After the first week of football practice, Jefferson head coach Matt Atley likes what he sees.
“I think this is probably one of the more hard-working teams we’ve had in a while,” said Atley, who begins his fourth season. “They’re just a blue-collar group, they like to get after it. We’ve had about 35 (players) consistently throughout the summer, who have just shown up and worked. And if they weren’t there, it was because they’re doing summer baseball or some other sport, which doesn’t really bother us too much.”
The Blue Jays flew to a 4-1 record in 2025, only to see the season crash into a five-game losing streak, including a three-touchdown loss to New Madrid County Central in the Class 2 District 1 tournament. The Missouri State High School Activities Association will release class and district assignments on Friday, Aug. 28.
That night Jefferson hosts Windsor in the first meeting ever between the nonconference schools. The Blue Jays compete in the Quad County Conference, while the Owls, who were in Class 4 last year, are in the Mississippi Area Football Conference. Jefferson began the season against Priory the last two years.
“We were just trying to find a closer game; Priory isn’t super far away, but they play on Saturdays,” Atley said. “We don’t love playing on Saturdays, unless it is in the postseason. We like the idea of Friday night lights in the regular season, and that’s what we wanted to stick to. I think it should be a competitive game for both sides.”
Five Blue Jays threw a pass last year, and this season Atley hopes it’s just one. Junior Sam Kerley and 2026 graduate Cooper Frisk took most of the snaps, but Atley said it’s Kerley’s offense to run with.
“We started last season, Sam got a lot of reps at the jamboree,” Atley said. “We had a couple of different packages where Cooper was kind of at wide receiver, and Sam was at quarterback. Then as we got going, we realized our offense was producing a little more with Cooper, so Sam got minimal reps in Week 1.”
After that, Kerley played QB for the JV for a couple weeks, and about week 7, he started to get more involved in the mix.
“He’s intelligent. He’s a good leader. He leads by example. The type of kid that you want in that position,” Atley said. “When it comes to conditioning, he’s the one who’s continuing to push people. When it comes to being on the field, and someone doesn’t know what they’re doing, it’s to the point where they’re looking at him, not the coaches. He’s taken a lot of accountability as far as what the offense does.”
Jefferson has three veteran running backs in seniors Evan Botkin, Aiden Kentch and Brandon Crader. Kentch had a pair of 100-plus yard and two touchdown games against Cuba and Bayless last year, and finished the season with six TDs.
Returning pass catchers include juniors Kollyn Waters at tight end and Ollie Klump at wide receiver. Junior Parker Taylor’s reps at WR should increase. Taylor returns as the starting safety.
“We feel like we have weapons, and we have an opportunity to get those weapons in space, and let them work,” Atley said.
Losing an offensive lineman like Troy Jefferson would hurt any team. Jefferson was a mauler and just a superb athlete for his size. Graduation also took 300-pound lineman Aiden Allen.
Sam Cook started on the OL as a freshman, but didn’t play in 2025. Atley said Cook is back on the team. With just a week of practice, the Jefferson OL was far from being settled, but seniors Carson Nagel, Josh Thieret and Holden Green and junior Chase Young are the front-runners.
“We’re excited about them, and what they’re able to do,” Atley said.
Jefferson’s loss will impact the defense just as much. Waters (DB), Young (DL) and Nagel (DL) are returning starters. Crader is the leader of the linebacking corps that includes senior Greyson Rundel.
“If I had to pick a vocal leader out of all (the defense) it’s probably Kollyn,” Atley said. “But they’ve all done a pretty good job of stepping up and saying what they need to say and playing the right way.”
Junior Dakota French returns to handle the kicking duties. Atley said French participated in kicking camps in the offseason and is capable of making field goals of 40 or more yards.
“He’s pretty consistently kicking touchbacks for us,” Atley said. “I feel good from 40 for sure, and I he can make way deeper than that.”