ELMORE CITY, Oklahoma – Well, there’s nothing like packing a little bit of everything into the first game of the season.

For Oklahoma City Patriots, big plays, early injuries, defensive stands, turnovers and clutch performances were just part of a wild opening week win at Elmore City.

When it was all said and done: Patriots 27, Badgers 16.

OKC is 1-0 and won on the road, which will be a regular occurrence this year. The Pats play all but two games on the road this year.

And the road tested them plenty on Friday night.

“This is what we needed to do,” Oklahoma City coach Chris Toney said. “We are going to play a lot of these games (on the road), and we have to show resiliency. Tonight we were able to do that.”

But at first, it seemed like OKC was going to cruise.

Oklahoma City had run just three plays by 6:20 in the first quarter and led 14-0.

Two of those first three plays were huge touchdown runs by quarterback Quinn Soukup. The first was an 80-yarder on the second play of the game, the second a 68-yard TD on the Pats’ next series.

The Patriots kept it up with another Soukup touchdown early in the second quarter to put OKC up 21-8.

On the first play of their next series, Soukup went down with a shoulder injury and had to sit for the rest of the game.

“After Quinn went down, we had to lean on our defense, and Jack really stepped up,” Toney said.

Jack was sophomore QB Jack Biggs, who had to steady the offense and maintain the Patriots lead. He came up with a pivotal late TD pass while the defense made play after play to shut out Elmore City in the second half.
Elmore City took its best shot quickly after the quarterback swap. Just a minute after Soukup went out, the Badgers returned a punt 50 yards for a TD. That cut OKC’s lead to 21-16.

The Patriots defense took shot after shot from Elmore City but finished with a second-half shutout.

OKC forced Elmore City to punt twice to start the second half, but the Badgers responded with a 46-yard double reverse pass with 2:23 to go in the third. The Badgers got inside the 10 when Christian Barnett came up with a big sack, then pressure on the QB by Benjamin Hopper forced an incomplete pass.

The Badgers had fourth-and-goal at the 21 and went for it, but their quarterback was stuffed short of the end zone by Ethan Susud with 10:53 to go in the game.

Deep in their end zone, the Patriots tried to muster some offense. Fortunately, a great punt by RJ Brooks hit an Elmore City player to give the Patriots good field position. OKC couldn’t convert, because of penalties and an Elmore City interception, its second of the game.

OKC’s defense came up with a big interception of its own. Jayce Eidson picked off the Badgers with 7:58 to go in the game.
A couple of punts kept the game on edge as Oklahoma City got the ball back with 3:51 to go.

But could the Patriots muster any offense after struggling to get first down in the second half?

The answer was a big yes!

Biggs hit tight end Blake Smith with a short pass at the 18-yard line. Smith tore up the sideline 82 yards for a touchdown. The score bought a raucous Patriot crowd to its feet and let the team breathe a sigh of relief.

But not so fast; the Patriots hit the road again next week, visiting Blackwell on Friday. OKC beat the Maroons in Week 2 last season.

The Oklahoma City Patriots are red hot going into their final home stretch of the season.

Over the past four games, their success, including a stunning win over Christ Prep last week in Kansas, has launched the Patriots into the top 10 of the National Homeschool Football Rankings.

Looming on the horizon for the team are two Top 5 teams at home in the next two weeks. Light House of Springfield, Mo. comes to town at 7:30 p.m. Oct 29, followed by the regular-season finale Nov 5 vs. Tulsa NOAH.

This week, the Patriots took a bye to prepare for those games, allowing us to round up their outstanding performances in Sept. and Oct. 

The Patriots’ most significant win came last week in a 10-3 thriller against Christ Prep.

Christ Prep had long been a program OKC measured itself against. The win was a great indication of the team’s progress this season.

Quarterback Quinn Soukup’s run over the left side in the first half gave the Patriots a 6-3 lead, which they would never give up.

 Christ Prep’s quarterback was under pressure all day, with Blake Smith stuffing him with four sacks and Soukup adding three more. 

The Patriots also forced three Christ Prep turnovers to seal the game.

