024. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>GUTHRIE MAKES MEMORABLE RUN TO EDMOND</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Similar to Del City, Guthrie lost a very talented and experienced senior class following the 2023 season. And the Blue Jays began the season with a 1-2 record after falling to a pair of 4A contenders. But Guthrie would only lose two times the rest of the way and both came to Carl Albert. Guthrie was shut out 29-0 in week nine but they finished second in the district and avoided the top two teams in the class on their side of the bracket. That allowed them to make a run to their first state championship game appearance since winning it all in 2013. The Blue Jays came up short in the title game but you can certainly make the argument that this is one of the more memorable seasons. Guthrie proved a lot of people (us included) wrong by making it to Edmond. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>TWO NEWCOMERS WIN DISTRICT TITLES</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Booker T Washington dropped down from Class 6A-2 and Newcastle moved up From Class 4A in 2024. We thought that both teams would make it to the playoffs but we didn't necessarily see them both capturing district championships in their first season in Class 5A. For Booker T Washington, they were coming off an all time low season last year but they are going to be one of the top teams to watch in 2025 with all the young talent they have coming back. And you can make that same argument for Newcastle, who actually came one close semifinal with Guthrie away from punching their ticket to Edmond. When we start looking ahead to the 2025 season, Booker T Washington and Newcastle will both be teams that we're watching closely. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>UNPREDICTABILITY IN A PREDICTABLE CLASS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>So Class 5A didn't have any drama at the top. Carl Albert was the defending champion and team to beat and they left no doubt that they were the best team in the class. But after that? Chaos. In district 1, Newcastle won the district title but Bishop McGuinness, Lawton MacArthur and Midwest City all beat up on each other. In district 4, there were five teams that all could have made the playoffs but only four did. Del City was the champ but Claremore, Collinsville, Pryor and Tahlequah all exchanged wins and losses and both of these districts became incredibly unpredictable every single week. But that's what made Class 5A fun in 2024. Carl Albert was a heavy favorite and it could have been easy to just somewhat ignore 5A football but the unpredictability made things very fun to watch every single week. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>5A PLAYER OF THE YEAR</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='353419' first='Caden' last='Davis'] - Linebacker - Carl Albert</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When you look up and down the Carl Albert roster, there are several players that could make a strong argument for this honor. Senior linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='353419' first='Caden' last='Davis'] has been about as valuable as it gets to the success at Carl Albert during this run of three consecutive state championships. This season, Davis did it on both sides of the ball as a linebacker on defense and a short yardage running back on offense. Defensively, Davis led the team with over 150 tackles and nearly 30 tackles for loss with eight sacks. This season, he broke the school's all time tackle record that has stood for decades. Offensively, Davis would add 12 touchdowns on the ground as the Titans rolled to another state championship. Davis came into this season as a two-time All State 1st Team selection and later this month, he will make his third appearance on the All State 1st Team and that puts him in very rare company. This season, he led a Carl Albert defense that definitely has an argument for being the best overall unit in the state in 2024.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>WAY TOO EARLY LOOK AT 2025</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On paper, Class 5A looks like it could be completely wide open in 2025 and much more competitive than it's been over the last few years. Carl Albert is still going to be the team to beat but they are going to have a ton of new faces on both sides of the ball but it would be foolish to think they can't reload for another run. Del City and Guthrie just proved that they can reload and be just as competitive so overlooking them would be a big mistake. And as we mentioned earlier, we really like the talent that Booker T Washington and Newcastle will bring back in 2025. And both teams should have a ton of momentum after capturing district championships in 2024. Then you have other programs that have been consistent contenders in Class 5A like Bishop McGuinness, Collinsville, Lawton MacArthur and McAlester that will once again be in the mix. Pryor has a lot of firepower coming back on offense and they nearly made a run to the semifinals in 2024. Carl Albert has been the big, bad monster in Class 5A over the last two seasons but the 2025 season could bring a more wide open season. But the Titans could also just reload and make history by capturing their 20th state championship in school history. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->