Festus was a team without a quarterback for much of 2017.
Like a ship sans a rudder, the Tigers’ season steered off course into the shoals of a 4-6 campaign and a 47-7 blowout loss to North County in the first round of the Class 4 District 1 playoffs.
It marked the third straight season Festus lost its last three games of the season.
Junior Austin Coale won the starting QB job last season but was suspended from the team for three games. After his return, he called signals for the final four games of the season.
This summer, Coale has been competing with sophomore Collin Doyel for the starting position at quarterback and Festus head coach Russ Schmidt said Coale has won the job.
“Austin is the starter at this point, but that’s subject to change without notice,” Schmidt said. “He needs to continue to mature.”
Schmidt said Doyel gave up baseball to increase his participation in offseason weight-training.
“Collin has a lot of moxie,” Schmidt said. “He’s a very athletic kid. He will play on Friday nights.”
Logan Uding, who graduated this spring, led the Tigers with 613 rushing yards last fall. Uding recently was accepted as a walk-on at Southeast Missouri State University, Schmidt said.
In Uding’s stead, as many as six running backs, none of whom gained 100 yards last fall, will tote the football this season.
RaShaun Hyde, Austin Anderson, Cole Wagner, Chalmer Brickhaus, Jack Robinson and Jayden Rystrom give the Tigers a little bit of everything in the backfield. Hyde scored three touchdowns rushing and receiving last year.
“We can run between the tackles and off the edges,” Schmidt said. “We’ve got speed we haven’t had since 2014. Right now they’re putting in time and doing all the things we asked of them.”
Chase Cole’s graduation last spring leaves the Tigers with a lot of holes to plug this fall.
Cole stepped in for Coale at QB, played running back, receiver, defensive back and, after making 30 extra points, was the first-team kicker in the Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division.
“Chase was a special kid,” Schmidt said.
Senior Gavin Weber, juniors Jordan Meczkowski and Jaxon McFarland and sophomore Cayse Martin make up the receiving corps.
“I coach the receivers and I see a lot of upside,” Schmidt said.
Senior Chase Rystrom was a first-team all-league selection on the offensive and defensive lines. Rystrom anchors the O-line at center. Seniors Eli Vroman (guard) and Zach Liles, junior Dominic Nolfo (guard) and sophomore Judson Holland (tackle) are the other starters along the offensive line. All five linemen started at least one game last year. Seniors Chris Lammert and Reese Montgomery provide depth.
“Right now they’re playing together well,” Schmidt said. “I want to see consistency with communication. When we talk about both sides of the ball, we’re having that discussion about maturity. We’re working hard on chain of command in the huddle.”
On defense, Festus allowed 25.6 points per game last year. Schmidt said he hopes an almost completely rebuilt unit will cut that figure down considerably.
However, the Tigers did have a solid linebacking group last year, led by all-conference first-teamer Uding. Brickhaus, Vroman, Anderson, Weber, Jake Rystrom, and juniors Lane Teddleton and James Wooten are all in the mix.
On both sides of the ball, the Tigers will relay heavily on player rotations. Along the defensive front are Liles, sophomore Jacob Folk, Chase Rystrom, Lammert, senior Zach Baisch and junior A.J. McKenzie.
Martin, Doyel, Hyde, senior Jaylan Watson, McFarland, Meczkowski and Wagner will patrol the defensive backfield.
Finding a replacement for Cole at kicker is on the feet on Hyde, McKenzie and junior Ryan Esparza. Schmidt has been trying to entice freshman Evan House to come over from the soccer team to kick.
“I haven’t had enough practice time with him yet,” Schmidt said of House. “They’ve all worked hard. They get three reps apiece in practice. This is our most competitive camp we’ve had since 2014. This year’s group likes each other.”
Because the Festus stadium is still under construction, Friday’s jamboree was held at Seckman. The Jaguars, Fox, Farmington, Jackson and Oakville were also there.
“In my heart, this looks like a good group of kids,” Schmidt said before the jamboree. “Playing against each other (in practice) gives you a false sense of reality.”
The Tigers remain in Class 4 District 1. The only change to the district was Perryville was dropped and West Plains was added. The Zizzers were in Class 4 District 5 last year.
After opening the season Friday night in Arnold at Fox, Festus opens its $5 million renovated stadium on Aug. 31 against Sullivan. The Tigers will get acclimated to their new home with three straight home games. The Eagles scored a touchdown with 29 seconds left to beat Festus 21-20 last season.
Schmidt lamented that a 5-5 record last year would have been much easier to swallow than 4-6. New opponents for the Tigers this season include Fox (Class 5) and Troy Buchanan (Class 6).
“It’s a mindset that we addressed in the offseason,” Schmidt said of explaining to his players why they would play larger schools.