Herculaneum used three quarterbacks – Ethan Coy, Jason Harden and Blake Leathers – last year and the end result was a 1-9 campaign.
None of the them will be under center this fall, as Harden and Leathers will have other roles in the offense and Coy did not return to the team.
This fall, junior Jordan Duncan will call the signals. Duncan is a talented three-sport athlete who excels at baseball and basketball.
“When you give him the playbook, he’s one of those kids who takes it upon himself to learn it,” said new head coach Cody Hunter, who played at Herculaneum High. He assumes the reigns from Dave Cook. “He’s a team leader. From the first day, he was telling people where to line up. To have him out there is a huge advantage for us as a program.”
A shortstop and pitcher, Duncan was on the Festus American Legion baseball team that won the junior state championship this summer. His coach there, Zac Bone, who also coaches the Blackcat baseball team, is joining Hunter’s staff as a junior high coach.
Duncan didn’t play football last year, but Hunter said he’s excited to tap into his raw skills.
“He’s a versatile kid who can run and has a very strong arm,” Hunter said. “More than that, he’s smart. When you put that talent and leadership together, you have a special kid. We’re going to be able to attack in different ways.”
Under Hunter, the Blackcats run plays of a shotgun formation and use the run-pass option, but also will show opponents some wishbone plays.
Hunter said Herky football is known for using a heavy dose of running the ball and controlling the clock.
“I like hard-nosed football, but we have skill kids we haven’t had in the past few years,” Hunter said.
Junior Austin Huson led the Blackcats with 458 yards rushing last season and returns to the starting offensive backfield. Seniors Jason Harden and Trevor Smith, junior Nick Horner and sophomore Nick Miles provide depth and Hunter said he’ll parcel out the carries as evenly as possible.
“We have some options to go to a couple different offensive sets,” Hunter said.
Seniors Zack Barnaby (center) and John Derque (right guard) and junior Lane Story (left guard) are returning starters along the offensive line. Barnaby has been on the varsity for four years. Junior Luke Teague and senior Dylan Landholt are the tight ends.
“We’ve got strong kids and depth on the line,” Hunter said. “We’d like to have our linemen playing on one side of the ball to stay fresh. Barnaby’s a super-smart kid who I wish was a little more vocal as a leader, but I think he will be eventually.”
Hunter will deploy a 4-4 base defense and at times show different looks to keep offenses guessing. Huson will run the defense from the Sam linebacker position.
“He’s everything you could ask for as a coach,” Hunter said. “He reminds me a lot of the Herky kids I played with. He’s the real deal and will help us in all three phases of the game.”
Teague and Miles also will play linebacker, with Horner at defensive end and Miles on the interior defensive line. Senior Moreno Ragan, junior Tyler Ruder, Leathers and Harden are the starters in the secondary.
“From what I understand, they didn’t have a lot of depth in the secondary last year and had to play people who maybe shouldn’t have been there,” Hunter said.
Duncan could end up performing all of the kicking duties, but Huson is returning after serving at the placekicker last year. The two could share the duties this season.
“I don’t see us kicking a lot of field goals, but I want to finish touchdown drives with (a PAT) or pin people deep,” Hunter said.
After starting the season the last two seasons against Confluence Academy, Herculaneum travels to Cuba on Aug. 24 to kick off 2018. The Missouri State High School Activities Association could issue district and class assignments on Friday. The Blackcats were in Class 2 District 2 last season.
The Blackcats are the only Jefferson County team with an I-55 Conference championship banner on the wall. Herky beat Valle Catholic in 2012, but the Warriors haven’t lost a conference game since that day.
“Beating Valle is doable,” Hunter said. “We have to play our best game and our coaching staff has to get our kids to play at a higher level. We have to execute, tackle people and don’t give up the big play. A lot of people are intimidated by Valle and they should be, but at the same time we have to be ready to beat anybody we play. We don’t go into the season saying these are guaranteed wins and losses.”