
Elk City Elks
Elk City, OK 73644
Record: 5-5 | Unranked
![]() | vs Canadian | L | 27-32 8/29 |
![]() | @ Altus | W | 14-28 9/6 |
![]() | vs Joshua | L | 0-42 9/20 |
![]() | vs Cache | W | 36-21 9/27 |
![]() | @ Elgin | L | 49-6 10/4 |
![]() | vs Clinton | L | 21-24 10/10 |
![]() | @ Douglass | W | 0-42 10/17 |
![]() | vs Weatherford | L | 21-28 10/25 |
![]() | @ Bridge Creek | W | 14-47 11/1 |
![]() | vs Woodward | W | 30-12 11/8 |
![]() | vs Tuttle OSSAA State First Round at Tuttle | L | 34-6 11/15 |
CLASS 4A PREVIEW
| Ben Johnson
Class 4A preview
Rankings
1. Bethany - Declaring 2019 the year of Sam Brandt. He’s improved his quarterbacking skills as the years have gone along, and last season he rushed for 1,262 yards and 25 touchdowns, in addition to 2,615 yards and 27 touchdowns through the air.2. Blanchard - Class 4A’s top rusher last year was the Lions’ Bryce Madron with 1,743 yards and 32 touchdowns. And, he’s back.
3. Wagoner - Running back Chochee Watson could be on the verge of a breakout season after totaling 746 yards and nine touchdowns while sharing time with Schyler Adair in 2018.
4. Clinton - Expect a big year from tailback linebacker Eddi Gonzalez, who logged 107 tackles during his junior campaign.
5. Weatherford - Ethan Downs, a big-time tight end that stands 6 feet, 4 inches and 240 pounds, holds offers from OU, Arkansas, Baylor, LSU and plenty more.
**6. Tuttle - The departure of Carson Berryhill at quarterback could mean the reigning 4A state champs turn to Triston Truelove for a heavy bulk of the offensive load. Truelove rushed for 1,621 yards and 18 touchdowns last season.
7. Bristow - Having Jalen Fullbright’s athleticism back will certainly help, and the same goes for Luke Fortney (reigning state champion in wrestling) and Braden Fullbright on the offensive line.
8. Poteau - Greg Werner returns after a stint at Hilldale as head coach, and so does Mr Do Everything Easton Francis.
9. Broken Bow - Savages are always sneaky good, and that’s likely to be true this season with plenty of seniors on defense, including Dawson Jackson, Stephen Young and Britton McKinney.
10. Hilldale - Hornets lose some talent from last year’s roster, but they still have Jay Porter at quarterback, along with Brayson Lawson and Dylan Walker at wide receiver.
**2018 state champion
Premier players
- Wil Moyer (Cushing): As a junior, Moyer passed for 2,576 yards and 22 touchdown while completing 60 percent of his passes.- Keaton Crooks (Cushing): Most of Moyer’s passes found Crooks, who had 1,117 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.
- Ben Ward (Cleveland): Enters his junior year after throwing for 2,334 yards for the Tigers last season.
- Caden Culver (Elk City): Threw for 1,683 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior in 2018.
- Jaxon Ratterree (Weatherford): Downs gets the accolades in Weatherford, but Ratterree threw for 1,758 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior last year.
Our best guess(es)
Michael Swisher: Tuttle -- Want to see a cool tradition? Go to a Tuttle home game and watch the Tigers bus into the stadium and go straight from the bus to warmups. That’s not going to win Tuttle a gold ball, obviously. But the fact about 90 Tigers roll off those buses certainly helps. Tuttle will reload what it lost from a year ago and repeat.Whitt Carter: Wagoner -- It will be hard to defeat Bethany if Sam Brandt is as good or better than he was last year, but the Bulldogs have a ton back and it’s enough to get it done and reclaim their spot at the top.
Ben Johnson: Bethany -- Could foresee a Bethany-Blanchard finale, and I like Sam Brandt to get the job done this year.
