E-E high school football power rankings, top performers after Week 2

Bartlesville High School’s football team displayed a lot of positives last Friday in front of a massive crowd of more than 4,500 people on in the home stands at Custer Stadium:

— Scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions.

— No turnovers.

— Outscoring Sapulpa High School in the second half, 16-8.

— Forcing a fumble and another turnover on a bad punt snap.

— Limiting Sapulpa to 22 yards cumulatively on four of its five second-half possessions.

But, the host Bruins still felt the sting of a 44-36 loss.

Stumbling out of the gate with an 0-2 record, Bartlesville will look to turn its direction around during its road game Friday at Collinsville High School.

Game of the week: Wesleyan Christian School at Barnsdall

Honestly, this showdown — won last year by WCS, 53-52 — does not seem to be what was envisioned just four weeks ago. Since then, both teams lost their veteran returning quarterbacks (Maverick Lanphear, Barnsdall; Ty Cloud, WCS) to injury. Lanphear is definitely out for the season. Cloud’s return is up in the air, so to speak. Could he be a game-time surprise? That will be one of the questions fans of both teams might be asking, in what could be a classic clash and shootout.

Barnsdall star through three weeks: Easton Malone is well on pace for a 1,000-yard rushing season and has been a scoring machine.

WCS star through three weeks: Karl Siemers took charge at quarterback in Cloud’s absence and has helped ease the pain with some sharp passing and impact as a runner.

This week’s area schedule

Bartlesville (0-2) at Collinsville (2-0)

Miami (1-1) at Dewey (1-1)

Woodland (2-0) at Pawhuska (2-1)

Caney Valley (0-3) at Chelsea (0-2)

Nowata (1-1) at Hulbert (0-3)

Wesleyan Christian (1-1) at Barnsdall (3-0)

Colcord (1-1) at Oklahoma Union (0-2)

Eureka (Kan.) (1-1) at Caney Valley (Kan.) (1-1)

Copan (1-2), bye

Bartlesville-area team power rankings

Class 6A-II

1, Bartlesville (0-2)

The Bruins certainly are not where they wanted to be after two weeks (0-2), but they have lost by a total of only nine points against two powerful opponents.

Fueling the attack: Tailback P.J. Wallace has rushed for well more than 500 yards through just three games. He also scored last week on a 66-yard screen pass. … Damien Niko made nearly 70 yards of receptions last week and has scored at least once in every game. … Austin Zink made his first major impact of the season by catching a touchdown and two-point conversion against Sapulpa.

Need to work on: Penalties continue to haunt the Bruins, especially personal fouls. Special teams, especially in defending against kick returns, is another area of focus.

Classes 3A-A

1, Pawhuska (2A) (2-1)

Pawhuska muscled out to a 16-8 lead against Hominy but lost, 38-16, in an Osage County battle. This took some steam out of Pawhuska’s status as contender for a deep playoff run in Class 2A. The Huskies can regain their swagger with a win this week against Woodland.

2, Dewey (3A) (1-1)

Dewey is in the early stages of a season of both growing pains and potential. The Doggers dropped a 34-0 decision last week against Vinita. They had won their season opener against Nowata, 15-12. A win this week against Miami (1-1) would be a tremendous boost for the Doggers and also rev up momentum heading into district play the next week.

Fueling the attack: First-year quarterback Ryder Muninger has displayed some notable promise during the preseason and season opening phase.

3, Nowata (2A) (1-1)

The Ironman are coming off a bye following a strong start that included a 20-16 win against Chelsea and 15-12 loss at Dewey. They should have a good shot to beat Hulbert (0-3) this week to improve to 2-1. More importantly, this would be Nowata’s first season with two wins on the field since 2019. They finished 2-8 last year, but one of those victories was by forfeit.

Fueling the attack: Second-year quarterback Treaver Emberson has been the main cog around which the offense turns. … Peyton Trotter has made a strong case as one of the area’s best offensive players.

4, Oklahoma Union (A) (0-2)

The Cougars have been so close to nailing down an elusive win. They lost last week to Commerce, 21-13, after having fallen by just three points in Week 1, 32-29, to Wyandotte. OUHS is trying to snap back from an 0-10 mark last season. They face Colcord (1-1) this week, which should provide plenty of test and another victory opportunity.

5, Caney Valley (2A) (0-3)

The Trojans are coming off a 49-0 loss to Wyandotte and seeking a spark to jump-start their season. They showed promise in a 20-12 loss two weeks ago against Haskell, but have been shut out in their other two contests. They go up against winless foe this week in Chelsea (0-2), which is led by Bartlesville College High graduate and former Bartlesville High coach Brad Farrow.

Classes B-C

1, Barnsdall (B) (3-0)

One could only imagine how good Barnsdall could be if Lanphear were healthy. The Panthers have outscored their three opponents, 178-59, including last weeks 52-6 rout of Summit Christian. There’s no doubt the Panthers have been looking forward with steely desire to this year’s game against WCS, which escaped with a one-point win last year.

Fueling the attack: Malone rumbled for 135 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Barnsdall’s musical chairs at quarterback included a 63-yard scoring aerial last week from Tripp Barbee to James Johnson. Blaine Miller, Lincoln Gott and Braden Byers are some other Panther offensive forces.

2, Wesleyan Christian (C) (1-1)

WCS is coming off a 47-0 win against Claremore Christian, a needed boost after losing a shoot-out the previous week against Webbers Falls.

Fueling the attack: Siemers passed for 204 yards and three touchdowns, one each to Mason Jensen, Carson Tennison and Paxton Slief. Isaac Valenz and Brock Timmons both tallied a touchdown on a scoop and score. Valenz also booted 5-of-6 extra points.

3, Copan (C) (1-2)

Copan has a bye this week coming off a 42-9 rout of Foyil. The Hornets will now prepare for their district phase and quest to quality for the playoffs for the first time since 2009.

Fueling the attack: Kane Foreman threw for four touchdowns last week, two to Teegan Caron and one each to Jarrett Shambles and Karson Woodworth. Levi Vanschuyver and Jakob Powell both excelled on defense.

Kansas

1, Caney Valley (Kan.) (1-1)

Up north of the border, the Bullpups dropped a 28-8 decision last week against Humboldt. The game was close at halftime (14-6), but Humboldt turned up the rushing attack in the second half.

Fueling the attack: Jackson Griffin has been Caney Valley’s top offensive producer in the first two games.

Top performers last week

1 - P.J. Wallace (Bartlesville)

Rushed for 173 yards (27 carries) and a touchdown and hauled in a screen pass for a 66-yard scoring play.

2 - Easton Malone (Barnsdall)

Ran for 135 yards and three touchdowns.

3 - Kael Siemers (WCS)

Completed 12-of-16 passes for 204 yards with three touchdowns.

4 - Kane Foreman (Copan)

Recorded four passing touchdowns.

5 - Jett Scully (Bartlesville)

Made a tremendous downfield seal block that kept the lane open for Wallace to complete his 66-yard touchdown pass play. Scully also made a tremendous kickoff return in the final 10 seconds of the first half that set up an offensive touchdown as time expired.

6 - Isaac Valenz (WCS)

Scored on a fumble recovery and hit 5-of-6 extra points.

7 - Damien Niko (Bartlesville)

Scored on a 36-yard pass play at the end of the first half on a sizzling strike by quarterback Brett Eaves while Niko was surrounded by three defenders.

8 - Brock Timmons (WCS)

Racked up 12 tackles and added a touchdown on a scoop-and-score.

9 - Blaine Miller (Barnsdall)

Registered a pick-six.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: E-E high school football power rankings, top performers after Week 2