Okmulgee, Henryetta to open 2023 season tonight

The varsity football season will get underway tonight for two Okmulgee County programs.

The Okmulgee Bulldogs and Henryetta Golden Knights will open their 2023 campaigns during ‘Zero Week’ with season-opening home games.

The Bulldogs will begin the 2023 season under new head coach Randy Jackson in front of their home fans at historic Harmon Field against the Star Spencer Bobcats.

Tonight’s season opener against Star Spencer will be the first of three non-district games for the Bulldogs in the 10-game regular season with the Okmulgee gridiron squad looking to make it two-in-arow against the Bobcats after opening the 2022 season with a 20-0 victory in Oklahoma City.

Both teams enter the 2023 opener looking to better outcomes this season. Okmulgee will look to do better than their second-straight 2-8 season, while Star Spencer will seek to improve on its 1-9 record from last year. Star Spencer’s lone win came by a 42-22 margin against Capitol Hill in its third regular-season game of the season.

Tonight’s season opener in Okmulgee will get started at 8 p.m.

The Knights will begin Year 2 under head coach Weston McGill tonight at home against the Hartshorne Miners. The season-opening meeting with the Miners will be the first of three non-district games for the Henryetta squad in 2023.

The Knights will look to notch their second-straight win over Hartshorne tonight at historic Cameron Field following a 46-28 victory in Week 3 last year in Hartshorne.

Henryetta will be looking for its second-straight playoff appearance in 2023 after earning a postseason berth last year with a 5-6 record. Hartshorne will also be seeking to punch its second-consecutive trip to the playoffs after a 7-4 season record in 2022.

Tonight’s season-opening battle with Hartshorne is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m.

With Okmulgee and Henryetta kicking off their seasons tonight during ‘Zero Week’, the other four county squads will begin their 2023 campaigns next Friday (Sept. 1).