Overview
The MidFirst Bank Backyard Bowl, one of the best rivalries in high school football, takes place Friday night at Allan Trimble Stadium in Jenks, Oklahoma. This will be the first game at Jenks Stadium since 1998. The annual rivalry game features two of the most celebrated and successful high school football teams in Oklahoma history.
Find out how to watch this game
Coming into the game, Jenks is 1-1 on the season and comes off a 42-35 shootout loss to Bixby, the #1 ranked team in Oklahoma Class 6A-II. The Trojans are currently the #4 ranked team in Oklahoma 6A-I. Third-year head coach Keith Riggs has a 19-8 record overall (2-1 vs Union) and two state runner-up finishes. Riggs played high school football at Owasso High school, where he earned 1982 all-state defensive end honors.
The Union Redskins are looking for their first win of the season, however, both losses have been to two of the top-ranked teams in the state – Bixby (34-0) and a tough 14-7 loss this past weekend to #2 Broken Arrow. Union’s Kirk Fridrich is in his 14th season as head coach of the Redskins. His overall record is 144-29 with 5 state championships (2008-09-10-11 & 16).
Matchup History
This is the 64th meeting between these two teams. Jenks currently holds a 40-23 advantage over Union. Since the Backyard Bowl was named in 2004, Jenks and Union are tied at 8 wins each. The Trojans have won 6 of their 8 by 7 pts or less while
Union has won 3 of their 8 by 7 or less, including two in OT. Since 1996, the two schools have 21 combined state championships in Oklahoma’s largest classification.
Breaking tackles and torching the Trojans! @UnionFootball and future @RazorbackFB RB @RoyalGreen25 has the power and the speed of the top-ranked RB in Oklahoma. Check out his thoughts in his recent interview with @DeionImade_28 here : https://t.co/VVhUJmuCXG#ONERazorback #WPS pic.twitter.com/qaMetxt4VM
— YurView Oklahoma (@YurViewOK) July 5, 2020
Players to Watch
For Union, look no further than 5’11″/190 lb. all-purpose RB A.J Green. The 4-star Arkansas commit is a ‘do it all’ offensive threat and can hurt you in many ways, including as a defensive back. Green is #8 on the 24/7 Sports 2021 Top Athlete Recruits and #3 2021 ESPN Top Oklahoma Recruits rankings. Green battled injuries last season but still rushed for 939 yards and nine touchdowns while averaging 8 yards per carry.
Leading the offensive line for the Trojans is 6’6″/260 lb. senior OT Logan Nobles. In June, Nobles committed to Oklahoma State. He was a key member of the Trojans blocking corps last season and helped lead Jenks back to the Class 6A-II State Championship Game against Owasso.
Here’s how to watch the MidFirst Bank Backyard Bowl: Union vs. Jenks
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