Senior James Moloney has carried the ball 78 times the last two seasons for Herculaneum.
That’s about to change dramatically.
Moloney’s primary job the last two years has been as fullback, leading the way for L.J. Nelson. Moloney did a pretty good job as Nelson rushed for 2,277 yards and scored 29 touchdowns his junior and senior years and was a first-team choice at running back for the I-55 Conference.
Nelson was also voted on the league’s first team at defensive back.
Moloney made the second team at both fullback and linebacker, but he now relishes the chance to be handed the pigskin on a regular basis as the “S” back.
“I’m really excited,” Moloney said. “I’ve been working toward this for a long time. I’ve always been the fullback. I’ve never been the guy that gets the ball a lot.”
Herculaneum finished 3-3 in the I-55 Conference last year, but didn’t win a game outside of the league and was 3-7 overall. The Blackcats first padded, contact practice was at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, the first possible day for contact in the state for all football teams.
Herculaneum head coach Dave Cook said it’s his team’s version of Midnight Madness, the annual tradition of college basketball teams.
“The kids are excited about it,” Cook said. “We haven’t done it in a long time.”
Something the Blackcats probably haven’t ever done is play their homecoming game on the road. But they will this year when they travel to Waynesville High to play El Dorado Springs, which is about an hour and 45 minutes south of Kansas City. Waynesville is about 120 miles from Herculaneum and El Dorado Springs.
The Blackcats were forced to fill a hole in their schedule when conference opponent Grandview did not field a varsity team this season.
“We don’t like that it fell on our homecoming date, but we’ll just have to make the best of it,” Cook said.
Junior Jason Harden started last season at quarterback, but sophomore Ethan Coy slowly gained more snaps. Cook has the same situation this year as both QBs bring different strengths under center. Whoever plays, the Blackcats need better production than a combined 27 percent completions and in Coy’s case, negative yards rushing (-2) for the season.
“Ethan had a nice camp and throws the ball well,” Cook said. “He’s a smart kid. We’ve just got to get some consistency out of him, and I think we’ll be fine. Jason is proficient in what we want him to do. If we want to throw it, Ethan’s probably a little better there. If we want to run the ball, it’s up in the air. But Jason has done it a full year longer. We’ve talked with both of them and they are both comfortable with the position they’re in.”
Corben Clubb finished his junior year last spring taking third in the 800-meter run at the Class 3 state track meet. He caught just three passes last year playing wide receiver, but they went for 80 yards. He has the size and speed to extend defenses when he catches the ball.
Wide receiver Matt Sales, a senior, started last year as wide receiver but was moved to the offensive line out of necessity. Junior Blake Leathers and three-sport senior Chandler Jansen (track, basketball and football) are the other receivers, who are learning from new wide receivers coach Kacy Day.
“He’s made our football team better by working that position differently than we had in the past,” Cook said of Day.
Moloney could be joined in the backfield by senior Nick Grass, a transfer from Crystal City. Cook said he doesn’t want his offense to be as one-dimensional as it had been with Nelson toting the ball.
“We’re doing some different things to spread the ball around some,” Cook said. “James is a tough runner. When he gets the football, he’s a north-south guy. We’ve eliminated some of this cutback stuff.”
Opening holes for the running backs are lineman Zack Barnaby, a junior who was lost to a knee injury on the first play of the first game last year. Center Tommy Mize played there last year. Guard Zach Phillips is a returning starter who was an honorable mention conference selection last season. John Derque is new at guard and Colby Wilfong is currently at right tackle.
“It’s his job to lose,” Cook said of Wilfong.
The defense posted two shutouts last season – 16-0 against St. Pius X and 38-0 versus Crystal City – but it also allowed 41 or more points in five games, all losses.
On the defensive front are senior Cody Cray, Derque, Sales, junior Noah Northcutt and Phillips. Clubb and Jansen play outside linebacker and the defensive backfield is patrolled by Harden, Coy, Leathers and Grass. Harden was a second-team all-conference selection last year.
“When we started camp this summer, we didn’t have any DBs so we’re thankful we’ve beefed up that area,” Cook said.
Austin Huson is the top kicker right now and Harden and Jansen are vying for the punting duties.
Cook sees Valle and Jefferson as the teams to beat in the I-55 this fall.
“The dynamics of each team changes from year to year,” Cook said. “No matter what you teach from the program’s perspective, it’s permanent. The team changes every year. It’s a transient thing. This group isn’t a rah-rah bunch. They are focused and they get out and get after it.”
The Blackcats will open the season against Confluence Prep Academy at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19 at St. Mary’s High School in south St. Louis. Confluence beat Herculaneum 34-12 in last year’s opener.