Can one game define a season?
Herculaneum High School head coach Blane Boss thinks it can, and did last year in the season opener at home against Windsor High School.
The Blackcats led the Owls 14-0 at halftime, but Windsor scored the game-winning touchdown with one second to play in a 22-21 victory. Herculaneum went on to finish 1-9, its worst record since the COVID-shortened season in 2020 when it was 1-6. It was also the second year in a row that the Blackcats lost by a point on a fourth-quarter TD to the Owls.
“They ran a new play they hadn’t shown, and we had a hard time adjusting to it,” said Boss about the defeat last year. “They were getting five or six yards a pop. We had drives in the second half, but couldn’t finish them.”
Plus, the Blackcats lost one of their top two-way starters to injury at halftime when lineman Taylor Greenlee was lost for the second half after suffering an allergic reaction. Greenlee played the rest of his team’s games, but his absence especially hurt the defense’s effort to stop Windsor’s ground assault.
“We dropped two TD passes and if we catch one of those, Windsor doesn’t have enough time to come back,” Boss said. “That game had an effect on our kids. Everybody wanted to win that game. It’s one game and it shouldn’t define your season, but I think it did.”
This will be the sixth year in a row the two nonconference opponents start the season against each other when they meet in Imperial on Aug. 29. The Owls of the Mississippi Area Football Conference are 4-1 in the five previous meetings against Herculaneum, which resides in the Quad County Conference.
Going into the 2025 season, the Blackcats have a chance to turn around their fortunes against Windsor and the rest of their schedule because they have a senior quarterback, Keaton Reeves, who is an all-state wrestler, a battering ram at running back and an experienced offensive lineman.
“We’ve had pretty darn good numbers this summer, and the kids we need to count on have been here,” said Boss, who doubles as the school’s head baseball coach. “It’s the same kids who want to be here and want to be successful.”
That starts with Reeves, who qualified for the Class 2 state wrestling tournament at 175 pounds. He started at the position for most of the last two years but has yet to finish a season with at least a completion percentage of 50 or more TDs than interceptions. Reeves rushed for half the yardage (427-209) in 2024 than he did before moving behind center late in the 2023 season.
“I’m more confident in everything I do,” Reeves said. “I’ve become more well-rounded. Taking accountability helps, not physically but mentally knowing what to do and taking the blame. We can do anything we want this year. I feel like it’s going to be a great year.”
After playing at 185 pounds last fall, Reeves is 6-1 and weighs 200 when Herky started training camp last week, Boss said.
“Last year we looked for him to take big steps and he made some strides, and it was a difficult season for the whole team,” Boss said. “This year he’s got a lot better teammates who care about him and would run through a wall for him. These kids look out for each other and they want to be successful.
“Throwing-wise he’s come light years since he was a sophomore. He had such a funky delivery at first. He’s not perfect yet, but his arm has come a long way. He’s a threat with his arms and legs. We’re counting on him doing big things for us.”
At 6-1, 225, senior RB Clark Struckhoff has the potential to be the kind of ball carrier who wears down defenses, especially late in games. As a sophomore, Struckhoff played tight end and caught two TD passes. Last year when he was moved into the backfield for the final two games, he gashed Ste. Genevieve High School for 132 yards – 12 per carry – and a pair of TDs. Struckhoff will be among the team leaders in tackles from his middle linebacker position.
“He’s a great dude and a great friend, and he wants to win, too,” Reeves said.
“He’s our bell-cow,” Boss said. “I wouldn’t be a smart coach if I didn’t give him the ball 20 times a game. He’s going to have to be in great shape because he’s in the middle of our defense. We’re excited to see what he can do. He wants to play college football. He’s 225 pounds, so he’ll be a load to tackle. It won’t be fun in the third and fourth quarter trying to tackle him.”
If Reeves and Struckhoff weren’t a good enough start for a Blackcat winning season, they might have the best all-around athlete in the county in senior Tanner Duncan. During baseball season this spring, Duncan was the player of the year in the Jefferson County Activities Association small-schools division. In the winter, Duncan led the Blackcats on the hardwood with 14.9 points per game and was a first-team JCAA small-schools guard.
Duncan didn’t start playing football until last year and he will start at wide receiver and play sparingly in the defensive backfield. He caught 13 passes for 153 yards.
“Offensively, I think he’s going to make some big plays for us,” Boss said. “He’s got a knack to find the ball. He adjusts his body naturally. If he can figure out how to be a nasty blocker on the perimeter, I think he’s going to be an all-conference type kid.”
Juniors Chase Luebbert and Austin Brinkley are two-way starters at RB and LB.
Sophomores Dallas Fritschle, Lenny Eaves and Luke Smith will all get carries.
“Lenny is the fastest player on the team, maybe the county,” Boss said. “He’s a freak athlete. We’re going to try and get him into open space. It’s a very good sophomore class that wants to win and it showed in their offseason work.”
All five offensive linemen were new varsity starters last year. Juniors Greenlee, Ayden Bowling, Lucas Mercille, Carson Webb and Dylan Boys all received their trial by fire and are ready to assert themselves as a cohesive unit.
On defense, Struckhoff, Boys and sophomore Michael Hankins play inside linebacker. Reeves lines up at cornerback. The safeties are Fritschle and Smith. Junior Gavin Feltmann is at defensive end and tight end on offense.
Luebbert punted last year and Feltmann kicked on the JV.
Duncan can do either. Boss said it’s too early to tell who would kick field goals and PATs.