There’s an old saying in football – “If you have more than one quarterback, you don’t have one.”
Uncertainty at the most pivotal position on the gridiron usually holds back the offense, if not the whole team.
Festus head coach A.J. Ofodile isn’t buying it. For the second straight season, the Tigers have more than one starting quarterback.
Senior Jeremiah Cunningham and junior Essien Smith return as the Festus QBs, deployed at different spots in a game. Ofodile said both have earned the job.
“Both have played well and both deserve to play, and we’ll be status-quo there,” said Ofodile, who begins his fourth season. “Both are stronger versions of themselves, more experienced and confident.
“Essien has been spinning it well and continues to evolve. We’ve added a lot (to the playbook) from the last season and they can do a much broader range of things.”
On paper, Cunningham was the more effective passer, completing 87 of 134 passes (65 pecent) with 11 TDs against just two interceptions. Cunningham also outgained Smith on the ground (687 yards to 212) and rushed for seven scores.
The duo played their part last season as the Tigers finished 6-6 and reached the Class 4 District 1 championship against archrival Hillsboro. The Hawks waxed Festus for the second time in two years, 55-6, before losing a week later in the quarterfinals to eventual state champion St. Mary’s. Hillsboro also beat the Tigers in their 2022 Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division matchup and are 4-0 against them over the last two seasons.
Ofodile said this year’s squad has more depth, especially at skill spots and on the interior defensive line, which has especially thrived since his arrival.
“I don’t think I’ve coached a team as deep as this team,” Ofodile said. “That part’s exciting. Since I’ve been here, this is the most size we’ve had. We have quality ‘bigs’ who are athletic enough to get it done.
“We replace guys because a kid may or may not grow into what we need him to be. Last year, we didn’t have the depth of guys ready to go in the moment.”
The team’s big graduation loss was two-time all-state wide receiver Arhmad Branch, one of the best multi-sport athletes in school history, who has taken his talents to Purdue University on a full football scholarship. He caught 82 passes for just under 2,000 yards and 24 touchdowns in his two-year varsity career.
Senior Landen Yates returns as the Tigers’ top pass-catcher (13 for 110 yards and three TDs) and typically plays in the slot. Outside targets are seniors Hunter Bates, Will Reese and Dante Bridgett, juniors Jeremy Davis-Mayes and Trey Lacey and sophomore Rowan Stucke.
In Ofodile’s first season as head coach in 2020, 14 Tigers carried the ball. In that campaign and the two since then, Festus didn’t have a 1,000-yard rusher. They probably won’t this year, either, because the carries will be spread out among seniors Yates and Hayden Bates (Hunter’s brother), junior Avery Edwards and sophomore Leauntae Williams, in addition to capable running by both quarterbacks. Bates ran 44 times for 226 yards in 2022.
“Last year (Hayden) was more of a bruiser and played at 215 pounds,” Ofodile said. “Athletically, he’s running and catching the ball and has added another gear and he has a chance to be a home-run hitter this year.”
Hunter Bates and Edwards formed half of the Festus 4x100- and 4x200-meter relay teams that each finished second at the Class 4 state track and field meet last May, helping the Tiger boys win their first-ever championship in the sport.
Size and mobility characterize the Festus starting offensive line, featuring junior Isaiah Desmiarias, whom Ofodile said is a bigger and more experienced version of himself at 6-5, 260.
“He’s a leader and he plays every play like his life depends on it,” Ofodile said. “He has a great motor and quickness and he’s emerged as a difference-maker.”
Joining Desmiarias up front is junior Ezekial Cristobal (6-1, 260), who is agile, physical and has great lower-body strength. “I’m excited about his emergence,” Ofodile said.
Senior Austin Schutte moves from guard to center, senior Xavier Gould is at tackle and Ofodile is filling out the O-line with youth, including freshman tackle Carter Grass and sophomore guards Connor Rush and Mason Weinhouse. Senior Trent Young, junior Brady Nolen and sophomore Aiden Clifton are the tight ends.
On defense, Bridgett is a two-year starter at end, with Gould at the other end. On the interior are Desmiarias, Grass and Rush.
