Hooker Bulldogs OK 2025 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 2025 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 Hooker Bulldogs!   Hooker Bulldogs   Preseason Prep Redzone Ranking: #6 In Class A-1   Head Coach: Tanner McBee - 1st Season   2024 RESULTS (12-2 Record - Class A-1 Runner Ups)   Aug. 30th - Lost To Sunray, TX. 30-28 Sept. 6th - Beat Guymon 70-19 Sept. 13th - Beat Spearman, TX. 28-21 Sept. 27th - Beat Sayre 50-20 Oct. 4th - Beat Hinton 48-0 Oct. 11th - Beat Cashion 54-14 Oct. 17th - Beat Fairview 38-7 Oct. 25th - Beat Merritt 47-8 Nov. 1st - Beat Watonga 53-0 Nov. 8th - Beat Crescent 40-0 1st Round - Beat Minco 20-0 Quarterfinals - Beat Pocola 46-30 Semifinals - Beat Pawnee 20-2 Championship - Lost To Rejoice Christian 35-14   2024 Offensive Scoring Average: 39.7 Points Per Game 2024 Defensive Scoring Average: 13.3 Points Per Game   The Hooker Bulldogs might have surprised a few people when they made their run to the 2023 state championship game. But they weren't going to surprise anyone in 2024 as they came into the season as one of the favorites to make it back to Edmond. They lost a close game in the season opener to Sunray, Texas but wouldn't lose the rest of the regular season. And when you look at how they bounced back from that loss, they bounced back with a vengeance. The closest win the rest of the regular season was against another Texas team. They absolutely blasted everybody in their district. That included a Thursday night showdown with two-time defending champion Fairview in week seven. They won 38-7 and made quite the statement to the rest of Class A-1, taking over the top spot in the class and becoming the new team to beat. They closed out the regular season with a 9-1 record and district title. They shut out Minco in the first round and then won a high-scoring quarterfinal clash with Pocola. After beating Pawnee in the semifinals, Hooker was back in the state championship game, where they faced Rejoice Christian. Unfortunately for Hooker, they lost their star quarterback on the road to Edmond and the Bulldogs weren't at full strength. And for the second straight year, they had to settle for the silver ball. They lost 35-14 and the season came to an end with a 12-2 record. Now, Hooker begins a new season and a new era of Bulldog football with a familiar face in charge.    2025 OUTLOOK   At the start of this year, Trevor Powers stepped down as head coach of the Bulldogs and headed up north to Kansas, taking over the Liberal football program. Hooker stayed in-house for their hire to replace Powers, who guided the Bulldogs to back to back state championship game appearances. Assistant coach and Hooker alum Tanner McBee was named the next head coach of the Bulldogs and he knows what it takes to win at Hooker as a player and as a coach. But the Bulldogs have a lot to replace as they look ahead to the 2025 football season. At this time last year, they were going into the season with the majority of their starters back. That's not the case this year. Only three starters return on the offensive side of the ball. Granted, they are going to have one of, if not the best running backs in Class A-1 this season. They also have one of the more versatile athletes in the class as well. But they'll need plenty of new faces to step up around them for the Bulldogs to roll like we've seen the last few years. On defense, it's the same story as they bring back just three starters from last year's team. The Bulldogs have quickly become one of the consistent contenders in this new Class A-1 so despite having new faces everywhere, they still come into this season as a top ten team in the preseason and knocking on the door of being a top five team or higher. They'll be tested early by teams out of Texas and the district should be more competitive this season. But the Bulldogs have made it to back to back championship games and are hungrier than ever to get back there again in 2025 and finish the job.    KEY LOSSES TO GRADUATION   Kleat Martens - Quarterback/Defensive Back - All State Honorable Mention Peyton Parker - Defensive Lineman Rhett Nunley - Offensive/Defensive Lineman - All State 3rd Team Selection   PLAYERS TO WATCH    Junior [player_tooltip player_id='1108554' first='Gunnar' last='Martens'] is going to come into this season as one of the more intriguing prospects to watch and it's specifically because of the positions he plays. Martens has taken snaps at quarterback and is listed as a quarterback for one of his positions but he'll also start on the defensive line and he could play in a few other spots on offense. You don't see the QB/DL combination very often. But Martens is also a player to watch for what he brings on the defensive side of the ball. He's been very consistent as a disrupter over the last two seasons. The front seven of the defense is where Hooker needs experience and Martens has it.     Junior running back [player_tooltip player_id='1084102' first='Justin' last='Palacios'] is definitely one of the top players to watch for Hooker coming into this season and he's one of the top running backs to watch in the state period. Palacios earned All State 3rd Team honors last year after he ran for nearly 1,900 yards and 20 touchdowns. This came after his breakout freshman season, where he ran for over 1,700 yards and 21 touchdowns. Palacios has been flirting with that 2,000-yard mark for the last two years and if Hooker makes another deep playoff run, he could hit it this season. And there's a chance he gets more carries this season with him being one of a few productive starters returning for the Bulldogs.    (2024 All State 3rd Team Selection)     Senior [player_tooltip player_id='572029' first='Keilan' last='Robinson'] comes into his senior year as a four-year starter and one of the best swiss army knives that a team can have. Offensively, Robinson is the ultimate weapon where he can line up at quarterback, running back or wide receiver. Defensively, he's one of the best ball hawks in the state. He has 22 career interceptions and has simply had unbelievable production over the last three seasons. In the last two years, Robinson has had to fill in at quarterback due to injury. But it's clear that it really doesn't matter where Robinson lines up on the offensive side of the ball, he has the potential to change the game in the blink of an eye. He's one of the best athletes in the state.    (2024 All State 3rd Team Selection)    MORE NAMES TO KNOW   Gannon Hill - 2026 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back Hunter Ray - 2026 Linebacker Kip Nunley - 2028 Offensive Lineman/Linebacker Ryker Hill - 2028 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back   2025 SCHEDULE   Aug. 29th - Sunray, TX.  - Hooker will once again open the season against Sunray, Texas. This will be the sixth consecutive season that the Bulldogs have faced off with this Lone Star State opponent. And for Hooker, they're looking to turn things around in this series. They came up short 30-28 last year and have lost four of the last five.  Sept. 5th - AT Guymon - It's the battle for the Oklahoma panhandle as Hooker makes the short trip over to Guymon. Last year was the first meeting between these two in recent memory, despite being only 20 miles apart. The Bulldogs rolled to a 70-19 victory in their only non-district against an Oklahoma school. Sept. 12th - Spearman, TX.  - Hooker will wrap up their non-district schedule in week two with a home game against Spearman, Texas. Last season, these two met on the gridiron for the first time in recent memory. The Bulldogs prevailed with a 28-21 victory. They'll be looking for another win here to get momentum early on in the season. Sept. 26th - Sayre - After a week off, Hooker will open up district play at home in week four with a match-up against Sayre. This is one of several district match-ups that have been one-sided in Hooker's favor. The Bulldogs won 50-20 last season and they are 9-0 against Sayre in the last decade.  Oct. 3rd - AT Hinton - Before back to back match-ups against top ten teams in Class A-1, Hooker will go on the road to face Hinton in week five. Hinton was a new district opponent for the Bulldogs last season. In fact, these two haven't met on the gridiron in recent memory. Hooker rolled to a 48-0 victory in 2024. Oct. 9th - Cashion - The second half of the regular season kicks off with a Thursday night game against Cashion at home in week six. The Bulldogs beat Cashion 54-14 on the road last season. These two teams feel like the top two from this district going into the year. It wouldn't be surprising to see the district champ decided here. Oct. 16th - AT Fairview - On a Fall Break Thursday night, Hooker goes on the road to square off with Fairview in week seven. Last season, the Bulldogs snapped a four-game losing streak to the Yellowjackets when they beat them 38-7, taking over the top spot in Class A-1. Both teams will look very different this year.  Oct. 24th - Merritt  - Hooker will host Merritt in week eight and this is another series that has been completely one-sided over the last decade. Between district play and non-district play, these two have met in each of the last nine years. Hooker is 9-0 in those meetings, including last year's 47-8 victory.  Oct. 31st - AT Watonga - On a Halloween Friday night in week nine, Hooker goes on the road to square off with Watonga. These two teams have met in each of the last three seasons and all three games have been dominated by Hooker. The combined score of those three meetings is 164-0. Nov. 7th - AT Crescent - The Bulldogs wrap up the regular season with a road game against Crescent in week ten. Last year was the first meeting between these two teams since 2017, when they met in the playoffs. Hooker won last season 40-0 and they'll be looking for another win to pick up momentum before the postseason.   NOTABLE   The Hooker Bulldogs will truly start a new era in 2025 with plenty of new starters on both sides of the ball and a new but familiar face leading the football program. As we mentioned earlier, Trevor Powers stepped down from his position to take the head coaching job at Liberal in Kansas. The Bulldogs promoted assistant coach Tanner McBee to be the next head coach of the Bulldogs. He spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach as Hooker made back to back state championship games. Prior to his coaching career, McBee was a standout running back and linebacker for the Bulldogs. He played for Hooker from 2015-2018 and finished with over 3,500 yards and nearly 50 touchdowns. He also had nearly 200 tackles on defense. Now, McBee takes over the program that he once played for. And he's determined to not let Hooker take a step back after making it to the state championship game in each of the last two seasons.    LAST FIVE SEASONS   2024 - 12-2 - Class A-2 Runner Ups 2023 - 12-3 - Class A Runner Ups 2022 - 9-4 - Lost In Class A Quarterfinals 2021 - 10-2 - Lost In Class A 2nd Round 2020 - 7-4 - Lost In Class A 1st Round   CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY   0 State Championships

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