Try to find any information about Grandview varsity football in 2017 and you’ll come up empty.
The Eagles didn’t play varsity football that year.
I have written in this space several times about the plight of Grandview football. Plagued by injuries that wiped out its already-small roster, the Eagles couldn’t take the field for the second half against Jefferson in a 2016 conference game and had to forfeit their final two games to finish 0-8.
The Grandview R-2 Board of Education voted to suspend varsity play in 2017 and bring in a new coach who could reinvigorate the program with a loyal following. They found that person in veteran prep and college coach Dave Dallas.
Five years later, Dallas has departed after accomplishing his mission. The Eagles enjoyed back-to-back winning seasons in 2020 and 2021 and even won a district game in 2021.
Keeping Grandview competitive on the gridiron is now in the hands of Jason Kimminau, 27, who succeeds Dallas as head coach after assisting him last year, working with the quarterbacks, fullbacks and safeties. Kimminau teaches social studies, civics and history at Grandview. He and his wife, Mackenzie, live in Hillsboro.
“Building on last year is the goal,” Kimminau said. “If we get more kids out for football, that will lead to continued success for us. I think if you show the kids how fun it is to succeed, they’ll want to be part of (the football team).
“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel. Last year’s record (7-4) isn’t the end of the road. We’re looking onward and upward.”
Kimminau graduated in 2013 from South Callaway High School in Mokane, about 20 miles east of Jefferson City. He played quarterback and outside linebacker at Coe College, a Division III school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, before receiving his education degree from the University of Missouri in Columbia. He had previous stints as a football assistant at Jefferson City Helias and Moberly.
“My high school was very similar (to Grandview); same size, isolated from other places,” Kimminau said. “I liked the idea of going back to a small-school environment.”
The Grandview campus is as remote as it gets in Jefferson County. When I drive there to cover games, I always take Butcher Branch Road, or as I call it, “Butcher Holler Road” from a line in a Loretta Lynn song. I particularly love the sign on Butcher Branch warning motorists to be alert for people on horseback. Believe me, I take it seriously. In fact, I’m disappointed I have yet to encounter an equestrian. Butcher Branch is the most crooked road I’ve ever taken.
Dallas straightened out Grandview football but left Kimminau with a roster depleted by a large graduating class this spring. These were the players who engineered the entire rebuild under Dallas. They were good friends who endured setbacks on and off the field and I was so happy to watch them put Grandview on the competitive map again.
The cupboard isn’t completely bare for Kimminau. Incoming senior linebacker Austin Blankenship made the Class 2 all-state third team in 2021 and was a first-team I-55 Conference pick. He’ll provide a solid base for Kimminau to build around.
“The goal for him is to push past that level and repeat some of those accolades,” Kimminau said. “Obviously, we had a solid class of seniors who were the core. I look at this as more of an opportunity for our younger kids who played vital roles last year. There are going to be people who didn’t play big roles taking on larger responsibilities.
“This is something I’ve looked forward to for a while and Grandview gave me that opportunity to build on the success Coach Dallas created.”
Grandview activities director Terry Edwards said when Dallas brought Kimminau in to interview for an assistant coach position, they hired him on the spot.
“Jason fit in great with our staff (and) built a great rapport with our student-athletes, and as a bonus, he’s an outstanding young educator,” Edwards said. “After our great season last year, Coach Dallas retired. We had the luxury of having great in-house candidates. From that pool, Jason emerged as our new head coach.
“We are thrilled to begin the next chapter of Grandview football with Jason at the helm.”
As AD, Edwards had another job to fill when he stepped down after two seasons as boys basketball head coach. In his first two months as head coach in 2020, he had to navigate the team through COVID-19 quarantines.
Jeremy Moss, coming off four years coaching the Northwest boys in Cedar Hill, is the new hoops head man at Grandview. He’s moving from Class 6 to Class 3, subject to the new class and district assignments coming out this fall.
Fall previews coming
We’re still a few weeks out from publishing our sports previews for the 2022-2023 school year. The I-55 Conference previews will come out Aug. 18 and the advance look at the local teams in the Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division will appear on Aug. 25.
This week we’ll be covering the District 13 American Legion baseball tournament in Ste. Genevieve, an annual rite of passage for many local athletes and their families. To learn how far De Soto SMCI, Festus Post 253 and Rock Memorial Post 283 go in the tournament, check our July 21 issue.