Ringling Team Preview
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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 RIGHT HERE.
Overview (Class A Preseason Ranking: #3)
There is no doubt that legendary head coach Phil Koons has returned the Ringling Blue Devils to the elite of Class A. Since taking over the program in 2018, Koons is 33-3 in three seasons with one state championship in 2019. The Blue Devils were defending that championship a year ago and had several bumps in the road that would keep them off the field. Three regular season games were cancelled due to Covid. The first playoff game ended up being a bye week and that came after the week ten game against Elmore City was cancelled. Ringling was still among the state’s best and made it all the way to the semifinals before losing by a single point to Thomas. The defense was among the best in the state once again and we’ll dive further into that defensive unit later on in this preview. They’ve done some truly special things on that side of the ball so be sure and check those numbers out under “Notable”. Coming into this season, the Blue Devils return seven starters on offense and eight on defense. Anyone thinking that the Blue Devils won’t be just as stingy on defense might need to rethink some things between now and when the season kicks off. Ringling is ranked #3 in our preseason rankings, behind defending champion Cashion and #2 Pawhuska. Ringling is once again going to be in a good position in the playoffs, as long as they take care of their district. Because Cashion and Pawhuska are on the same side of the bracket, Ringling wouldn’t have to worry about either team until the championship game. Last year, they tripped up in the semifinals in a loss to Thomas. They’ll be determined to not trip and return to Wantland for the second time in the last three seasons.
2020 Results (10-1 Record – Lost In Class A Semifinals)
Sept. 4 – Game VS Hobart Cancelled
Sept. 11 – Beat Dickson 35-6
Sept. 18 – Beat Marietta 50-0
Sept. 25 – Beat Stratford 42-0
Oct. 2 – Beat Wynnewood 45-0
Oct. 9 – Beat Rush Springs 44-6
Oct. 16 – Game VS Healdton Cancelled
Oct. 23 – Beat Dibble 21-6
Oct. 30 – Beat Wayne 36-0
Nov. 6 – Game VS Elmore City Cancelled
1st Round – Bye Week
2nd Round – Beat Oklahoma Bible Academy 33-7
3rd Round – Beat Texhoma 23-7
Quarterfinals – Beat Morrison 21-14
Semifinals – Lost To Thomas 28-27
Players To Watch
Brayden Johnson – 2022 Linebacker
The Ringling defense has been lights out over the last two seasons but they haven’t had just an overwhelming star lining up for them. Well, we’ll take linebacker Brayden Johnson and plug him in that role as he’s going into his third year as a starter on this Ringling defense. That means he’s been a critical part of their success during those two seasons where they were shutting out teams and giving up next to nothing in the points category. Johnson also looks the part at 6’2 and can fly all over the field. Johnson could end up being an All State-caliber type player for the Blue Devils this fall.
Jaxon Perry – 2022 Offensive Lineman
Ringling will be known this season for their defense but the offense has the ability to put up some points as well. The Blue Devils keep it simple on offense and they want to run, run and run the ball. They’ll be able to do it with senior offensive lineman Jaxon Perry returning to anchor this Ringling offensive line. We learned about Perry after he trained with C4’s Sean Cooper down in Durant. After checking out his junior tape from last year, we bought into everything Cooper said about Perry. He’s without a doubt a hidden gem in the state’s 2022 class at the OL position and is a dominating run blocker.
Karson Daniel – 2023 Quarterback
Running the Ringling offense will be junior quarterback Karson Daniel. The Blue Devils will have two or three guys that they rotate in at running back but the mainstay in the backfield will be their QB1 in Daniel. As we’ve mentioned, the Blue Devils are going to continue to be a run-first team so Daniel won’t be asked to do a lot in the passing game but Ringling will still mix in the pass at the perfect times. During the 2019 championship, that’s what led to the gold ball with passing touchdowns at the exact right time. As long as Daniel is in control of this offense, Ringling’s offense will be a high-scoring unit, but more importantly, they’ll be efficient.
More Names
Colton Fincher – 2022 Running Back
Julius Koons – 2022 Linebacker
Scotty Taylor – 2022 Defensive End
Notable
Ringling has had arguably the best defensive unit in the state over the last two seasons. First, we’ll go back to the 2019 when they won the state championship. After losing their season opener to Mangum and then giving 13 points to Dickson the following week, the Ringling defense became perfect. That began a streak of nine consecutive games where they shut out their opponent. Read that again if you aren’t stunned. NINE STRAIGHT WEEKS OF SHUTOUTS. You can accidentally give up a touchdown and they were perfect for over two months. That streak came to an end in the quarterfinals but they would still go on to win the state championship. Last year, they didn’t have a shutout streak but they were as close to perfect as they could have been. In seven regular season games, the Blue Devils gave up just 18 points with four shutouts sprinkled in. All in all, the Blue Devils gave up a total of 74 points when you combine the regular season and playoff run, that includes a season-high 28 points to a Thomas team that beat them in the semifinals. For context, they gave up 74 points in 11 games. Pawhuska entered the playoffs last year averaging nearly 70 points per game in the regular season. Ringling certainly did it with a focus on defense and with eight starters back this fall, expect more shutouts and low scoring outputs for opponents.
2021 Schedule/Games To Watch
Aug. 27 – Atoka
– The season opener will be the marquee non-district game for Ringling as they’ll host the Atoka Wampus Cats. Atoka is a 2A team that could end up being ranked and has the chance to be the best team in their district. They’ll be able to give the Blue Devils a big test early on in the zero week. Atoka has some legitimate weapons on the offensive side of the ball and they will put Ringling’s defense to the test. If the Blue Devils get out of this week zero match-up with a win, they should be able to run the table and possibly go undefeated, especially in the first half of the season.
Sept. 10 – Dickson
Sept. 17 – AT Marietta
Sept. 24 – AT Stratford
Oct. 1 – AT Wynnewood
Oct. 8 – Rush Springs
Oct. 14 – AT Healdton
Oct. 22 – AT Dibble
Oct. 29 – Wayne
– Our final game to watch comes in week nine and it really is a two week stretch as Ringling closes out the regular season against Wayne and then Elmore City. We believe that these two teams are the two best teams that could end up contending with Ringling in this district. Ringling shut out Wayne in their meeting last year and they’ll be hungry to get a little revenge and not have a goose egg up on the scoreboard. The following week, they’ll be hosting an Elmore City team that we think is on the rise and they have some very young and talented players that could push the Blue Devils.
Nov. 5 – Elmore City
Championship History
5 State Championships (T-21st Most In State History)
2019 – Beat Cashion 20-14
2012 – Beat Wynnewood 39-12
2003 – Beat Tonkawa 27-20
1992 – Beat Velma-Alma 20-12
1989 – Beat Empire 31-3