No football season hinges on winning the first game.
“But starting 1-0 is big,” said Windsor head coach Jeff Funston, who begins his second season Friday night in Herculaneum.
The Owls beat the Blackcats 15-12 in Imperial in last season’s opener, but followed that with a 28-20 loss at Perryville. Windsor opens its home schedule by hosting the Pirates on Sept. 2.
“We went down there (to Perryville) and played a great first half and they took it to us in the second half,” Funston said. “We want to play better to meet some goals. Herky kids are tough. We’re preparing for them like it’s our Super Bowl.”
Windsor rose above .500 briefly at 3-2 last year and then slid to a 3-7 finish after losing to Gateway in the Class 4 District 2 tournament. The Owls went 1-3 in the Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division, the lone win coming over De Soto 24-16.
At training camp last week, Funston said every starting position was open to competition, even at quarterback, where senior Nolan Hirth returns. Hirth is battling for the starting job with juniors Anthony Fletcher and Claytin Blassingame. Hirth threw a touchdown pass against Herculaneum last year.
“We are deep in spots we need to be deep in,” Funston said. “We’re picking up changes on offense and defense. Scheme-wise, we’re ahead of where we were last year.”
Competition is sharp at the QB spot.
“We were grooming Fletcher last year, (but) Nolan kept his job,” the coach said. “Anthony picked up some series in some games. He won a game for us in Kansas City (against Northeast).”
One player who doesn’t have to worry about playing time is senior Jordan Foster, last year’s leading Owl rusher and one of the track and field athletes Funston coaches in the spring. Foster won the 100-meter dash at the Potosi Invitational last year. He had a 40-yard touchdown run against the Blackcats.
“He handled most of those (running) duties last year,” Funston said. “He’s put on weight and he’s running strong. He will handle a lot of carries.”
Junior Lawrence Hefele also runs track and carried the ball a few times last year. He’ll line up alongside Foster in the backfield.
“Lawrence didn’t get as much time last year because Jordan had such a good year,” Funston said.
One of the more talented athletes at Windsor, junior A.J. Patrick will start again at wide receiver. A year ago, Patrick had at least one catch in every game and a season-high five receptions against Gateway.
“He’s looking good and it’s up to me to get him the ball,” said Funston, who added to his coaching staff so he could concentrate more on the offense. “He’ll get 90 percent of touches in the slot. He can elevate in the air and will get opportunities to go downfield and go get the ball.”
Nolan’s brother, junior Brady Hirth, also plays wide receiver, as does Blassingame when he’s not under center. The receiver position is one of the deepest on the team.
“We don’t drop off a whole lot when the next guy comes in,” Funston said. “(Brady Hirth) screams ‘athlete’ at you when you look at him.”
Windsor returns three starters on the offensive line. Senior guard Clay Scott, a two-way starter, was selected to the all-MAFC Red first team on the defensive line last year and center Riley Weisner played nine of 10 games at center as a sophomore. Funston said what Weisner lacks in size, he makes up for in movement and snap consistency. Junior Connor Knight was undersized last year at tackle but Funston said he’s put on weight. Underclassmen are vying for the other positions on the line.
“The sophomores are hungry,” Funston said.
Junior Sam Shell leads a linebacking unit that Funston said is nine-deep. Patrick was first team all-conference at linebacker last year. Scott and Weisner will anchor the defensive line, and Foster, Nolan Hirth and junior Nick Baer patrol the secondary.
“It’s one of the better-looking defensive lines we’ve had,” Funston said. “Nick (Baer) can tackle anybody. His coverages are coming along and he’s stepped into that role and daring people to run to his side.”
Funston said the kicking and punting duties are still to be determined.
“That’s the only big question mark we have right now,” he said.
Erik Brandsoy coached the JV last year but is now the varsity defensive coordinator.
“Having him available to do that so I can focus on other things has helped me in a lot of ways,” Funston said. “Schematically, he’s brought things to the table that will help us. With fewer eyes on the kids last year, we were limited as to what we could do.”
Windsor faces a grueling conference schedule this year with games against Festus, Hillsboro and North County. Any of those teams are capable of winning the Red Division and the district championship. The Raiders won Class 4 District 1 and reached the state semifinals last year. The Hawks are the defending conference champions and intent on making their own state run with a veteran cast.
“Right now, we’re just thinking about (Herculaneum) Week 1,” Funston said. “We’re looking forward to getting off on the right foot.”