Redistricting Shuffle
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It’s August and we are now less than a month away from the 2022 football season! After a month in July where we were previewing individual teams, we’re taking a bigger picture look at the 2022 season. In this post, we take a look at the new landscape of high school football in Oklahoma with the latest redistricting shuffle. Teams have been shuffled around depending on their enrollment and we have quite a few big name programs that will be playing in new classes this fall. We take a look at each class and see who’s in, who’s out and some of the top storylines with the school movement. Stay tuned to Prep Redzone Oklahoma throughout the month of August for more preseason content!
CLASS 6A-1
IN: Bixby
OUT: Putnam City
The Bixby Spartans moving into 6A-1 is definitely one of the bigger storylines going into the 2022 football season. They bring with them a 49-game winning streak and have one of the best dynasties that we’ve see seen in the last two decades. I think at this point that everyone agrees that Bixby is not only ready for this move up to 6A-1, but they should thrive. Will they be able to win another 49 in a row? Will they win seven of the next eight state championships in 6A-1? Probably not to both questions. But there’s no doubt that they move up to 6A-1 and immediately become one of the top teams in the class.
CLASS 6A-2
IN: Capitol Hill, Putnam City & Tahlequah
OUT: Bixby, Del City & Midwest City
Capitol Hill, Putnam City and Tahlequah all move into 6A-2 but this year is much more about the teams that are exiting the class. Bixby is moving up to 6A-1 while Del City and Midwest City move down to Class 5A. So we’ll have two new district champions after Bixby and Del City depart. Plus Midwest City leaving for Class 5A opens up another potential playoff spot as the Bombers have been a perennial playoff team in 6A-2 over the last eight seasons. Putnam City could end up being one of those new playoff teams as they enter 6A-2.
CLASS 5A
IN: Del City, Elgin, Grove & Midwest City
OUT: Capitol Hill, Tahlequah, Western Heights & Woodward
Class 5A is getting much more competitive as they we go into the 2022 football season. Del City and Grove are the two big names that enter Class 5A after Del City moves down and Grove moves up. Both teams are coming off district championships a year ago but they both fell short in the playoffs. They’ll have some unfinished business this fall. Midwest City is also a team to look out for in Class 5A as they join their Mid-Del rivals Del City moving down from 6A-2. We’re expecting those three teams specifically to provide more depth to Class 5A this fall and therefore, it’ll be more competitive from start to finish.
CLASS 4A
IN: Bridge Creek, Madill, Western Heights & Woodward
OUT: Bristow, Elgin, Grove & Muldrow
Class 4A will also have a different feel coming into this season as they lose district champion Grove up to Class 5A and former district champion Bristow as they move down to Class 3A. As opposed to Class 5A, which seems to have gotten much deeper, Class 4A has lost two top ten-quality teams in Bristow and Grove and coincidentally, they are both in the same district. It will be interesting to see if any of the new teams into the district can make an instant impact and potentially be playoff teams this fall in their first year in Class 4A. This has been a class that has been dominated by teams like Clinton, Poteau, Tuttle and Wagoner and those four don’t want to give up their crown any time soon.
CLASS 3A
IN: Bristow, Cascia Hall, Dewey, Marlow, Metro Christian, Muldrow & North Rock Creek
OUT: Bridge Creek, Kingston, Little Axe, Madill, Tahlequah Sequoyah, Vinita & Westville
Class 3A has been a class that has been dominated by private schools over the last several years and it probably won’t be changing this season. Two of the bigger teams that are new to Class 3A this fall are Cascia Hall and Metro Christian as they move up from Class 2A. Marlow is also a new team moving up from Class 2A and they captured the 2A title with a perfect 15-0 season a year ago. But the main storyline in Class 3A will be the private schools and whether or not they continue their dominance. Five of the top seven teams in the 3A preseason rankings are private schools, including Cascia Hall and Metro Christian. Bristow will be another team to look out for after having plenty of success in Class 4A over the last few years.
CLASS 2A
IN: Caney Valley, Kingston, Little Axe, Okemah, Pawhuska, Tahlequah Sequoyah, Vinita, Warner & Westville
OUT: Cascia Hall, Christian Heritage, Dewey, Hartshorne, Haskell, Marlow, Metro Christian, Panama & Pocola
Class 2A sees quite a few big names leaving this fall as Cascia Hall, Christian Heritage, Marlow and Metro Christian all leave. As mentioned above, Marlow captured the state title last year with a perfect season. Before Marlow won last year, Metro Christian captured the 2019 and 2020 gold balls. So no team currently in Class 2A has won the 2A title in the last three years. A big name moving into the class will be Pawhuska as they bring their high-powered offense up from Class A. Kingston has been another team that has had a lot of success over the last five years and they move down from Class 3A.
CLASS A
IN: Christian Heritage, Empire, Hartshorne, Haskell, Panama, Pocola & Snyder
OUT: Caney Valley, Hollis, Okemah, Oklahoma Bible Academy, Pawhuska & Warner
The future for Class 2A and Class A will be very different as big news came down in April as Class 2A and A will be split in half. Both classes have been some of the more competitive and wide open classes in Oklahoma and we’ll see each class transform into two divisions in each and we’ll have a few more state champions get crowned in December. Two of the bigger names moving into Class A this fall will be Christian Heritage and Pocola, who both move down from Class 2A. Both teams find themselves in our preseason rankings for Class A. Pawhuska moving up to Class 2A will open up things for a new team to make a playoff run as the Huskies have made it to the semifinals in each of the last two seasons.