AREA FOOTBALL TEAMS HOLD SCRIMMAGES LAST WEEK
Dewey High School’s Kaiden Fowler (24) plays during last season. The Bulldoggers took on the Pawhuska Huskies last week during a scrimmage in Pawhuska.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
Aug. 27, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Two area high school football teams that have been traveling different directions the past few seasons clashed on Friday night at the Pioneer Woman Classic scrimmage in Pawhuska.
In the capper of the evening, the host Pawhuska Huskies— who have averaged nearly 10 wins a year since Matt Hennesy became head coach in 2018 — battled in a simulated half-game battle a Dewey Bulldogger squad hoping to break a string of five-straight losing seasons.
In other area scrimmage action last weekend, Barnsdall scored three touchdowns in a quarter against Mounds and Copan got in 50 plays against Welch.
A report on Bartlesville’s scrimmage Thursday at Bishop Kelley has already appeared.
Following are more details from the other scrimmages mentioned above, plus a preview for the Caney Valley (Kan.) Pups.
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DEWEY vs. PAWHUSKA
A couple of storylines elevated interest in this scrap.
One of them was the introduction of Kane Foreman as the new Pawhuska starting quarterback.
“He played well,” said Hennesy. “He played hard but he was really nervous. … He’s going to end up being really good. This was his first time playing in front of that many people. … He’s now realizing how much talent he has around him and that he doesn’t have to do it all.”
The other area of focus was the opening of the Scott Sapulpa coaching era in Dewey.
In all fairness, Sapulpa became head coach at the beginning of summer and is still making his impact on the program along with other changes in the coaching staff.
Sapulpa was frankly honest about what he saw and what his team will need to do to get better.
“Our perimeter containment on defense struggled against Pawhuska,” he said. “I told the boys this is the first time you’ll be on the field without coaches with you and it showed.”
He also saw a need for progress along the offensive front.
Sapulpa also spoke about the positives, including the performance of Chase Miller at quarterback.
“We run the Wing-T and he does a good job on that,” Sapulpa said. “He fits in well with that offense.”
Braxton Braden also played well at quarterback, the coach added.
On the defensive back end, Dewey also showed a lot of promise, with sophomores Kade Lackey and Kavery Weathers standing out.
“Our defensive backs did pretty well,” Sapulpa summarized. “Our pass coverage was really good.”
Dewey will be working hard in practice this week to fix some things as it prepares for Friday’s non-district season opener against Locust Grove.
Pawhuska, meanwhile, appeared to be ready for another strong run. The Huskies finished 9-3 last season. Despite a heavy graduation toll, the Huskies are reloaded and focused.
Hennesy felt the number one positive Friday “was our effort. I thought our kids came out ready to play. All the mistakes we made are fixable, which is good. We also came out healthy, which is the No. 1 goal of scrimmages.”
Several Pawhuska players contributed during a successful evening that saw them not give up a touchdown drive against powerhouse Rejoice Christian (although it scored two touchdowns on busted plays), shut out Sperry and then come out on top in the half-game against Dewey by three touchdowns.
Jenson Snodgrass tallied two touchdowns and two two-point conversions against Dewey.
Vann Wildcat carried the ball well against Dewey despite a medical mishap earlier in the evening in a controlled workout against Rejoice Christian.
“Vann broke off a couple of big runs against Dewey,” Hennesy said.
Wildcat and his brother Jimmie also bolstered the defense as inside linebackers. Outside linebackers Jack Grooms and Dane Jensen also both played strong in tandem, Hennesy said.
Perhaps the most notable defensive performance, however, was turned in by Pawhuska’s line, which included Jaxon Arnett, Jayden Henley and Leighton Shaw.
“They were just dominant up front,” Hennesy said.
He also praised the work of defensive backs Jarek Edwards and the Cass brothers, Corlin and Logan.
Pawhuska will open the regular season Friday against Nowata. This will be a rare first-week district game.
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BARNSDALL
Next to Pawhuska, the Barnsdall Panthers have been the most successful area football team the past decade in OSSAA football.
Coach Kylee Sweeney has guided his team to the playoffs in seven of the past seasons, including advancing all the way to the Class A quarterfinals one year.
