A Look Back At 2025 In Class 6A-1

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!   The 2025 football season has come to an end and it was great from start to finish. Over the next month, we'll have a ton of postseason content from a year in review series for each class to All State teams and Player Of The Year. We're continuing our postseason content today with taking a look back at the 2025 season in Class 6A-1, from the top storylines to our 6A-1 Player Of The Year and more! Keep it locked in to Prep Redzone Oklahoma for more postseason content over the next month as the long offseason is upon us. But after traveling over 7,000 miles and covering 53 games in 2025, we're not going anywhere. We'll have new content up as we continue to be your home for Oklahoma high school football, 24/7/365. And be sure to check out our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@PrepRedzoneOklahoma">PRZ-Oklahoma YouTube Channel</a> for exclusive (and free) video content recapping the 2025 football season!   BIXBY DYNASTY CONTINUES   Different year, same results in Class 6A-1. The Bixby Spartans went wire to wire as 6A-1's top team, picking up even more accolades along the way. They became the first football program in state history (11-man or 8-man) to win eight consecutive state championships. They also made the state title game for the 12th consecutive year. And halfway through the regular season, Bixby was acknowledged by one national ranking as the top team in the nation. The Spartans capped off the perfect season with a hard-fought win over Owasso.   A special senior class, that's sending multiple players to the P4 level headlined this year's group. West Virginia signees [player_tooltip player_id='338550' first='Emory' last='Snyder'] and [player_tooltip player_id='402387' first='Trey' last='McGlothlin'] were special on the defensive side of the ball. Oklahoma State signee [player_tooltip player_id='415161' first='Braeden' last='Presley'] was incredibly dynamic in all three phases of the game. And Texas Tech signee [player_tooltip player_id='414994' first='Cord' last='Nolan'] was considered the alpha of this absolutely loaded Bixby roster. Throw in senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='284114' first='Carson' last='Kirby'] and running back [player_tooltip player_id='1045556' first='Jayson' last='Moll'] on offense and players like [player_tooltip player_id='1833637' first='Dawson' last='Madden'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1096191' first='Tyler' last='Wright'] on defense and you can see what we mean when we talk about a truly special senior class.   But that wasn't all Bixby brought to the table in 2025. Junior offensive and defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id='528027' first='Kaeden' last='Penny'] made a very strong argument that he's the best prospect in the state's 2027 class. They also had a few underclassmen that emerged as serious players to keep an eye on. Junior linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1831002' first='Nathan' last='Hobbs'] looks like the next emerging star at the linebacker position and Bixby knows what they're doing when it comes to producing linebackers. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1689504' first='Connor' last='Arant'] had a breakout season as a tight end and a dangerous pass rusher on defense. Arant has already solidified himself as one of the top overall prospects in the state's 2028 class.   As we start looking ahead to the 2026 season, a few things are very clear. Bixby will once again be the favorites to capture another gold ball. But they'll also look very different after this senior class graduates. However, the Spartans have solidified themselves as a program that reloads and doesn't rebuild.   COACHING CAROUSEL SHAKES UP 2025 SEASON   It was a little over a year ago that we saw seismic changes in Oklahoma high school football with the coaching carousel. First, Adam Gaylor was promoted at Jenks to take over for Keith Riggs. Less than a week later, Antonio Graham was named head coach at Union, while Bill Blankenship came out of a year-long retirement to lead Owasso for a second time. The next day, you had Travis Hill returning to Broken Arrow after a very successful stint at Muskogee. Meanwhile it was business as usual at Bixby. For four of the five Tulsa-area powers in 6A-1, they would have new (sort of) head coaches in 2025 and that certainly played a huge role in how 2025 played out.   Broken Arrow, Jenks and Owasso all made it to the 6A-1 semifinals, with Owasso making it to the 6A-1 title game for the second straight year. The Tigers, under Hill, went from a team that had several losing seasons in a row to a 9-3 record, coming up short in the semifinals to eventual champion Bixby. Jenks, under Gaylor, went 10-2 and lost a heartbreaker for the second straight year to Owasso in the semifinal round. And under Blankenship, Owasso returned to the state title game and finished as the 6A-1 runner up and ended 2025 with a 10-3 record after starting the year 0-2. December, 2025 seemed incredibly boring compared to December 2024. But then again, we'll probably never see that kind of seismic shift in the coaching carousel again.   WEST SIDE TEAMS KEEP KNOCKING ON THE DOOR   The 1995 Midwest City Bombers continue to have the distinction of being the last west side team to capture the state championship in Oklahoma's largest class. Whether it was the 32-team Class 6A or now with the 16-team 6A-1, the Tulsa area powers continue to have a stranglehold on the gold ball in the largest class. But every year, there are teams that continue to elevate and knock on that door and eventually, that door could come crashing down but it didn't happen this year.   