Another spring state champion, junior Mason Schirmer, heads up a linebacking unit that includes seniors Carter White and Schutte, sophomore Kyler Bradshaw and Hayden Bates. Schirmer was the winning pitcher for the Tiger baseball team in their defeat of St. Francis Borgia for the Class 5 title in June.
The secondary, meanwhile, is a team strength, Ofodile said. Davis-Mayes and Lacey play cornerback and Landen Yates will start at safety for the third straight year. Senior Tyler Reece is the nickel back. Hunter Bates and senior Ryan Valleck are backup corners, and Edwards, seniors Zack Butler and Eli Rogers and sophomore Nimo Ford will rotate in at safety.
In the kicking game, senior Calvin Ellis is the long snapper, Hayden Bates and Schirmer do the kicking and Cunningham is the punter.
Once again, Festus opens the season with back-to-back games against the two Ste. Genevieve schools, the public-school Dragons at home and on the road at Valle Catholic. They lost both last year by a combined 98-55 score.
Hawks have talent to repeat as MAFC Red, district champions
Anytime a football team loses a senior class that was vital to its success for four years, a decline the following season would seem inevitable.
But while names like Medina, Voyles, Patterson, Ray and Romaine will reverberate in the Hillsboro locker room for years to come, the program they helped build is ready to move on.
In the past two years, the Hawks won 19 games, two Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division championships and a Class 4 District 1 title largely because of the talented, tough Class of 2023. Hillsboro has a 10-game winning streak in the conference dating back to 2021.
With junior Preston Brown returning at quarterback; his older brother, senior Payton Brown, at running back and four of five starters back on the offensive line, the Hawks appear ready to defend their championships. Two of the big men up front, seniors Wyatt Yaeger and Barrett Silhavy, were first-team all-MAFC selections last year.
“We do have to stay healthy in key spots,” head coach Bill Sucharski said. “As talented as Preston is, A.J. Heuszel (a senior) is the backup (and) did a good job when he came in last year, and he’d be there in an emergency. We have to stay healthy there.
“We lost some great players at running back, but we had some kids who had good camps.”
In his first year as a starter, Preston Brown showed he could do more than turn around and hand off to Payton, Jaxin Patterson or Austin Romaine. A gifted athlete himself, Preston rushed for 697 yards and eight touchdowns and completed 54 of 88 passes (61 percent) for 849 yards and 13 touchdowns. He had only one interception up until the state quarterfinals against St. Mary’s, but had two picks in the 55-36 loss to the eventual Class 4 state champions.
“He had a lot thrown at him as a sophomore,” Sucharski said. “We put a lot on his shoulders, knowing his athletic ability to run and throw. He steadily progressed and absorbed more of that.
“He didn’t run near as much at the beginning of the year, then in Week 3 he had a big run against Fort Zumwalt West that sprung the game open, and from that game on, our running game started to blossom.”
Payton Brown is the most versatile athlete in the school. He rushed for 839 yards last year as a slashing complement to Patterson and Romaine and topped 100 yards in a game three times, including a 139-yard night against Cardinal Ritter, the undefeated Class 3 state champs. Over the winter, he helped the Hawk basketball team win a share of the conference championship, then finished second in the javelin throw at the Class 4 state track and field meet in the spring, contributing to the team’s second-place finish.
At 6-2, 210 pounds, Payton’s payload is actually bigger, Sucharski noted.
“When he runs into a defender, it’s like (getting hit by) a 240-pound kid,” he said. “He runs really hard and has good knee drive. What Payton’s really good at is we can put him out wide because he has really good hands. His spring development at seven-on-seven camps was big.”
Sucharski’s son, Chase, is a returning starter at wide receiver who stretched defenses last year by averaging 32 yards on his seven catches. He also plays linebacker and gained 30 pounds and an inch in height in the offseason. He had three interceptions and a fumble recovery last fall.
“A lot of people said we’re losing our two best running backs and linebackers, and they’re not wrong at all, but we have the ability to build on last season,” Chase said. “I see us being district champions like last year. Our quarterback is leading our team for the second year. We just need to play physical, Hillsboro football and we can do really well.