The win improved OKC’s record to 6-2 and ranked them 9th in the national rankings.

On Oct 8, the Patriots had an exciting trip to Texas, but it turned out not to be a party. OKC dropped a 24-19 loss to DasCHE. DasCHE held the Patriots scoreless in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Dylan Mahoney finished the game with 99 yards rushing, while Ethan Susud led the defense with seven tackles.

On Oct 1, the Patriots smashed North Rock Creek 26-14.

Receiver Elijah Gray put on a show with 128 yards receiving on just three catches.

On Sept 24, OKC demolished HSAA 66-14. The Patriots rolled out to a 45-0 halftime lead, scoring seven first-half touchdowns.

Clutch TD in the final seconds lifts OKC at home

Time seemed to slow down for the Oklahoma City Patriots last Friday night against Healdton.

Just when it looked like the visiting Bulldogs had deflated the energy of the team and the home crowd, the Patriots stormed back, scored with less than a minute, and emerged with a 20-14 win.

Here’s how the last 1:16 played out. Facing a fourth-and-six from the OKC 24, Healdton launched a desperation pass which was caught for a touchdown. The Bulldogs lead 14-13.

On the ensuing kickoff, Noah Dawson sprinted upfield taking the ball to the 40. A penalty flag on Healdton took the ball 15 more yards to the Healdton 45 with just a minute to go.

After an incomplete pass and the clock winding down, the Patriots needed a big play to stay alive.

They got it and then some when Marvin Pennel found Shawn Egelhoff sprinting down the right side. Egelhoff pulled in a pass over his shoulder and found the end zone.

Patriots 20, Healdton 14.

Forty-four seconds left.

The Patriots defense hung in and ending the game with a win-clinching interception.

“The kids played the right way and I told them that sometimes the lessons and the things we go through, the Lord allows sweet things to happens, and sometimes things are sour,” OKC coach Chris Toney said after the game. “We have to be thankful for both. But tonight, He let it be sweet and I told the boys to let it be sweet.”

The win was a huge turnaround from the first half, which saw the Patriots on the wrong side of a lot of bad luck. What did they have to overcome? A safety, an interception, a fumble on their 2-yard line, a 50-yard run called back because of a penalty, an unsportsmanlike penalty, and too many men on the field.

Despite all that, OKC only trailed 8-0 at halftime.

Once the team return to the field for the second half, things started to click.

On their first offensive series, the Patriots shocked everyone with a fake punt at their 20-yard line. Qorban Darkis executed an 11-yard run to get the first down and keep the drive going. Running backs Dylan Mahoney and Noah Raymond took care of the res, driving downfield until Mahoney broke free for a 27-yard touchdown run. That TD brought the score to 8-6 Healdton.

After the defense forced a turnover on downs, the Patriots picked right back up with runs by Mahoney, a 6-yard catch by Noah Marley, and a 6-yard TD rumble by Raymond.

That held until Healdton’s touchdown drive.

The win gives the Patriots a 2-2 record going into Friday night’s game against HSAA.

Patriots 1-1 going into Friday’s road game at the Royals

It was about as close as you could get.

Look at the stats from last week’s 22-6 Oklahoma City Patriots win over Blackwell and you’d see a breakdown of offensive plays – 25 passes and 23 runs.

The balanced offensive attack did its job and boosts OKC into Friday night’s road trip to Community Christian in Norman.
Quarterback Melvin Pennel showed a deft touch, going for 235 yards on 18-of-24 passes, including three touchdowns. The rushing game was a head-turner as well, as it got balanced in its way.

The running game hit more than 100 yards, with Dylan Mahoney sharing carries with Noah Raymond, with seven and eight runs apiece.

The two seniors are a study in contrasts and that’s the way coach Chris Toney likes it.

“They both have a strength the other doesn’t have,” Toney said. Mahoney is quick and can dodge tacklers in the open field, while Raymond is more of a power back. “It’s a nice one-two punch. Any time you can have a kid that’s able to run over somebody in a one-on-one situation and get short-yardage, that’s a good situation for us. And we also have a young man (Mahoney) who the good Lord has blessed with tremendous speed.”

