Vian photo by Timothy Wiley, Vian Wolverine Football Facebook page

By Buck Ringgold

VIAN, OKLAHOMA – Constant, and generally heavy at times, rain fell throughout Vian’s regular-season finale last Friday.

However, it temporarily subsided just as the Wolverines were walking off the field with one of their main goals entering the 2024 season crossed off the list.

Vian had just finished off Valliant, 48-7, in a game which decided the District 2A-II-4 title. Just as important, the Wolverines ended the regular season 10-0, the first time they had done so since 2013. It was also the sixth time since 2005 that Vian finished a regular season 10-0, continuing the rich tradition of the Wolverines’ football program.

So the rain ended just in time for players to receive congratulations and hugs from friends and family members en route to their locker room.

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“We’ve put in a lot of work this summer,” said junior running back/receiver Draighton Fletcher, who scored a pair of touchdowns in last week’s win.

“We knew the expectations were high and we knew if we came in and we worked hard this summer and put in the work every week and get ready for everybody, I think we’ll be pretty good for the rest of the four weeks we have left.”

What Fletcher was referring to is the four potential games Vian has remaining in the Wolverines’ next order of business. They already achieved one goal by going 10-0.

Now, it’s time for them to end what the Wolverines have been pursuing for more than a half-century: Winning the program’s first state title since 1971, which to this date was the only season Vian won it all in football.

As Fletcher alluded to in his postgame oratory, the Wolverines knew the expectations going in and they haven’t shied away from those.

Last season, they made it to the third round of the then-Class 2A playoffs before falling to eventual champion Washington. But with 2A splitting into two divisions, and Washington being placed in 2A-I, and with many starters returning, including those from a talented junior class, the Wolverines felt this just might be the year they finally hoist that gold ball.

“We’ve got expectations and we’re just trying our hardest to stay focused up and go get that (gold) ball,” said senior offensive/defensive lineman Cash Collins.

“(We just have to) stay focused up, and that’s all we’ve really got to do. We’ve got the talent, we’ve got the size and we’ve got the mental part, we’ve just got to stay focused up, set our mind on the goal and stay there and get it done.”

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Collins is one of 10 seniors on Vian’s roster. But the vast majority of the team’s playmakers lies in the Wolverines’ junior class, which includes Fletcher and Masyn Wright, who has rushed for 1,561 yards and 27 TDs while receiving recruiting attention from several college programs.

He scored two of those TDs in last week’s win, and also returned a free kick off a safety for another score. Fletcher has added 720 yards and 11 TDs.

“We’ve been together since I think kindergarten, and we both knew that we had the speed and we’re both thankful for it,” Fletcher said of playing with Wright. “But we couldn’t do anything we do without our linemen, and we are grateful to have them and be able to give us the position to do what we can do and show off our talent.”

Another junior for the Wolverines is quarterback Cash Trammel, who has thrown for nearly 700 yards and 17 TDs. He threw for just 2 yards last week, but that was due to the rainy conditions and the lopsided score.

Vian scored all 48 of its points before halftime, and the clock ran continuously from the midway point of the second quarter. The Wolverine defense held Valliant to minus 59 yards total offense and recorded not one, not two but three safeties.

Collins had one of those safeties, and while he admits he enjoys playing defense more, Collins also knows blocking for players like Wright and Fletcher is equally fulfilling.

“It’s a privilege,” Collins said. “Not everybody gets to do it, so I take advantage of it and it’s a privilege. It’s a fun time, getting to run down there and celebrate with them when they score that six.”

Gary Willis, in his ninth season as Vian’s coach, was just as happy to have a 10-0 record like his players were. But it was a bit more personal for him, because Willis had never achieved a perfect regular season in his coaching career.

Ironically, nearly two decades ago, Willis came close to finishing a regular season 10-0, when he was coaching at nearby Keys. The Cougars were 9-0 going into their regular season finale against, of all teams, Vian.

That was in 2006, when Vian arguably had its best team before the current edition, featuring a squad which included lightning-quick halfback Vfastv Locust, clutch quarterback Seth Sloan and do-everything athlete Londell Taylor, who ended up playing at the University of Oklahoma after a stint playing baseball in the Detroit Tigers’ organization.

Those Wolverines ended up beating Willis and Keys, denying Willis his 10-0 season. Vian went on to play for a state title, but lost by one point to Oklahoma City Millwood, the closest the Wolverines ever got to winning gold since that 1971 squad.

“I’ve told these coaches and players (at Vian), in 10 years at Keys, I spent 10 of the worst nights I’ve ever had in my life in that visitor’s locker room playing Vian,” Willis said.

But that was then, and this is now. Willis could finally bask in the glow of going undefeated entering the playoffs while wearing the Wolverines’ purple and gold colors.

“This group has, like of course a lot of Vian teams have, a junior and senior class that have played together a long time and just been together since first grade, a lot of them and a majority of them,” Willis said. “Just that continuity and playing with each other, they do become close to each other and that’s a big thing, just been playing together and have had so much experience playing with each other.”

And now, the Wolverines get set to embark on another postseason journey determined to finally get the job done, just like they did in the regular season. That begins Friday night with a first-round home game against Kansas.

“We talk about it; that’s the sights we have and ever since I’ve been here. … It’s in front of us and takes a little luck and talent,” Willis said. “We’ve got the talent and hopefully, we can just stay healthy and take it one game at a time.

“That’s our goal and that’s our plan, so we’ll see.”

One major goal was attained last Friday for the Vian football program. The Wolverines are now hoping their parade in pursuit of a long-awaited gold ball doesn’t get washed out.

Buck Ringgold | @Bucks_Ballpark | realarklahomasports@gmail.com