“(Preston) put himself in a great position to have 10 times more success. He knows exactly what is going on in the offense. At camp, he said he’s 1,000 percent more comfortable than last year.”
Seniors Cohen Linderer (running back), Gavin Hite (tight end) and Dalton Ross (receiver) and junior Chris Duncan (RB) are all varsity veterans whose roles will expand greatly. Chase Sucharski said junior receiver Keiten Pipkins “put his nose in the playbook.”
Linderer rushed for 345 yards in 2022 and averaged 10 yards per carry. Two of Ross’s five catches in a win over Cape Girardeau Central were for touchdowns.
Yaeger plays left guard and is a four-year starter, lining up next to Silhavy at tackle. Moving from guard, senior Max Deranja is the center, and on the right side are senior guard Wyatt Phillips and junior tackle Micha Bacher.
“(Bacher) loves to finish blocks and he’s very aggressive,” Sucharski said. “(The line) steadily improved as the year went on. In the (recent) scrimmage we had at St. Clair, they picked up linebackers really well. They communicate well, and if they stay healthy, I think they’ll be one of the best offensive lines we’ve had in a while.”
With defensive coordinator Frank Ray leaving Hillsboro to become head coach at St. Pius X, Sucharski said he’ll make the defensive calls, which requires breaking down the film, drawing up scout cards and devising a game plan.
“It’s nothing new to me, it’s just a matter of calling it,” Sucharski said. “The big thing on defense is our kids have to always run to the football. It’s an ‘organized-chaos’ defense that brings pressure. You have to play extremely hard to do that, and if you don’t, you get caught in a bind.”
The defensive line will rotate six or seven players, including Phillips, Deranja, Silhavy, Yaeger, juniors Mason Boyer and Aiden Pettit and sophomore Landon Lambert.
Payton Brown anchors the defense at middle linebacker. Junior Aiden Roland filled in for Romaine at linebacker last year when the all-stater, now toiling for Kansas State University, was injured. Sucharski said he’s got a good crop of sophomores on the defensive side.
“The guys we lost were phenomenal, but we’ve got some depth,” he said.
The Hawks were actual ballhawks last season, intercepting 19 passes. Ross is the sole returner in the secondary, playing safety. New starters back there will be Pipkins, Duncan and seniors Collin Klaus and Keegan Walther.
“We’ve got talented kids at those spots, they just have to grow into varsity reps,” Sucharski said.
Senior Nick Marchetti is back for his third season as the kicker, again splitting time with the Hawk soccer team. He has 89 career points, 84 on PATs, where he’s the Hawks’ Mr. Automatic.
“Nick’s really dependable and smart,” Sucharski said. “He was perfect on every PAT, except the two that were blocked (last year). We have confidence in his leg and what he can do if we need a long field goal.”
Hillsboro kicks off the season at home Friday against Sikeston. In the 2022 opener, the Hawks smashed the Bulldogs 49-14, scoring all of their points before halftime.
Sikeston running back Keodrick Sherrod is drawing attention from colleges.
“They have a good running back with a handful of Division I offers, so we have to make sure we rally and run to the football,” Sucharski said. “They lost their quarterback and up front they were kind of a mix. We expect them to try and run against us more than they did last year.”
Missey back for third year as Dragon QB
When Russ Schmidt looks in the mirror, he sees a dual reflection – the faces of De Soto’s new head football coach and the school’s activities director.
In other words, Schmidt answers to himself.
Nearing retirement at age 57, teaching at Festus and helping coach football at Hillsboro, Schmidt leaped out of his comfort zone to take both Dragon jobs after Jon Roop was promoted from AD to principal and Keith Woodland resigned after two seasons as De Soto’s head coach.
Schmidt said he works out at school before the sun comes up, counting reps in his exercises but not the years left until he hangs up the whistle. He has become a man on a mission: To turn around the culture of not just the football team, but all of the Dragon student-athletes.
When a team goes 3-26 in the last three years and hasn’t won a conference game since 2019, drastic measures are needed. The last time the Dragons won a game in the Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division, they beat Festus when Schmidt was still the Tigers’ head coach.