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Defensive stand, balanced offense lifts OKC

The Oklahoma City Patriots showed the promise of the 2021 season with a decisive 22-6 win over Blackwell on Friday night.

It was the home opener for the Patriots, who played in front of a full house of fans who filled up the new stands in Oklahoma City.

It was quite a show for the capacity crowd who were rooting on the Patriots, ranked No. 13 in the nation. A balanced offensive attack and a clutch defensive stand put the game away for OKC.

After a pair of touchdown passes by Marvin Pennel for OKC, the Patriots led 15-6 in the third quarter. A solid drive by the team stalled and then penalties and sacks put the Patriots back inside their own 20.

A huge 80-yard punt by Qorban Darkis forced Blackwell to start on their own 4.

And that’s when the Patriots defense snuffed out any Maroon momentum. Blackwell’s quarterback was sacked twice by Quinn Soukup. Another solid stop by Bodey Ihrig forced Blackwell to punt. The Patriots got the ball back with 6:37 left in the game at the Blackwell 38.

The Patriots slammed the door when Pennel found his favorite target again as Noah Marley found the end zone to make it 22-6.

“We really challenged the boys at halftime to come out and play like we did last year against DASCHE,” Patriots coach Chris Toney said. “They really answered the bell on both sides of the ball.

“We are really thankful that they made that stand in the third quarter. They stood strong and did what they needed to do.”

Marley and Elijah Gray both caught TD passes in the first half as part of an impressive passing attack. The Patriots running game kept Blackwell on their heels most of the night. The combo of Dylan Mahoney’s speed and elusiveness and the power running of Noah Raymond helped OKC dominate the run game.

Pennel finished with 235 passing yards on 18-for-24 passing. Marley finished with 93 receiving yards to go wiht his two TD catches. Gray had 69 yards receiving.

Raymond finished with 18 yards receiving and 24 yards rushing. Mahoney lead the saints with 60 rushing yards.

On defense, Soukup led the way with four sacks

The victory erased the memories of the opening week loss by the Patriots to Nike Dallas. Blackwell was a playoff game in Oklahoma’s Class 2A last season when they also beat the Patriots.

The win launches Oklahoma City into next week’s road game against Community Christian School at 7 p.m. Friday in Norman.

The Oklahoma City Patriots host Blackwell at 7 p.m. Friday in its first home game. The game will give fans their first look at a renovated home stadium.

The Patriots (0-1) dropped their season opener last week, losing 49-0 to Nike Dallas.

To fire up the Patriots Nation, there will be at Pep Rally on Thursday night. The event will kick off around 8 p.m. and introduce the midhigh and high school football teams, along with the cheerleaders, and band members.

The midhigh team kicks off its season Tuesday at Blackwell at 6 p.m.

The Oklahoma City Patriots begin their 2021 campaign today with a road game at Nike Dallas at 7:30 p.m. Saturday

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday.

The Patriots enter the season ranked No. 10 in the country by the National Homeschool Football Association. Nike Dallas is ranked No. 2.

“They are fast and have good size,” Patriots coach Chris Toney said of Nike Dallas.

Two Nike Dallas players were named this week to the Top 200 private school players in Texas. Quarterback Cam Mitton is a 6-3 quarterback who made the list, along with offensive lineman Rayce Thompson.

The Patriots are coming off winning the Division III title last year at national. The squad has experience in seniors Elijah Gray,
Deangelo Coberley, Jonathan Marcott, Patrick Cuellar Jr, Charlie Wallace, Noah Jordan Dawson, Noah Raymond, Hector Morales, Marvin Pennel, Bodey Ihrig, Noah Marley, Qorban Darkis.

Click here to print out a full Patriots roster

The season opener for the High School Patriots has changed date. The game against Nike Dallas Football Club has been moved from Friday, August 27 to Saturday, August 28.

Kickoff will be at 7:30 p..m. The game will be played at Prestonwood Christian Academy’s Lion Stadium, 6801 W Park Blvd., Plano, Texas .

The Mid-High game against Nike Dallas on August 27 has been canceled! We are working to add more games to the Mid-High schedule.