ANTHONY COLEMAN
WAGONER HIGH SCHOOL
Wagoner High School senior Anthony Coleman grew up around football and so getting an early start just seemed to be in the cards for him.
“My mom worked at Langston and so I was around the football field all the time and I started playing around first grade and it’s been the love of my life,” said Coleman who is in FCCLA, the National Honor Society and plans to run track next spring. His first three years at Wagoner have been somewhat of a roller coaster for Coleman.
“My sophomore year we won state with that revenge win over Cushing. Last year started great. I had three interceptions in our first three games and then I broke my collarbone. They told me at first that I would probably be out for the season, and it sucked having to go to rehab twice a week, but I managed to get back and play in the last couple of playoff games. While I was out, I helped out as much as I could with the younger players, especially Aven Goodlin who stepped up and played pretty well and really surprised me.”
Coleman plays both ways for the Bulldogs. Last year before his injury he had 17 receptions for 130 yards as a wide receiver and, as mentioned, had three interceptions at safety. His emergence as a force in the secondary has been a nice surprise for coach Dale Condict.
“Anthony didn’t start on defense until late in his sophomore year when we saw him go up and take away some balls over the top of guys taller than him and we knew then he had good potential which he showed until he got hurt last year.”
The Bulldogs fell short in the Class 4A state championship game against Blanchard last year and so the motto for 2024 has been Unfinished Business starting with spring and summer workouts.
“The feeling around here has been a lot more intense this year than it was the year after we won state,” said Coleman. “We’re really focused on reclaiming the gold ball this year.”
Anthony himself is focused in on setting the school single season interception record which is believed to be six.
“I got a hot start last season and I want to get it done this year.”
Anthony will likely be playing college ball next year as he has already received offers from Grambling and Lincoln University. But first there’s Unfinished Business to take care of for Anthony Coleman and the Bulldogs.
