A Look Back At 2024 In Class 6A-1

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!   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 begin our "Looking Back" series for each class. In this breakdown, we're taking a look back at the 2024 football season in Class 6A-1. Bixby came into the season as the defending champion and they left the season still wearing the crown. We look back at the season as a whole, crown the 6A-1 Player Of The Year and take an incredibly too early look at 2025.   BIXBY'S DYNASTY CONTINUES   Death, taxes and Bixby continuing to dominate Oklahoma high school football. Those are the guarantees in life. Bixby came into this season as the defending champion but the Spartans were only bringing a handful of starters back in 2024. And after losing the season opener on the road to Owasso and then tripping up again in week ten to Norman, it looked like this was the year that someone would finally end Bixby's remarkable run. Nope. The Spartans bounced back from that week ten win by dominating in the quarterfinals and took care of business in the semifinals to punch their ticket to the state title game for the 11th consecutive season. In a rematch with Owasso, Bixby was able to avenge that season-opening loss and captured their 7th straight state title.   Junior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='284114' first='Carson' last='Kirby'] took the next step as a solid signal caller and he did it behind a really strong offensive line. The Spartans once again had arguably the best group of linebackers in the state. That group was led by senior [player_tooltip player_id='255022' first='Cooper' last='Parker'] and junior [player_tooltip player_id='414994' first='Cord' last='Nolan'] and that position group had a significant impact on the season. And it was Parker that ended up being the hero of the 2024 season in that state championship game. In overtime, following an Owasso touchdown and extra point, Parker scored a short touchdown run and then scampered into the end zone for the game-winning two-point conversion.   The Bixby Spartans continue to be on top of the mountain in Oklahoma high school football and this run that they are on is seriously something that we have never seen and may never see again. And when you look at the Bixby roster, you see quite a few of their top players from this season are juniors so they'll be back, hungry to continue the tradition. And it feels like there's no more history for Bixby to make, they've done everything right? Wrong. There has never been a program in Oklahoma to win eight consecutive state championships. Bixby became the first 11-man program to do it this season. Morrison also won seven straight in the late 80's and into the 90's but they were an 8-man program during that stretch. If they end 2025 with another gold ball, they will once again, do something that has never been done in state history.   OWASSO'S FAST START   A new era of Owasso football began in 2024 and they didn't wait long to make some noise. Under first year head coach Antonio Graham, the Rams would open the season by taking down the top-ranked team in Class 6A-1 in back to back weeks. First, they stunned defending champion Bixby in the season opener. They would follow that up by going on the road and taking down Jenks with a dominant second half performance. The Rams would have some close calls in the regular season but they would go 10-0 and take home a district championship. After that fast start, Owasso climbed to #1 in Class 6A-1 and they held on to that spot until falling to Bixby in the state championship game.   The Rams were led this season by a balanced offense that could beat opponents in variety of ways. That offense was spearheaded by an offensive line that might have been the best in the state with two D1 signees in [player_tooltip player_id='350246' first='Blake' last='Cherry'] and [player_tooltip player_id='350245' first='Ryker' last='Haff'] leading the way. We watched the emergence of sophomore quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1235926' first='Drew' last='Frankenfield'] and a legitimate three-headed monster at running back with [player_tooltip player_id='1549987' first='Jayden' last='Hall'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1045556' first='Jayson' last='Moll'] both having terrific junior seasons. But the Rams will have a new head coach (sort of) in 2025 after Graham left Owasso to take over at his alma mater at Union. Bill Blankenship has returned following a year of retirement to lead the Ram football program.   JENKS & UNION HAVE ROLLER COASTER SEASONS   Rivals Jenks and Union both had roller coaster seasons in 2024. For Jenks, they would make it to the semifinal round but lost a triple overtime classic against Owasso. And for the second straight season, the Trojans would start slow against a brutal early schedule but that toughened them up for making a run in October and November. Jenks lost three straight games in September against Bixby, Owasso and Union and would have a 2-3 record at the halfway mark of the regular season. They wouldn't lose again until that semifinal classic with Owasso. But the Trojans are set to begin a new era in 2025. Head coach Keith Riggs stepped down in early December and the Trojans promoted defensive coordinator Adam Gaylor to be the next head coach of the Trojans.   On the other side of the rivalry, Union had a different kind of roller coaster season. It began with back to back overtime games to start the year against Bentonville and Stillwater. The Redhawks would then beat Jenks in one of the lowest scoring games in the history of the rivalry. But Union would fall to Owasso and Edmond Memorial and because of that, they fell to the 3-seed in the playoffs. They beat Mustang in the first round of the playoffs before a quarterfinal showdown with Jenks awaited. The Trojans got the last laugh when they beat the Redhawks 42-7 and Union's season ended at 8-4. And just like Jenks, Union will begin a new era in 2025. Longtime head coach Kirk Fridrich stepped down (coincidentally the day before Riggs did at Jenks) and alum Antonio Graham is the next Union head coach.   