Schmidt’s first move in his new posts, besides assembling a football coaching staff, was to talk junior Austin Missey into coming back for his third year as the starting quarterback. Two years of merciless beatings – the low point was a 79-0 loss to Hillsboro last season – had the talented signal-caller questioning his future in the sport, Schmidt said.
Schmidt asked Missey for a chance to play for him. He told Missey he planned on running the ball more, to take pressure off of him. After hearing what the offense would look like, Missey decided to play. He’ll be taking snaps under center after mostly being in the shotgun last year.
“He’s emerged as the offensive leader, doing the things you’d expect a quarterback to do,” Schmidt said. “He’s hit the reset button on focus. He’s a pleasure to be around. He’s an athlete. His throwing motion has improved.
“There isn’t a kid here who’s reached their potential.”
Playing varsity halfback as a freshman, Eli Thebeau led the 2022 Dragons with 714 yards rushing on 141 carries, and four touchdowns. He has moved to fullback, but Schmidt said no one should expect his carries or yardage to diminish.
“He can exceed those numbers,” the coach said. “I’ll give Coach Woodland the credit with Eli’s progress in the offseason. He has a low center of gravity and is hard to tackle. He’s his own worst critic. I think he watches the most film of all the players.”
The Dragons will show depth in the backfield with senior Talan Lawrence, junior Connor Seibert and sophomore Ben Hooper. The wingbacks are Seibert, junior Brenton Drummond and freshman Levi Huck and the wide receivers are seniors Damon Khoury and Colton Fischer, the backup QB, and junior David Imhoff.
Schmidt said the tight end will be a key component to the offense. Senior Sterling Reynolds and juniors Tyler Grewe and Dalton Reese give the Dragons three options there, sometimes with two on the field at the same time.
“(The tight ends) have to be good blockers and be able to pull with our guards,” Schmidt said. “We’re going to be an offense that gains confidence throughout the season.”
The offensive line is starting to coalesce around juniors James Allen, Eli Hessler and Owen Williams, sophomore Jackson Turnbo and freshman Collin Barton.
“I need them to improve their football IQ,” Schmidt said. “We have the right people in the right spots, but we need them to understand the nuances of our offense.”
Schmidt said De Soto’s defense came together at last Friday’s jamboree at Windsor.
“It’s going to be ahead of our offense all year and it continues to make big strides,” he said.
The defensive line has youth in the middle, with sophomore Brayden McAnally at nose tackle, and experience on the ends with seniors Corey Dierks and Nate Fischer, Colton’s twin brother.
Colton Fischer is one of the top defenders at free safety. Drummond and Imhoff will play deep as well. At linebacker, Thebeau is a steady force in the middle with Seibert at an outside spot.
Schmidt has recruited three Dragon soccer players, senior Connor Kisner and freshmen Josh Golightly and Nelson Selsor, to share the placekicking duties.
The Dragons’ only victory in the last two seasons was 41-12 at Bishop DuBourg in Week 1 last year. The Cavaliers travel to De Soto on Friday for the season opener.
“When you watch (DuBourg) on film, they’re very athletic,” Schmidt said. “In my heart, if my kids compete hard, they’ll be successful. I hope there’s energy and a lot of refocus on where we’re headed. It’s going to be hot, but 64 other teams in our class are (also) dealing with that.
“It’s no secret that I have a full plate, but the buy-in our staff has done with our kids is incredible and I look forward to the future with them.”
Windsor trying to catch up with conference opponents
After each practice, no matter how hot and tired they are, the Windsor football team knocks out 36 pushups.
The motivation behind the extra exercise comes from the point differential in last season’s 42-6 loss to Herculaneum in Week 1.
“It doesn’t matter how exhausted we are,” senior wide receiver/safety A.J. Patrick said after the Owls finished practice last week.
For the third straight year, nonconference opponents Windsor (Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division) and Herculaneum (I-55 Conference) will kick off the season against each other, this time at Imperial on Friday. The Owls beat Herculaneum 15-12 in 2021, Jeff Funston’s first season as Windsor head coach.
