TONKAWA -- An unspoken goal for the Tonkawa Buccaneers football team is to qualify for the playoffs this year.The Bucs found themselves in the unusual, for them, position of watching from the outside when it came playoff time last year. A casualty of a very difficult district, Tonkawa finished the season 6-4, with all four losses coming in district play. Hominy, Woodland, Pawnee and Morrison finished above Tonkawa.Veteran Coach Mike Kirtley sees a lot of promise in this year’s edition of the Buccaneers. But he notes there is a big void, as four-year starter at quarterback, Ryan Morgan, has graduated.Replacing Morgan will be Cayden Duvall.“He is pretty talented,” Kirtley said of Duvall. “He can throw the ball a mile and he runs pretty well.”Returning at running back is Clayton Lopeman. A number of wideouts are available to haul in Duvall’s passes. They are Louden Alexander, Matt Gottman and Weston Freeman.Barrick Wano will operate out of the H-Back position as will sophomore Kace Tautfest.Up front there will be a whole new look on offense, with one returning starter, Gavin Ward. Kirtley is looking to Ward to be a good anchor for the offensive line.Traditionally, the Bucs are especially good on defense. Kirtley has some key components in this year’s version.Wano is a returning linebacker and Tautfest is a talented middle linebacker. Lopeman, Duvall and Alexander are also key defenders, Unfortunately, All-State lineman Dominic Grein was lost to graduation.Kirtley points to his coaching staff as being a bonus.“We have two new coaches,” he said, referring to Trent Harmon, who is coaching offensive and defensive linemen and Bobby Shoate. Other members of the staff are Kale Dice and Simeon Shepherd.In the new Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association scheme of things, Tonkawa will compete in Class AI, larger schools in Class A. They are in District A1-3 which also includes Pawhuska, Nowata, Pawnee, Morrison, Caney Valley, Oklahoma Union and Quapaw.“The district is going to be tougher than heck,” Kirtley said, pointing to Pawhuska, Pawnee and Morrison as teams to beat. Although they missed the playoffs a year ago, it would be footlhardy to overlook the Bucs as being a member of the “tougher than heck” category. Quire likely they will be in the mix at playoff time.TONKAWA BUCCANEERS2024 Football Schedule Sept. 6-- Newkirk at Tonkawa — Win Sept. 13-- at Fairview — Loss Sept. 20 -- Stroud at Tonkawa — Loss Sept. 27 -- ...
