Wagoner football facilities undergoing major improvements, but winning remains a primary constant for Bulldogs
WAGONER, Oklahoma - When Wagoner superintendent Randy Harris took that job about a decade ago, one thing in particular quickly caught his attention.
"The quality of things going on in our classrooms weren't reflected by the exterior of our facilities," he said. "You drive by a house and see a well-kept landscape and you think what’s going on inside has really got to be nice.
"We didn't give that kind of impression."
That classroom extended to the football field and a home bleacher section and press box that fans say went up in the mid-1950s.
By the time Harris was hired in the summer of 2015, Wagoner coach Dale Condict had won the school's first state title in 2011 - in his first year they reached the championship game - and in all has six titles, the latest coming last season. After Harris came on board, Condict's squads ran off two of what was a three-year run of gold balls and part of what was then a state record 48-game win streak.
On Friday in their home opener against Grove, the Bulldogs broke in a spanking new press box and home bleachers, including 600 reserve chair back seats, and rolled to a 35-14 win over a Grove program that handed the Bulldogs one of their three losses in 2022 - in a year when they bounced back to win 10 of their last 11 after that setback and that sixth ring.
When you win six championships, you need some breaks along the way, and the $2.8 million that allowed the first of three projects with the football facility came from leftover money from a $19.9 million bond. Additional money provided schools from the COVID-19 pandemic and Redbud School Funding Act has also come in handy.
"It was kind of a perfect storm with all that happening at once," said Harris, whose other improvements tackled a new agricultural building, updating classrooms and a new surface for the track facility as well as turf for baseball and softball.
"And we knew it was time to take care of our kids."
So, it's all still a work in progress.
A weight room attachment to the current indoor multipurpose facility and a new football fieldhouse are coming with an aim to have them completed by the start of 2024.
Condict's coaching legacy is still a work in progress. In search of title number seven, his previous teams have made eight title games and qualified for the postseason in each of his 18 seasons.
Prior to Condict’s arrival, and counting a previous state title appearance in 1945, Wagoner made the playoffs in 22 of those years. While the playoffs have expanded over the last quarter-century or so, most of Condict's teams made it as district champions or runner-up.
This edition is off to a 3-0 start in winning a battle of unbeatens Friday, and led by two four-star recruits according to 247 Sports.
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Junior Alex Shieldnight is being targeted primarily as an edge guy on defense and has been offered by Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, Kansas and Arkansas.
But Arkansas' eye for him is also as a tight end, and Shieldnight showed why Friday with six catches for a team-high 113 yards. His 38-yarder over the middle set up a 1-yard touchdown run by his quarterback, fellow junior Kale Charboneau, that put Wagoner up to stay at 14-7 in the second quarter.
Shieldnight had four catches for 81 yards in the half and Charboneau also had a fast start, going 13-of-15 for 214 yards at the half. He finished 22-of-39 for 327 yards and a pair of touchdowns while running for two more.
Shieldnight also had four tackles for loss, two sacks and four pressures defensively.
"I'm trying to get better at both," the 6-foot-4, 235-pounder said. "The recruiting experience is a blessing and all that, but it's not my focus.
"At this stage, it's about developing as a better man and better player along with my other teammates."
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Witt Edwards, a 6-6, 205-pound senior wideout who also goes at linebacker, had six catches for 62 yards and on defense, one sack.
Edwards has whittled his choices down to Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Houston, Iowa State and TCU, and said he will make his announcement Oct. 1. Edwards plans a visit to Houston in two weeks, but is focused this weekend on his part in a documentary called "My Sports Town."
He was selected for it by Peter Berg, who put together the Netflix series QB1.
"It should be fun," Edwards said.
As is playing in the renovated digs of Odom Field.
"You've always known who you play for here and the fans are always loud, but it's crazy with the new look, just a whole different feel," he said.
Shieldnight, Edwards and Charboneau have a great supporting cast in the Bulldogs' quest for seven, which starts with next week's District 4A-3 opener against Skiatook.
Linebacker Keyton Cole is another defensive leader whose fumble recovery after Grove had reached the Bulldogs' 1 in the second quarter gave way to a 15-play, 84-yard march that made it 21-7 heading into halftime.
Junior safety Anthony Coleman and Mattson Swanson each had interceptions for Wagoner.
For Coleman, a junior, he's had one in each of Wagoner's three non-district games. Swanson, another junior, had five receptions for 79 yards and a score.
With so many underclassmen, those other improvements to their football surroundings will greet them in a year.
"I think it's the fruits of our labor," Condict said before the game. "We're proud of what we've built inside and now outside and obviously, it's not done yet."
"I think it's already the best stadium in Class 4A," Shieldnight said.
For over a decade, it's certainly been the premier football team in 4A.
Photo of Wagoner coach Dale Condict by Michael Kinney
-- Mike Kays | @SBLiveOK
