by Ben Johnson (@BenJohnsonTUL)7/6/2018 1:13:39 AM
posted in: Articles | 2,998 views
Look back at 2017
2017 district champs
2A-1: Chisholm - The Longhorns were golden when they weren't facing Washington in 2017. Luckily for them, Washington was in a different district, so Chisholm made an unbeaten 6-0 run through A-1 last season, including a 33-21 victory over Alva in October. But unfortuntaely for Chisholm, its only two losses were to Washington in non-district play in September and then in the second round of the playoffs in November.
2A-2: Millwood - A machine -- that's what Millwood was in 2017. The Falcons scored no fewer than 37 points in all 14 of their games, and they never gave up more than 18. That's pure dominance. And to cap it all off, Millwood outscored its opponents 228 to 7 in the postseason.
2A-3: Lindsay - The Leopards were hard to get a read on in 2017, but they finished atop 2A-3 by the end of the regular season. A 27-21 loss to Hobart landed Lindsay in a tie atop the district with Washington, but the Leopards followed that loss with a 38-21 victory over Washington to claim the tiebreaker. But while Washington was making a run to the state championship game, Lindsay ended up with a second-round loss to Alva to cap a 7-5 season.
2A-4: Davis - Head coach Jody Weber capped his 17-year run as the Wolves' head coach with the program's 34th district title. Davis knocked off every 2A opponent it faced in 2017 until it clashed with Washington in the semifinals.
2A-5: Vian - The Wolverines coasted in 2A-5 play, winning all five contests comfortable. The closest was a 26-12 win over Okemah in late October. The district title segued into playoff wins over Panama and Victory Christian and the first two rounds, but then Millwood was waiting in the quarterfinals to pull the plug on Vian's postseason run.
2A-6: Valliant - Really only one word sums up 2A-6 in 2017: craziness. Five -- yes, five! -- teams finished atop the district standings at 4-2. It was Valliant that ended up with its fifth district crown, and then there was Hartshorne that missed the playoffs altogether. Valliant, Spiro and Antlers all won their first round playoff matchups, but none of the three advanced past the second round.
2A-7: Holland Hall - It was the first district championship for the Dutch, a team that had joined the OSSAA ranks in 2016 after transitioning over from the Southwest Preparatory Conference with mostly Texas teams. Holland Hall looked like a potential opponent for Millwood in the finals, but a furious comeback by Davis in the quarterfinals ended the Dutch's postseason run.
2A-8: Adair - The Warriors picked up their seventh straight district title, thanks in large part to a 36-14 win over Commerce in the final week of the regular season. Adair marched into the quarterfinals, where Alva dispatched the Warriors with a 40-8 rout.
Talking title game: Millwood 42, Washington 7
An underdog heading into the game, Washington struck first and looked like it might elevate Millwood's stress level for the first time during the 2017 season. But all the Falcons did was respond with 42 straight points to coast to their seventh state championship. Running back Marcus Major ran for 152 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries for the Falcons, and Dezmond Howard scored on both sides of the ball (a 40-yard TD reception and an 82-yard fumble return). Millwood ended up forcing four Washington turnovers in the game.
On to 2018...
Players to watch
- Marcus Major (Millwood): Not great news for the rest of Class 2A that Major returns in the Falcons' backfield in 2018. The Oklahoma commit had 1,155 yards and 23 touchdowns on 102 carries last season. Also mixed in 23 catches for 490 yards and five touchdowns.
- Laike Wilhelm (Newkirk): Another
1,000-yard rusher returning to the 2A landscape in 2018. Wilhelm
totaled 1,097 yards and 16 touchdowns on 174 carries as a junior in
2017.
- Owen Ostroski (Holland Hall): Had a monster season as a freshman for the Dutch in 2017. Ostrokski was a key cog along the defensive front with 13 1/2 sacks.
- Gus Smith (Stratford): As a sophomore, Smith fell just short of the 1,000-yard rushing mark. He amassed 934 yards and nine touchdowns on 155 carries.
- Barrett Bradbury (Adair): The next in the long line of Bradbury's to shine in high school football. B.J. Bradbury led the Warriors to the 2015 championship, and now it's Barrett's varsity turn. As a sophomore in 2017, Barrett caught 55 passes for 1,011 yards and 17 touchdowns, and on defense he had 116 tackles and four interceptions.
- Austin Hines (Adair): The engineer of Adair's high-flying offense. During his junior season last year, Hines passed for 2,866 yards and 43 touchdowns while completing 166 of 275 pass attempts.
- Peyton Wilson (Luther): Burst onto the scene during his sophomore year in 2017. Tossed for 2,576 yards and 38 touchdowns while connecting on 64.3 percent (160 of 249) of his passes.
- Tayden Lucero (Haskell): Haymakers' quarterback tossed for 751 yards and five touchdowns, but he did most of his damage with his lags, racking up 681 yards and 17 touchdowns on 155 carries.
- Dalton Spring (Beggs): The Demons lost talent from the 2017 roster that finished as the 3A runner-up. The Beggs returns Spring, who starred at quarterback during his junior season. He completed 107 of 179 passes for 1,967 yards and 21 touchdowns.
- Bodhi Vann (Vian): The leading rusher for the two-headed monster in Vian last season. Vann racked up 1,875 yards and 23 touchdowns on 256 carries.
- River Simon (Vian): Vian's quarterback didn't need to pass the ball much last year with himself and Vann running the ball so often. Simon rushed for 1,147 yards and 16 touchdowns, and he also led the Wolverines on defense with a team-high 91 tackles.