“(The Blackcats) have skill coming back,” Funston said. “Herky has tough kids. It’s not something we take lightly. It seems that how the first game goes, the rest of the season goes, traditionally, at Windsor. We’re trying to break that habit.
“The first game of the season generally boils down to who can perform their base stuff better, and a little conditioning toughness. (Herculaneum head coach Blane Boss) does a good job of tailoring what he does to what they have. We have to be prepared for their best version.”
Patrick, an all-MAFC Red performer on defense (first team), offense (second team) and special teams (second team) said this has the potential to be the best Owls’ team in his four years. He caught 33 passes for 634 yards and nine touchdowns last year. He also was a starter on the school’s basketball team that won 20 games for the first time in many years.
“All of the receivers have improved on catching and route running, and our running backs see the field a lot better, cutting back,” Patrick said. “Coaches will put me anywhere to get me the ball, which I appreciate.”
Seeing Patrick’s dedication to mold himself into a college football player – his personal goal – has Funston excited about what he’s capable of. That might even include plugging him in at quarterback so he has the ball in his hands on every play.
“When he was a freshman, we tried him there a little and it didn’t work out,” Funston said. “A.J. could occasionally line up in the Wildcat (formation) or shotgun. Cole Ruble (at Seckman) was very good at that (running out of the shotgun) and maybe that’s something we do around the goal line and say, ‘Hey, A.J., pick a hole and go get it, big guy.’”
The new starter at QB is junior Luke Patterson, who saw brief action under center last year (eight completions in 15 throws for 45 yards and one touchdown). He has the athletic credentials as a state qualifier in wrestling (136 pounds).
“It’s his turn,” Funston said. “He’s earned it with weight room work. He’s earned it with work on the field. We’re asking him to be a distributor. Get it to A.J., get it to Colin (Carter), get it to Willie (Coleman), get it to Landen (Robbins). Let’s shorten games.”
The Owls lost their leading running back, 2023 graduate Jordan Foster (1,173 yards, 11 touchdowns), so Funston said he’ll rotate seniors Carter and Lawrence Hefele, juniors Robbins and Carter Jessick and sophomores Coleman and Logan Wilson.
“We need to keep guys fresh to play both ways,” Funston said.
Joining Patrick at receiver are Coleman and seniors Gross, Noah Kimball and Nick Baer, who also is moving from cornerback to outside linebacker. Baer was a state wrestling qualifier at 144.
Windsor hosted a jamboree on Aug. 18, and Funston already had the starting offensive line in place with senior Riley Weisner at center, junior Evan Wessels and senior Chris Garrett at guard and juniors Michael Lattner and Gannon Deranja at tackle. Senior Keegan Ashes is a backup tackle.
At 6-3, 270, Wessels is coming into his own as an interior defensive lineman. Other coaches in the conference have taken notice.
“He’s starting to look the part,” Funston said. “He wasn’t timid last year, but he was just starting to figure out things. He’s a big weight-room guy and I could go on about the measurables. As far as his technique and being aggressive, he’s figuring out football.”
Weisner is a returner at defensive end. “It’s like he’s a skill guy in a lineman body,” Funston said.
Ashes – a transfer student from South Dakota, where he played nine-man football – lines up at the other end.
The linebacking corps is where Funston said the team is probably the deepest. All of the linebackers do double duty as running backs, and their returning leader is senior Steven Wolf, who made second team all-conference last year after registering 68 tackles, three sacks and a fumble recovery.
“(Wolf) is a hitter,” the coach said. “People generally stop, or go backward, when he squares up,” Funston said.
Carter was lost to injury for most of last year, so his return to linebacker is a bonus.
Robbins, Hefele and sophomore Logan Wilson fill out the linebacking unit. “In the next couple of years, people will know (Wilson’s) name,” Funston said.
In the defensive backfield with Patrick are Kimball and Gross; Kimball transferred from Seckman.
Two Windsor soccer players – junior Ryan Eskridge and freshman Austin Todtenhaupt – are expected to handle all of the kicking and punting duties.