In A.J. Ofodile's first season as head coach at Festus, the Tigers won 10 games, ended a long losing streak to Hillsboro and won the Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division and Class 4 District 1 championships.
Those four benchmarks more than justified the school district’s decision to hire Ofodile, who had last coached another group of Tigers at the University at Missouri in Columbia. Festus’s season ended in a 34-25 loss to Union in the Class 4 quarterfinals.
“I learned a long time ago that you can look at a team and think you’re in the hunt for a state championship and you go .500,” said Ofodile, who played tight end at Mizzou and in the NFL. “Then you look at a team and don’t expect a whole lot and win a state (title).
“For me, the things you can’t control, I try to not put a lot of stock into them. I’m competitive like everybody else. At the end of the day, when you step away from the emotion of it, I look at our offseason program. Are our kids getting stronger? If yes, I check that box and say that was a success.
“I look at the relationships of our players with the coaches, administrators, parents and faculty. Are our guys representing themselves well in the hallways?”
Festus lost three all-state players – Desmond Davis (second team defensive line), Luke Greenstreet (third team offensive line) and Collin Doyel (third team defensive back) – to graduation but returns a senior quarterback and an all-purpose back/receiver who are bound to bedevil defenses this fall.
After passing for 2,349 yards and 29 touchdowns last season, Cole Rickermann was named to the MAFC Red second team at QB. Rickermann (6-2, 175) has gained weight through an intense weight-training program under Ofodile’s watchful eye. Senior Kaian Roberts-Day, considered a major college prospect, made first team all-conference at tight end but can line up anywhere.
“I feel like the most progress I’ve made is the ability to read defenses,” Rickermann said. “It’s deciding what coverage the defense is running. We were able to add more wrinkles to the playbook this year because everybody has a grasp of the plays.
“He’s a great athlete,” Rickermann added of Roberts-Day. “We can put him anywhere on the field and he’ll probably be the best person at that position. We’re going to have a special connection this year. With (receivers) Eric Ruess,
Arhmad Branch and Isaac Stucke, I don’t have to throw a perfect ball this year.”
Ofodile said Rickermann gives the Tigers the opportunity to do a lot of things at the next level because of where he is mentally and physically.
“I look at where we were at the same time last year and he’s almost 30 pounds heavier; he’s significantly faster and (more) explosive,” Ofodile said. “His arm strength has improved tremendously. If you go back and look, he’s almost not the same person. He’s super mature. He has a great temperament. Conceptually he can pick up anything you throw at him.
“He’s underrated. This last stage of his physical development is going to push him where he needs to be.”
Roberts-Day totaled 606 rushing and receiving yards and scored nine touchdowns in seven games last season. Ofodile said Roberts-Day is more skilled, agile and coordinated than he was a year ago.
“He’s always had the tools,” Ofodile said. “He’s a very gifted athlete but he was raw (last year) as a football player, as far as his skill set. What jumps out the most is how much he’s improved as a route-runner and pass-catcher, in terms of getting out of breaks and looking the ball in.”
A significant addition this season is Branch, a junior, who teams in the Festus backcourt with Rickermann during basketball season. Branch (5-11, 155) caught on quickly to the finer points of route-running. Rickermann said he’s glad to throw a different kind of ball at his friend.
“Basketball brought us close off the court and it’s great to have him out there (on the football field),” Rickermann said. “We’re going to have a great time. He explodes off the ball. He needs to learn some techniques (and) then he’ll be uncoverable.”
Ofodile said Branch is a natural football player.
“I knew he was athletic from watching him play basketball,” he said. “Usually there’s a big learning curve in football where you look like a big albatross initially. He jumped in day 1 and looked like he’d been doing it his whole life. Even though he’s a new football player he’s been in the pressure cooker as a point guard. He’s had the ball in tough situations in big games with the ball in his hands.”
Ruess is also a Division I prospect and Ofodile said having him and Roberts-Day gives Festus something unique among high school programs.
“We hang our hat on that position and we say that if anything makes our offense unique besides the quarterback at this level, it’s tight end, which is a lost art,” Ofodile said.
The projected starters at running back are senior Landen Yates and his younger brother, Dalten, a sophomore, and junior Landon Bradshaw, who is coming back from surgery for torn knee ligaments.
The Tigers lost four starters on their offensive line and return one full-time starter in junior Connor Holt (6-4, 280). Sophomore Eli Williams started a couple of games at guard last year.
Junior Peyton Besore (6-4, 250) is at one tackle with junior Tyler Harris, a backup in 2020, at the other.
“That’s our youngest and newest group. We have to shore up our senior losses,” Ofodile said. “That jumps right out at you. Seniors are the best to have playing offensive line.”
Davis made the other defenders around him better and covered up for mistakes with an aggressive style up front. Some offensive linemen will play on the defensive line, although Ofodile said he’s got plenty of depth to rotate there.
Ruess, Roberts-Day, sophomores Carter Cupp and Eli Ortmann and junior Gavin Grass give Festus a strong set of linebackers. Leading the secondary are Bradshaw, Dalten Yates, Branch, freshman Essian Smith, junior Henry Roux and senior safety Mike Corssen.
“Every now and again you’re lucky to have a one-man gang like Desmond,” Ofodile said. “He was all over the place and made plays he wasn’t supposed to make. He bailed guys out at times. He also got guys going. What he brought promoted confidence in our defense because we had that ace in the hole who was always productive.
“I don’t know if we have that one guy who’s going to make all of these tackles. We have some quality out there. It will be more about effort and assignment than one guy putting on a show.”
The Tigers open the season at home Friday against Ste. Genevieve. Rickermann passed for 233 yards and four TDs in a 41-13 win over the Dragons in the 2020 season opener.
“From a positive side, most of our returning players have improved a lot because we had a full offseason,” Ofodile said. “We’re bigger and stronger and more agile versions of what (we) were before. There’s more belief in their ability and confidence in our system.
“The tricky part is always coming up with a formula (in which) you graduate a lot of players and then there’s the improvement of your returning players and the final piece is how far have the newcomers come to bridge that gap.”