- Kaden Speer (Antlers): Completed 144 of 207 passes for 1,348 yards and 12 touchdowns during his junior campaign in 2017.
- Trevor Stuever (Washington): Tyler Stuever was Washington's key cog in the rushing game last year with 2,483 yards, and now Trevor takes over after a junior year that included 839 yards and nine touchdowns on 104 carries.
District debriefs
2A-1: Chisholm, Alva and Hennessey -- the top three finishers in the district last season -- all return to the 2A-1 mix. Perry and Newkirk are the only other familiar faces with Tonkawa and Pawhuska vacating. The biggest addition will be Oklahoma Christian School, which claimed the 3A-1 title last season. Luther, who finished second to Millwood in 2A-2, joins the district and so does Centennial.
2A-2: This district has undergone a full facelift. Millwood dominated in this space for two years, but they're relocated to a new 2A district. Now it's Jones as the central figure at the top, after moving down from 3A. Prague, who finished second to Jones in 3A-2, makes the move with the Longhorns. Okemah, a member of 2A-5 recently, makes the move as another playoff team last year. The rest of the district includes Henryetta, Holdenville, Kellyville, Meeker and Chandler.
2A-3: This becomes an eastside district for the next two years, after recently featuring Hobart, Lindsay and district champ Washington. Now it's occupied by Victory Christian, Beggs, Haskell and Sperry -- all playoff teams in 2A or 3A last season. Dewey, Morris and Caney Valley are three other additions, and Kiefer joins the group after not long ago being an eight-man team.
2A-4: Welcome to basically what was 2A-8 last season. Adair, 2A-8 champion last year, heads the district and they have familiar faces in Wyandotte, Chelsea and Nowata. Metro Christian falls two classes and joins 2A-4, it'll be joined by Chouteau, Kansas and Salina.
2A-5: It's Vian leading the pack again, but with almost a new crew around it. Westville, Tahlequah Sequoyah and Keys move in from 3A, and Holland Hall shifts over after cruising to the 2A-7 crown last year. The rest of the field includes Panama, Pocola and Spiro.
2A-6: Let's just hope this district doesn't turn into such a mess at the end of this season. It will feature Antlers, Valliant, Hartshorne, Wilburton and Hugo again. They will welcome Atoka, Eufaula and Heavener to the festivities for the next two years.
2A-7: Millwood's new landing spot -- and it comes with a perennial contender in Washington. The 2A title game rematch will come at some point during district play with Washington shifting over from 2A-3 and Millwood moving from 2A-2. The other six teams include Crooked Oak, Lexington, Little Axe, Star Spencer, Community Christian and Stratford.
2A-8: This is practically 2A-4 from recent memory. Davis, Kingston, Coalgate, Marietta and Tishomingo will all recognize one another, and they'll have new district mates in Comanche, Dickson and Lindsay.
What’s new? (coaches on the move)
- Ron Smith, after leading Victory Christian to the 2A title game in 2016, stepped down after leading the Conquerors back to the playoffs in 2017. Now Dub Maddox takes over after serving as Jenks' offensive coordinator.
- Mike Shklar takes over at Alva after Taylor Schwerdtfeger's three-year run.
- Not long ago (2015) Haskell was in the Class 2A title game under Greg Wilson. Rusty Harris took over for one year in 2017, and now he's elevated to superintendent of Haskell Public Schools. One of his first hires was Frank Marsaln to run the football program.
- Lee Blankenship took over at Bartlesville not long after leading the Demons to the 3A championship game. Now the reins at Beggs have been handed over to David Tenison.
- Matt Hagebusch returned home to Chelsea, and at first he didn't intended to take over the football program. But now he'll lead the Dragons into the 2018 season after recently serving as head coach at Claremore Sequoyah.
- Chris McMullen led Keys back to the postseason, but he stepped down after the 2017 campaign. In steps Mitchell Crittenden, who was recently the head coach at another Cherokee County team, Hulbert, in the early 2010s.
- A Weber family member had been leading the Davis Wolves since 1988, but then Jody Weber stepped down this offseason after going 193-34 in 17 seasons. Now long-time assistant Greg Parker is the head coach for the Wolves.
Fun facts:
- No team in Oklahoma has a longer streak of consecutive playoff appearances than Davis. The Wolves have punched their playoff ticket for the past 34 seasons, dating back to 1984.
- Millwood owns a 28-game winning streak headed into the 2018 season.
Prediction time
Ben: Watch out for Metro Christian dropping down from Class 4A | Jones will be just fine despite J.D. Head moving out of the state | Get to know Sperry's Beau Teel -- he's really good | Vian continues to win big with a Simon family member leading the way (someone in that family ought to run for mayor) | Holland Hall will be good, but losing Vance Mullendore hurts | Beggs still has enough to talent to make a big splash in 2A | Davis makes another playoff appearance (shocker!) | Made it this far without mentioning Millwood, but here it is: Falcons lose a game in 2018 but still win the title.
Swisher: Ben touched on most the points I was going to...and then some | This will be the first time in three full decades a Weber isn't the head coach at Davis. | Like Ben said, the Wolves' tradition will easily carry on in 2018. It will be interesting to watch its trajectory beyond that | Last year's Millwood team was one of the best small-school teams this state has ever seen. How will this one match up? That's what I'm looking for. | Speaking of matching up: No 2A team can do that with the Falcons. Send that gold ball to northeast OKC.
Whitt Carter: No surprise here, going with Millwood.
Guest picker - Hall of Fame coach Randy Turney: Yep, make it 4 for 4. I'm going with Millwood to win the title.
*Photos courtesy of Joey Johnson & Abby Blankenship