Edmond Memorial followed up their run to the 6A-1 semifinals in 2024 by going 9-3 in 2025. The Bulldogs look like a team that has solidified themselves as a consistent contender in Class 6A-1 on the west side of the state and we expect them to be in the mix again in 2026. Mustang was the other west side team that made plenty of noise. Their four losses in an 8-4 record came to Bixby, Broken Arrow (twice) and Jenks. And when you look back at the regular season, nobody pushed Bixby like Mustang did in their week eight game. And the Jenks loss was in a very memorable high-scoring contest. We've said this in the past and we'll say it again here. Eventually, one of these teams is going to kick that door down in Class 6A-1. Once again, it didn't happen this year but that doesn't mean that it will never happen. But that stranglehold looks like it's getting stronger every year.   OTHER NOTABLE STORYLINES   - UNION'S ROLLER COASTER SEASON   We mentioned that seismic shift in the coaching carousel last year and Union was one of the programs that had a new head coach in 2025. Union alum Antonio Graham took over at Union after one year as a head coach at Owasso. Year one featured a roller coaster of a season. The Redhawks began the season 1-4, after facing a really competitive schedule in the first half of the season. They would rally to finish the regular season at 4-6, punching their ticket to the playoffs as the four seed in the district. They beat Norman in a high-scoring first round game before falling to eventual champion Bixby in the quarterfinals. There's no other way to describe it. 2025 was an up and down year for Union and the Redhawks will definitely come into 2026 hungry to get back into the mix as one of the contenders in Class 6A-1.   - YUKON ENDS PLAYOFF LOSING STREAK   Prior to the 2025 football season, the Yukon Millers hadn't won a playoff game since they lost to Jenks in the 1997 state championship game. They had made eight straight appearances that ended with first round exits. Until this year. Yukon finished the regular season with a 5-5 record and finished fifth in their district. They beat Deer Creek in the first round before falling to Owasso in the quarterfinals. Step one for the Millers has been taken. Yukon has been a struggling program for the majority of the last 25 years but things look like they are changing right now. This program is now finding success in the regular season and now in the playoffs and that is the first step.   6A-1 PLAYER OF THE YEAR   [player_tooltip player_id='402378' first='KD' last='Jones'] - Senior Running Back - Jenks   Jenks senior running back [player_tooltip player_id='402378' first='KD' last='Jones'] entered the 2025 football season as one of the best football players in the state. After the year he had, against some of the best competition in the state, you can make a very strong argument that he finished the season as the best player in the state. Jones rewrote just about every page in the Jenks record book for running backs. He finished his senior season with 265 carries for over 2,000 yards and 41 touchdowns. As we've always said when it comes to Jones, he is so dangerous in the passing game and he showed that, finishing with 38 catches for over 400 yards and five touchdowns. Jones' performance in the win over Mustang in the regular season put the single game records at Jenks to a spot that might not ever be touched. And we'll be honest here. When we looked at the career records for Jenks at the start of the season and where Jones was at, we weren't sure he would end up on top but he shattered the record and what should be talked about more is the fact that he did it in only three seasons with the Trojans after spending his freshman season at Broken Arrow. Jones is headed to Oklahoma State and just capped off a very remarkable four years, terrorizing opposing defenses in Class 6A-1 from start to finish.   WAY WAYYY TOO EARLY LOOK AT 2026   This is the ultimate "way WAY too early look" as we don't even truly know what 6A-1 will look like as we don't have the official district assignments. But one thing is for sure, Bixby will still be good. So as we mentioned earlier, the Spartans will still be the team to beat but who else after that? Owasso loses a lot to graduation but they do bring back star quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1235926' first='Drew' last='Frankenfield'] among others. Broken Arrow could be a very popular pick with the star power they bring back. [player_tooltip player_id='478124' first='Semaj' last='Stanford'] will lead a very impressive BA squad into 2026. Jenks loses one of the best players in the state in Jones but the emergence of [player_tooltip player_id='1030447' first='Kailib' last='Dillard'] as a true offensive weapon will make the Trojans fun to watch in 2026. Who steps up from the west side of the state? Edmond Memorial and Mustang should reload but who else will join them? Can Yukon take the next step? Will Union make that thunderous comeback that returns them to the elite of the class? Norman North has some very talented players returning on offense and Deer Creek was incredibly young in 2025. They will be a year older in 2026. It feels like every team that will be in the top ten heading into 2026 will have a question or two that they'll need to answer between now and when things kick off in late August.

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