Class 4A preview
| Ben Johnson
Look back at 2017
2017 district champs
4A-1: Heritage Hall - Everyone
should have seen it coming from the start. Heritage Hall took down John
Marshall -- who went on to win the Class 3A title -- in the first week
of the season, and the Chargers just stampeded their way through 4A-1,
as well. Clinton came the closest to knocking off Heritage Hall, 28-24,
in week four but Heritage Hall ended up polishing off a 14-0 campaign
with a title game victory over Ada.
4A-2: Ada - The
Cougars endured some brutal losses to Ardmore and Carl Albert in
non-district play, but it prepared Ada for what was up ahead in 4A-2
play. The Cougars' only blemish in district competition was to Tuttle,
but Ada ended up knocking off Blanchard for the tiebreaker at the end of
the year when both finished atop the standings. Then Ada went on to
knock off Oologah in the quarterfinals, and the Cougars marched all the
way to the title game, where Heritage Hall ended up prevailing.
4A-3: Wagoner - Few figured there'd be many teams to stand between Wagoner and Heritage Hall ultimately meeting in the 4A title game. The Bulldogs owned the state's longest winning streak (48) after another unbeaten run through 4A-3 and a first round playoff victory over Poteau. But trouble arrived in the form of Blanchard, who ended the Bulldogs' unbeaten run at Odom Stadium.
4A-4: Hilldale - The
Hornets were another east power that figured to challenge the likes of
Wagoner and Heritage Hall late in the playoffs. After all, Hilldale
breezed through 4A-4 for the district crown, but Bethany rallied and
took down Hilldale in the quarterfinals.
Talking title game: Heritage Hall 14, Ada 0
Quarterback
Blake Adams found Conner Casey for a 10-yard touchdown pass in the
first quarter, and from there the Chargers' defense secured Heritage
Hall's sixth state championship and third in the four seasons. Adams
added a 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and it was plenty
with the Charger defense forcing two Ada interceptions while limiting
the Cougars to 193 total yards.
On to 2018...
Players to watch
- Bryce Madron (Blanchard): Even
as a sophomore, Madron was instrumental for the Lions on offense in
2017. Blanchard finished 11-2 and it was Madron who shouldered a bulk of
the load on offense with 1,316 yards and 21 touchdowns on 200 carries.
- Jaxon Ratterree (Weatherford): Ratterree will head into his junior season after completing 87 of 153 passes for 1,274 yards and nine touchdowns last year.
- Schyler Adair (Wagoner): Partnered
with Nikia Jones on offense, Adair did his work on the ground for the
Bulldogs in 2017. He rushed for 1,231 yards and 14 touchdowns on 158
carries.
- Sam Brandt (Bethany): Taking over the quarterback reins, Brandt became a star for the Bronchos. He passed for 1,290 yards and 16 touchdowns with a 57 completion percentage, and he tacked on 964 yards and nine touchdowns on 174 carries. And for good measure, he piled up 76 tackles and six interceptions on defense.
- Easton Francis (Poteau): Francis
did it all during his sophomore campaign last year. He rushed for 1,404
yards and 23 touchdowns on 215 carries. He also caught 16 passes for
182 yards and three scores, and he saw a little time at quarterback,
where he completed 37 of 62 passes for 809 yards and eight touchdowns.
And for good measure, he also served as the Pirates' punter with a 35.3
yard-per-punt average on 18 attempts.
- J.R. Crain (Broken Bow): The
Savages will give the ball to Crain plenty of times during the upcoming
season. In 2017, Crain rushed for 748 yards and seven touchdowns on 134
carries.
- Tyler Wayland (Bristow): Senior quarterback is ready to pick up where he left off last season. He threw for 634 yards and eight touchdowns, but he was deadly on the move with 1,236 yards and 18 touchdowns on 160 carries.
- Jesse Rudd (Fort Gibson): Rusty
Rudd and Jesse Rudd shared the bulk of the carries for the Tigers in
2017, but it was Jesse Rudd who led the team with 1,003 yards and 14
touchdowns on 195 carries as a sophomore.