Ponca City Team Preview

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! Stay tuned to Prep Redzone Oklahoma every day as we release more individual team previews as we get closer to the start of the 2021 football season. In case you missed it, you can check out our Preseason Rankings <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2021/06/2021-preseason-rankings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RIGHT HERE</a>. Overview The 2020 season is one that the Ponca City Wildcats will want to put in the rearview mirror heading into 2021. The Wildcats got off to a competitive start with a close loss to rival Enid and a one-point win over 4A McClain. They would fail to produce much offense against Sand Springs in week 4 but would hold Choctaw to just 20 points and almost pulled off what would have been a massive upset. They carried that momentum into their next two games with wins over Putnam City West and Bartlesville, but those would be the final 2 wins of their season. Ponca City would go on to finish 3-6 after stumbling through the back half of their schedule that featured powerhouses such as Bixby, Booker T Washington, and Del City, the latter of whom ultimately ended their season in the first round of the playoffs. 2020 did not end how they expected it to based on where they were just past the halfway mark, but the Ponca City Wildcats return 7 starters on offense and 7 starters on defense and are ready to come back and compete in one of the state’s toughest districts and for another shot at the 6A-D2 playoffs. <hr /> 2020 Results (3-6 Record – Lost In 6A-D2 1st Round) Sept. 4 – Lost to Enid 19-17 Sept. 11 – Beat McLain 23-22 Sept. 18 – Game Against Ardmore Canceled Sept. 25 – Lost to Sand Springs 35-10 Oct. 2 – Lost to Choctaw 20-14 Oct. 9 – Beat Putnam City West 21-7 Oct. 15 – Beat Bartlesville 10-7 Oct. 23 – Lost to Booker T Washington 34-7 Oct. 30 – Lost to Bixby 59-0 Nov. 6 – Game Against Muskogee Canceled 1st Round – Lost to Del City 41-7 <hr /> Players To Watch Cayson Badley - 2022 Offensive Lineman Ponca City will not be the biggest team in 6A-D2 in 2021, but that does not mean they don’t have some big bruisers on the roster. Cayson Badley comes into his Senior year listed at 6’5" 315 and has the experience needed to lead the Wildcat offensive line after starting every game of the 2020 season on the front line. Badley currently holds two scholarship offers from Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southwestern Oklahoma State. With another solid season in 2021 he has a great chance to see that list grow, especially if Ponca City is able to pull of a few upsets in 6A-D2. [player_tooltip player_id="38731" first="Nate" last="Collins"] - 2022 Defensive Lineman Speaking of size on this Ponca City team, 2022 Defensive Lineman [player_tooltip player_id="38731" first="Nate" last="Collins"] is another big heavy that will be looking to have another big year for the Wildcats in 2021. Collins is listed at 6’3" 303 and is the anchor of the Wildcat defensive line. He plays head up at nose tackle and in a 3-tech as a defensive tackle and is a handful for offensive lineman both as a pass rusher and as a run stuffer. Collins is great at staying low to power through single and double teams but also has quite a bit of finesse to his game for a player of his size. Collins has a lone offer from Northwestern Oklahoma State at the moment but that should not stay the case by the time 2021 comes to a close. Devin Zimmerchied - 2022 Defensive Back Unlike Badley and Collins, Devin Zimmerchied is not going to be one of the biggest guys on the field, but he is one of the most important pieces to this Ponca City defense. Devin primarily plays strong safety for the wildcats and is one of the more instinctive defensive backs we have watched this summer. He has incredible field vision and spatial awareness in all phases of defense and is great at closing in on ball carriers in the flats before they can turn and get upfield. If Ponca City wants to slow down some of the explosive offenses they will face in 2021 they will certainly need Zimmerchied to be on top of his game week in and week out. More Names [player_tooltip player_id="38680" first="Elijah" last="Phillips"] – 2022 Running Back/Linebacker Trey Seward – 2022 Defensive Lineman Gabe Roland – 2023 Defensive Back Hudson Haas – 2024 Defensive Lineman Gavin Cunningham – 2024 Wide Receiver <hr /> Notable After nearly a decade of seasons at .500 or worse, Ponca City will be looking to turn the corner in 2021. Since 2014, the Wildcats have not had a winning record, and outside of 2019 where they finished 5-5, they have not come close most years. There are many things that can be attributed to the misfortune that Ponca City has faced the last few years, but the easiest thing to point to would be the steep competition they have to face in their district. The Wildcats have to go up against the likes of Choctaw, Bixby, and Booker T Washington every season, which leaves little to no room for error each year. However, there is a lot of optimism coming out of the Ponca City program that this could be the year that things start to turn around. Not only do they bring back 14 starters from 2020, which is always a huge boost, but they also return a little bit of everything in terms of size, veteran leadership, and some athleticism to keep up with some of the big 6A powers they have to take on every year. <hr /> 2021 Schedule/Games To Watch Sept. 3 – AT Enid - This is a rivalry that dates back many, many years. In fact, Enid took down the Wildcats in one of their 2 state championship appearances in school history back in 1965 by a score of 34-6. Recently, Enid has won 3 of the last 4 matchups between the two with Ponca City’s last win coming in 2019. However, each of the last three games has been decided by one score, so you can’t count out either team in this one. Sept. 10 – McLain Sept. 17 – Ardmore - This game will be one to watch for a couple of reasons. For one, it will be Ponca City’s final warm-up game so to say before they dive headfirst into their district schedule where everything counts towards playoff seeding. The second reason is that this will be a big test for them as Ardmore will look to be a top contender in 5A in 2021 and will not look the same stylistically as they have in recent years. In 2020, the Tigers switched from their traditional flexbone/triple-option offense to a more spread passing system thanks to the arrival of 2023 quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="98174" first="Cal" last="Swanson"]. If the Wildcats aren’t careful with this one, it could turn into a shootout quickly. Sept. 25 – AT Sand Springs Oct. 1 – Choctaw - It may look odd to see that we have their game against the defending state runner-up as one to watch after Ponca City went 3-6 in 2020, but after last season’s game, you at least have to give the Wildcats a chance. They held Choctaw’s high-flying offense led by 2023’s top QB prospect, [player_tooltip player_id="38780" first="Steele" last="Wasel"], to just 20 points and came within one score of upsetting them on the road. Things may be a little different this year as Choctaw did not truly hit the ground running until a little later in the 2020 season where they became one of the most dangerous teams in the state. But if the Wildcats can keep it close and not let Choctaw jump out to a big lead early on they just might have another shot at a major upset. Oct. 8 – AT Putnam City West Oct. 14 – Bartlesville Oct. 22 – AT Booker T Washington Oct. 29 – Bixby Nov. 5 – AT Muskogee <hr /> Championship History 0 State Championships