WEST SIDE TEAMS MAKE NOISE   Every season in Class 6A-1, one of the big storylines revolves around which west side team will be the top threat from that side of the state. This season, it was Edmond Memorial and Norman that climbed to the top of the list. For Edmond Memorial, they have that title as the "best from the west" after going 9-3 and beating Norman in the quarterfinals. The Bulldogs were led by senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='209872' first='David' last='McComb'] and the Bulldogs grabbed everyone's attention in week ten when they went on the road and stunned Union. The season came to an end in the semifinal round against eventual champion Bixby. But that quarterfinal win over Norman was their first playoff win since 2009 and the semifinal appearance was their first since Edmond became a three-school district.   Norman might have come up short in the head to head match-up with Edmond Memorial but the Tigers finished with a 10-2 record. And on the same night Edmond Memorial was shocking Union on the road, the Tigers made even more noise by going on the road and beating eventual champion Bixby. And just like the Bulldogs, the Tigers were led by a dominant quarterback. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='211962' first='Phoenix' last='Murphy'] was outstanding and he's definitely in the conversation for one of the best quarterbacks in 6A-1 football this season. He elevated his game to new heights and with that, the Tigers won a playoff game for the second straight year and that hasn't happened since 1996-1997.   OTHER TOP STORYLINES   Deer Creek's First Season In Class 6A-1   At this time last year, Deer Creek was expecting to have two more seasons in Class 6A-2 even though the move up to Class 6A-1 was inevitable. But in April, Oklahoma had an emergency redistricting shuffle and that put the Antlers into the state's largest class. They didn't back away from the challenge and would go 8-4, losing in the quarterfinals to Owasso. They started the year with a 6-0 record but a 3-game losing streak would drop them to the 4-seed. But overall, it was a successful trek into the state's largest class.   Moore Finally Punches That Playoff Ticket   After three straight seasons of starting the year with a 3-0 record from 2021-2023 and missing the playoffs, the Moore Lions were hungrier than ever to finally end this little playoff drought. In 2024, the Lions would start the year with a 3-0 record once again but they also won the games in district play that they needed to win to punch their ticket into the playoffs for the first time since 2020. The Lions won their final two games in the regular season to clinch their playoff spot. They would fall in the first round against Norman North.   Norman North's 0-6 Start To Quarterfinal Appearance   In mid-October, Norman North was 0-6 and things did not look promising for the Timberwolves. But Norman North would bounce back, winning three of their last four games and even pushed Owasso in the one loss during that stretch. They made it to the playoffs and would beat Moore in the first round. The following week, the season came to an end with a quarterfinal loss to Bixby. But going from winless in their first six games to punching their ticket to the quarterfinal round was definitely a notable storyline.   6A-1 PLAYER OF THE YEAR   [player_tooltip player_id='255022' first='Cooper' last='Parker'] - Quarterback/Linebacker - Bixby   Earlier this week, we announced the ten finalists for PRZ-Oklahoma Player Of The Year. Bixby senior quarterback and linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='255022' first='Cooper' last='Parker'] was one of them so he's our 6A-1 Player Of The Year. We've been in business for five seasons and for five seasons, Bixby has had a finalist for that award. parker is the latest Spartan to earn this honor following a terrific 2024 season, capped off with another state championship. As mentioned earlier, Parker led the Bixby defense with 110 tackles on the year and nine tackles for loss. Offensively, he ended up leading the team in rushing from the quarterback position and would even line up at running back throughout the 2024 campaign. He finished the year with over 700 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground. But Parker's biggest play came on the final play of the year. In overtime against Owasso in the 6A-1 title game, Bixby elected to go for the win and Parker took a direct snap and scampered into the end zone to deliver Bixby their seventh straight gold ball and tenth in school history.   WAY TOO EARLY LOOK AT 2025   Class 6A-1 will not be lacking storylines when the 2025 football season kicks off. Bixby continues to be the top team in the class and until someone beats them when it matters most, they are the team to beat. And over the last month, it's been pretty chaotic around Bixby in the Tulsa area. Broken Arrow, Jenks, Owasso and Union will all have new head coaches. Travis Hill left Muskogee to take the Broken Arrow job. And as mentioned earlier, Adam Gaylor was promoted at Jenks, Bill Blankenship ended his retirement, returning to Owasso and Antonio Graham is Union's next head coach. It will be interesting to see what happens in the OKC area in 2025. Some of the top teams in 2024 like Deer Creek, Edmond Memorial, Norman and Norman North will all have new quarterbacks and three of those teams are replacing D1 signees at the position. Class 6A-1 was incredibly competitive throughout the 2024 football season but at the end of the day, it was Bixby capturing the gold ball. We can only hope that this class will be just as competitive in 2025 but everyone will be chasing after the Spartans.

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