Stillwater QB Chance Acord takes 'wild ride' from 8-man football to Class 6A-II finals

STILLWATER — Chance Acord faced a tight deadline in August.

Stillwater’s football team would kick off its season against Arkansas steamroller Greenwood before the end of the month, and he had to learn a playbook he had never used in a game.

The former 8-man quarterback had also never played a down of Class 6A-II football.

So, about a week into fall camp, Chance settled into a chair in his coach’s office and dove into the complexities of the Pioneers’ offense. Stillwater coach Chad Cawood started to use film to illustrate a point, but he paused when his new student piped up.

To test his understanding, Chance asked if he could try to explain the play.

“I’ll never forget that,” Cawood said. “... For a kid to be able to do that, that’s pretty big. Too many kids are worried about failing, and all he was worried about was getting better so he could succeed and the team could succeed.”

That initiative showed Cawood the senior quarterback could fit into the Pioneers’ system. Stillwater’s coaches challenge quarterbacks to think like playcallers, Cawood said, sometimes giving them liberty to improvise.

Many past signal-callers could smoothly make in-game decisions because they grew up learning the fundamentals of Pioneer football.

Gage Gundy. Gunnar Gundy. Matt Holliday.

Chance’s journey hasn’t followed the blueprint of Stillwater’s famous families, but it has led him to the same spot: the coveted QB1 role.

A move-in from Class A Cashion, he jumped five classifications higher for his senior season. Before that, he spent half of his high school career playing 8-man football at Class B Davenport, a town that covers approximately one square mile.

Now, as Stillwater strives to repeat as the Class 6A-II state champion, Chance is the poised passer in the pocket, standing where Mike Gundy’s youngest son stood just a year ago. The Pioneers face Muskogee at 1 p.m. Friday at the University of Central Oklahoma’s Chad Richison Stadium with a gold ball on the line.

“The main thing I can say is just, ‘What a wild ride,’” said Jeff Acord, Chance’s father.

“It’s a lot to take in at times because I’ve been around Stillwater since college, known a lot of folks, so it’s been wild to make it back up there and just see all this unfold.”

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Stillwater dreams

The Acords have deep roots in Davenport, about 52 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. Chance’s uncle is the school superintendent. His dad and grandparents graduated from Davenport.

But the family’s branches have always reached Stillwater. Jeff and his two older brothers are Oklahoma State graduates, and Chance has many fond memories of regularly attending Cowboy football and baseball games.

Although Stillwater is often labeled as a country town, compared to Davenport, it was the bustling city where Chance could grab his favorite meals at Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane’s.

Now, Stillwater is home.

Several factors contributed to Chance's decision to spend his senior year there.

He could take some classes on OSU’s campus, getting a jump-start on college. Chance, a baseball star committed to Cowley College, could play alongside Ethan Holliday on a Stillwater baseball team led by former OSU assistant Marty Lees. He even knew some of his new football teammates — Talon Kendrick, Trey Tuck, Holden Thompson and Heston Thompson — from their youth baseball days.

“I always liked the camaraderie around the community,” Chance said, “and I always kind of wanted to be a part of that and be a Pioneer.”

Despite that level of comfort, moving to Stillwater for fall camp required Chance to live up to his name and take a chance on himself.

A starting spot was not guaranteed. Playing time wasn’t a given.

Starting from scratch in Class 6A-II, Chance had to spend significant time learning outside practice to catch up with the other guys in the running for QB1.

He studied before and after practice. He studied at lunch.

His background in a family of coaches helped.

Brandy Chavez, his mom, has coached softball at Davenport and Cashion. Her brother, Eric Chavez, is a former MLB third baseman who is now the New York Mets’ bench coach. Coaches are scattered throughout Chance’s dad’s family tree, too.

“We’ll have conversations in every family gathering, and he gets to kind of brainstorm off of that,” Brandy Chavez said. “I definitely would say over the years there’s been some influential people that have just helped him not only being the physical player (he is), but (also) helped the mental aspect."

At Davenport, the Bulldogs went 22-3 through Chance's two seasons. Despite that promising start, he sought a different opportunity. Jeff said he didn’t want Chance to feel as if he was restricted to their hometown.

“I almost felt like maybe I was holding him back a little and needed to let him look at some other places,” Jeff said.

Cashion, fresh off two Class A state championships, went 4-7 during Chance’s junior year, but his introduction to 11-man football provided an important bridge between Class B and 6A-II.

“You just got to learn how to read some of the defenses,” Chance said. “... It was kind of difficult in the beginning, but (I) definitely settled in.”

Then he faced a new challenge at Stillwater.

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'Just started chipping away'

Kicking off the season at Greenwood, Arkansas, was like starting a video game on one of the toughest levels.

Greenwood blazed past the Pioneers, 49-21, and Chance wasn’t sure if he would retain the starting job.

His main takeaway from that brutal opener?

“Don’t throw an interception,” Chance said.

Because it was a Week 0 game, he had to stay patient through a bye week before he had another opportunity to prove himself.

Jeff said it was a tough stretch for his son, but Chance did what he had to do.

He waited. He went wakesurfing on Lake Eufaula to clear his mind. Then he returned to Stillwater and worked.

Since a close Week 2 loss to Yukon, the Pioneers (10-2) haven’t lost a game, and Chance has been the regular starter the whole way.

“We just started chipping away,” Chance said. “We had our goals to just win games and stay positive, and everybody stayed positive, from all the coaches to the players to everybody around here.”

Each week, Chance had more reasons to be positive. Through 12 games, he has thrown for 2,350 yards and 24 touchdowns with a completion percentage of 68. His stat line also features 358 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

Sometimes, Chance’s dad is still in awe of the process when he attends Stillwater games. The offensive line protecting his son is coached by OSU alumnus Charlie Johnson, who won a Super Bowl ring with Peyton Manning. The Pioneers utilize plenty of game-day technology, including TVs on the sideline that allow them to rewatch plays.

And Chance is thriving in the midst of it all.

“I told some of my friends, I said, ‘It is high-level stuff,’” Jeff said. “His mind and what he’s absorbed, it’s impressive. For me, I’m going, ‘My goodness.’

“They're doing a great job as far as that level of football. Every week, he’s learned more and more.”

Hallie Hart covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Hallie? She can be reached at hhart@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at@halliehart. Sign up forThe Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Hallie's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing adigital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How new Stillwater QB Chance Acord has grown in one 6A-II season