After a nine-month hiatus, the Seminole Chieftain football team is ready to take the field once again. This Friday, SHS will open up the 2025 season when they welcome the Checotah Wildcats to Chieftain Stadium. Last season saw Seminole travel to Checotah and come away with a high-scoring 60-49 win over the Wildcats. Head Coach Mike Snyder and company would like a similar result to kick off the new season.

Returning seniors Donavin Garfield and Mason Bennett both recorded receiving touchdowns in that matchup with the Wildcats, so be on the lookout for those two to provide some offensive firepower once again. Garfield has made the switch to QB, taking over for his brother Dontre Garfield, who scored seven touchdowns on Checotah last season.

If Seminole can snag a win over the Wildcats, it would be the first time the Chieftains have won back-toback season openers since the 2020 and 2021 seasons, when SHS defeated Harrah and then Trinity Leadership.

The Chieftains are coming off their best season since 2021, finishing with a 7-4 record and a playoff berth.

The Wildcats are coming off a run to the state semifinals. Finishing 2024 with an 8-5 record after losing to eventual state runner-up Sulphur to end their Cinderella run.

Seminole has prepared for the regular season rigorously. The preseason saw the Chieftains host a green and white scrimmage, a scrimmage VS 2A power Metro Christian, and another scrimmage VS 2A Stroud.

After the Metro scrimmage, Head Coach Mike Snyder had a few words.

“It went good. I thought we did a lot of good things. You know that is a quality opponent in Metro; they are picked number two in their class. We obviously made a lot of mistakes, but the good thing about it is, you make them against somebody who’s competitive, and you can correct those. We just needed to practice against something else, and we did that. We took some good strides tonight. I thought our seniors did a really nice job,” Snyder said.

Now it is time for the real deal, Seminole vs Checotah, Friday, Sept. 5. The beginning of the 2025 regular season and the Chieftains’ hunt for state championship number 5. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.

The Chieftains will also host the Tecumseh Savages on the 12th of September. Game time is set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.