To surmise Sweeney might have one of his strongest groups this season would be a bit presumptuous — Sweeney’s program has developed or been blessed by amazing athletes pretty much every campaign.
But this year’s squad might not take a back seat to any of them — as long as the principal contributors remain healthy.
In this past weekend’s scrimmage at Mounds the Panthers bared their claws.
“I thought we played very well,” summarized Sweeney.
But the area in which Barnsdall still needs to work on more is defensive alignment, Sweeney said.
Barnsdall relies heavily on multiple formations, depending on what the offense shows.
In addition, the Panthers were called multiple times for illegal procedure, another area that will be a point of focus in this week’s practice.
Both of these things are fixable.
Meanwhile, the positives overwhelmed the small flaws.
In his debut as the full-time first-string quarterback Lincoln Gott rushed for two scores and hit Bryce Byers for two scores.
Nathan Smith also ran for a score.
Tripp Barbee — who missed almost all of last season due to injury — made his re-debut with thunderous aplomb.
“He made some big runs, had some big catches and made some interceptions on defense,” Sweeney said.
A couple of move-in players that showed up strong were Talen Bond and Bladen Carmack.
Sweeney mentioned several other players.
Senior offensive lineman Kaydon Francis brought a lot of impact up front at 6-feet, 290 pounds. Haydon Collins made multiple tackles for loss.
Freshman Chance Jackson sparkled on both sides of the ball and could become an important part of this season and the future.
Jax Marin is another freshman who displayed a lot of potential at the scrimmage.
Sweeney also praised the coaching staff.
The Panthers open the season Friday against rival Caney Valley.
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Copan High School’s Teegan Caron takes a hit during last season. Copan played a scrimmage against Welch last week.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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COPAN
With Trenton Kallenberger as the new head coach — although he served previously as an assistant — the Hornets sharpened their skills against Welch in a 50-play scrimmage.
“I thought we did well all across the board,” said Kallenberger. “I was surprised about the freshman class. All four made plays for starting jobs.”
Zane Stricklin took the majority of snaps at quarterback, but Teegan Caron and Edan Thompson also got some strong looks.
“We were much further along defensively than I thought,” added Kallenberger. “I was pleased with how we flew to the football and how we tackled. Our defensive front was much more physical than a year ago. We’re ready to get going.”
Coming off an 8-3 record last season, Copan opens the season Friday by hosting Midway.
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CANEY VALLEY (Kan.)
Veteran head coach Criss Davis is celebrating his 40th year at Caney Valley — serving as the head football coach for a huge chunk of them.
Without a doubt the consistently most successful team in our coverage area — albeit they’re part of the Kansas High School Athletic Association instead of the OSSAA — the Bullpups appear primed to make another run at the playoffs.
They also could make a strong postseason push. Davis has guided the team to multiple state quarterfinal appearances the past 15 seasons or so.
“I’m excited about having a great group of kids,” Davis said. “I don’t know if all my whole coaching career that I’ve had all 39 kids at every practice every day the first week. I think our desire and dedication is there. I think our kids have put in a lot of time this summer. … Hopefully that will pay off.”
One of the most visible returnees is junior quarterback Layne Denny, who last year helped lead the Pups to a 6-3 record.
Denny will benefit from having what is probably one of the strongest corps of ball carriers in Pups’ history — at least one of its tops in terms of quality depth.
Back at feature halfback is junior Traxcyn Garton, last year’s leading rusher at more than 1,200 yards in nine games.
Two veteran fullbacks are back as well — Boone White and Raydn Martin.
Two others in the ball carrying rotation will be sophomore Austin Freisberg and junior Jace Buckley.
Some of the key veterans on the offensive line are juniors Angel Martinez, Jace Wren and Heath Ellis.
Caney Valley got hit hard at the offensive end spot by graduation, but Davis is looking for Drake Roberds and Jacob McVey to provide two of the main targets in the passing game.
“We return a lot of good players,” Davis said.
Defensively the task to reload is a bit more difficult, Davis said.
Help leading the way will be Martin and White up on the line.
Freisberg and will help anchor the heart of the defense at linebacker.
Returning starters in the secondary include McVey, Roberds and Denny.
A sophomore also looked good last week in the secondary, Davis said.
The Bullpups eye a preseason test Friday and open the season the following Friday against Humboldt.