Wyatt Moser is a big kid – the kind who blocks every inch of a doorway and casts shadows on everything around him.
At 6-7 and 320 pounds, the De Soto junior has the ideal size and strength to anchor the Dragons’ defensive line. His smaller counterpart on the offensive line, guard and fellow junior Landon Porter, brings a quality of tenacity as a state wrestling runner-up.
Strength and determination – they are just what De Soto needs as the team recovers from the shocking death of assistant coach John Ames.
Ames, 36, died Saturday at BJC Hospice Evelyn’s House in Creve Coeur. He had suffered a heart attack at home earlier this month and a vigil was held at De Soto High for Ames, who lived in Bismarck, and his family. The De Soto linemen were on hand to support their ailing coach.
“We were close before and a lot of that was because of Coach Ames, but we’re lucky to have each other through all of this,” Porter said. “We’re going to win for the community, but Coach Ames holds a special place in all of our hearts.”
Porter has made a name for himself in wrestling. He reached the wrestling finals at 285 pounds at the Class 3 state championships in February, culminating a stellar sophomore season. Now football is his focus.
“We’re going to be the best line in our district,” said Porter, who plays offensive guard. “We have a fire about us and it’s really exciting.”
The massive Moser, meanwhile, has an appetite, and not just for ball carriers.
“I don’t know how many calories, but I eat a lot,” said Moser, an all-conference selection a year ago. “I usually eat two big bowls of cereal for breakfast, a couple of sandwiches throughout the day, a big, big dinner and a midnight snack of Ramen noodles.”
With youth characterizing the offensive and defensive lines last year, De Soto finished 4-6. But with Moser and Porter a year older, wiser – and larger – the Dragons have the makings of a brawling team that might finally be able to end decades of frustration against Hillsboro and Festus.
Moser played at Hillsboro until transferring to De Soto for his freshman year. His transfer may have shifted the balance of power between the Dragons and Hawks for at least the next two years because of Hillsboro’s recent loss of talent to graduation.
With his size, Moser has the ability to dominate play in the box. But he let his aggressive nature get the best of him in last fall’s opener against Perryville. Moser was ejected from the game after being called for a personal foul and he was suspended for the next game. Still, he led the Dragons with 11 tackles for loss last season.
Moser said the Perryville game was a learning moment.
“You’ve got to chill out and let things roll off of you,” he said.
It’s natural that Moser wants to use his size and strength to push his way into the backfield to wreak havoc, but he said he’s improved his footwork this year and knows he has an area to contain.
“I have to stay on the line, contain and make chaos,” he said.
And how does he manage being double- and triple-teamed?
“You’ve got to stand your ground and don’t get pushed back,” Moser said. “I win most of my one-on-one battles.”
Ames is not the only loss to the De Soto coaching staff. Cody Hunter, who was on the Dragons’ staff last year, left to be the head coach at Herculaneum. Helping pick up some of the slack is Keith Woodland, 33, who previously coached at Hillsboro and was at Windsor the last five years. He’s handling both lines.
Woodland’s resume takes in several branches of the region’s coaching tree. He’s worked alongside head coaches Lee Freeman (Hillsboro), Alex Rouggly (Jefferson) and Blane Boss (Perryville) and played for Festus head coach Russ Schmidt.
Trying to fool those coaches with a new wrinkle in the game plan is tough.
“That’s the hard part because you know each other so well,” Woodland said. “I talked to Coach (Boss) (Aug. 15) and we play each other Week 1. We didn’t give each other any pointers. You want to win, but it’s all in good fun. It’s an interesting fraternity.”
When Woodland arrived in the Fountain City this summer, he saw the talent he had to work with.
“They’re fun to be around and they like each other,” Woodland said. “They’re big. Being around them, they want to win, so the expectation level is high.”
Woodland said the ceiling is very high for Moser.
“He’s a nice kid and he goes hard,” Woodland said. “He can take on two or three blockers. He’s 16 years old and he has a lot to learn but his potential is through the roof. I want Wyatt to do what he can do. He’s a large human being.”
Seniors Ethan Koch and Dalton Daugherty and juniors Porter, Mitchell Appleton and Trystan Hendrix all return to the offensive line. Before anyone compares this unit to the famous Hillsboro offensive line from 2016, a reality check is in order.
“There’s no way to compare the two,” Woodland said. “We played them a couple of years ago at Windsor and they had 225 starts between them. You can’t replicate that.
“All five (De Soto linemen) know what they’re doing. I feel like I can move Landon to any position on the line, but I can say that about two or three other guys.”