On Dec. 12, the city of Vian and all of Sequoyah County were all hoping the Vian Wolverines would bring home the program’s first state football championship since 1971.

However, a late Adair touchdown and five Vian turnovers doomed the Wolverines as the Warriors completed a perfect 14-0 season with the Class 2A, Division II state title.

While around 3 p.m. that afternoon there was sorrow and sadness for coming up as Class 2A, Division II state runners-up for the second straight season, there were a lot of things to be proud of this 2025 football season for the Wolverines, who enjoyed a 12-2 season in 2025.

“It’s incredible going back to back,” Vian coach Gary Willis said. “We didn’t meet the ultimate goal, but there’s a lot to be proud of. There’s some great kids there who are going to be successful in life. I love them. It’s hard for them to understand (about the state title game loss to Adair), but their work ethic and how they competed is what defines them — not what color the ball is. They wanted that gold ball. It’s a relationship with God and doing things the right way that is important. I want to try to get that (thought) through to them.”

The bad news is there will be 13 seniors who will graduate, with a lot of them being key starters for the two-season playoff run of making the state football championship game.

However, while 13 seniors will be gone come the 2026 season, the other 20 members of this year’s team will be back, and most of those saw a lot of playing time since a lot of the Wolverines’ victories were lopsided — giving these 20 players some valuable “classroom” time on the field.

“We had a lot of freshmen get valuable experience (this season),” Willis said. “Vian will be back.”

All-District Teams’ Stor i e s Will Publish over Next Two Issues I will begin publishing the s tor i e s about our local all-district football teams over the next two editions.

I wanted to hold off publishing the stories about the all-district teams — District 2AII4 (Vian), District AII-3 (Central and Gore) and District BII-4 (Webbers Falls) — until during the Christmas Break to assure local stories will be in our editions we’ll publish during that time — a time where there will not be any local high school basketball or any wrestling taking place.

I appreciate all of your patience with me, and I hope you will pleased with seeing just how many local players were honored.

••• Seeley is the sports editor of Your TIMES. He can be reached by calling (918) 775-4433, Ext. 139 or by e-mailing him at davids@cookson.news.