fall prep sports 2017
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football • volleyball • cross country
friday, august 25, 2017
Panthers hunt for seventh consecutive postseason appearance Creston’s big men will carry the weight of the season ■
By CARTER ECKL CNA staff reporter ceckl@crestonnews.com
A year removed from the graduation of the most accomplished senior football class in Creston–Orient-Macksburg history, the Panthers look to keep their foothold in Class 3A District 7 by continuing to rely on the work of the big men up front. In order to qualify for another postseason ninth-year head coach Brian Morrison knows the offensive and defensive lines will be the staples of any successful scheming. “We have capable running backs, capable fullbacks,” said Morrison. “But our season offensively is going to be won and lost with those guys up front.” The line is led by a handful of seniors and 16 seniors will lead the 74-man roster onto the field each week, knowing there are big shoes to fill. Offense Replacing a first-team allstate running back will be no easy task for the Panther backfield. Chase Shiltz, now playing football at Northwest Missouri State, took a significant amount of touches out of the backfield. Shiltz accounted for nearly 50 percent of the Panther offense on the ground last year. Filling that role this season is Mitchell Swank (5-7, 165), who backed up Shiltz at tailback last season. Swank was named as an honorable mention all-district selection in 2016 after carrying the rock for over 400 yards and two touchdowns. Swank will be accom-
panied by Kolby Tomas (5-11, 200), Dalten Bierle (5-8, 155), Rylan Luther (60, 165) and Dale Boyer (61, 190) after Boyer returns from injury, with Tomas the most experienced. Handing the ball off will be returning starting quarterback Kylan Smallwood (6-3, 195). Smallwood will take a majority of the snaps and will be based out of the shotgun. Smallwood completed 45-of-81 pass attempts last season for 797 yards, seven touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also rushed for nearly 600 yards and an additional five scores. “I would say he is our every down quarterback and that’s what it is,” said Morrison about a potential q u a r t e r - Morrison back competition. “Now that might change week to week, but Smallwood won the position in the last three
weeks.” Eli Loudon (6-0, 165) will be the backup for now, but has also been taking snaps elsewhere on the field. “He still competes like crazy,” said Morrison. “He could (get touches elsewhere), but right now his focus is still at QB. Not saying you won’t see him Friday either, but he has to know the system.” The main protection for the backfield will be unanimous first-team all-state lineman, Iowa State commit and returning starting left tackle Trevor Downing (6-5, 285) with Tucker Flynn (6-8, 320) at right tackle. “We have two legitimate returners on offense in Tucker Flynn and Trevor Downing,” said Morrison. Snapping the ball will be Blake Sevier (6-3, 270). Sevier will play both sides of the ball, but is making the move to center this fall to bolster the offensive line. “Blake Sevier would have been a starter last year for us, but he played defense a majority of the time, so he’s back in the fold on offense playing center.” The rest of the line will be filled in with sophomores and juniors as Morri-
son hopes to balance those roles in order to keep fresh legs on the field. “I wouldn’t say we are completely platooning, but we want to keep kids fresh,” said Morrison. On the outside, the wide receiver core will exist almost entirely of new faces. Evan Jacobson (5-8, 140) and Smallwood will be the only two players on the roster this fall that recorded a catch last season. The two caught a combined five passes a year ago. Also lining up out wide will be a senior trio of Dustin Merritt (5-7, 170), Cole Higgins (5-11, 150) and Cody Wagner (5-11, 165) along with others. Defense Defensively, the Panthers will continue to run their base 3-4 defense from years’ past. Morrison admits there are new wrinkles in the way it will be run, but Creston/O-M faithful should recognize the similar scheme. Rotations to keep players rested will be a big part of the Panther defense with multiple players staying on the field to play both sides of the ball. The defensive line will continue to attempt to
open up opposing o-lines to allow linebackers to terrorize the backfield. That front three will consist mainly of Sevier, Nathan Pudenz (5-11, 280) and Sam Chapman (6-0, 170). They will start on the line week 1 against Boone. Sevier carries all of the experience after playing nose tackle last fall in between two unanimous firstteam all-district selections in Colton Bolinger and now Northwest Missouri State defensive end Kadon Hulett, himself a second-team allstate pick. Sevier was named second-team all-district as a defensive lineman following last season. Even with the lack of experience, Morrison’s optimism about the line showed. “Pudenz, he’s a senior, has not seen varsity time in his last three years, but he’s put his time in, he’s looked good,” said Morrison. “(Chapman’s) a sophomore,” said Morrison. “If you would have told me he’d be a starter three weeks ago, I would have said no way. But he’s really improved.” Behind them will be the inside linebackers Boyer and Tomas. Boyer moved over from outside linebacker in
camp. “They are as good as I’ve had as a group in fifteen years,” said Morrison. “They rank up there with the best groups I’ve had.” Swank, Merritt, and sophomore Logan Shady (5-9, 175) will be stationed on the outside. Bierle and Mason Kinsella (5-10, 170) are expected to see time on the field as well. Don’t be surprised to see the linebacking core rotating and adjusting based off performance and injuries. In the secondary sits two returning starters at cornerback in Smallwood and Smallwood Jacobson, awarded first-team and second-team all-district, respectively, in 2016. Safety play will be composed by Loudon and Jacobson at free safety with Luther and Garrett Dahl (57, 140) taking reps at strong safety. Special Teams Jacobson will also be one of three kickers on the team. He knocked 47-of-53 PAT attempts through the uprights last season. Along side h i m will be Peyton Pryor (6-3, 160) and Michael Scherer (6-1, 165). Jacobson Pryor and Scherer will look to fill the shoes of first-team all-district punter Colton Bolinger. Punter is still up for grabs as consistency has held Morrison back on naming a starter. Schedule Favorable scheduling will give Creston/O-M five games at home this year. State qualifiers Glenwood and Carroll with both coming to Panther Field in October. C/O-M | 4A
READER’S GUIDE The 2016 High School Fall Sports Guide provides an outlook of all our area schools’ athletic teams. Inside the cover are team photos, season schedules and team capsules, plus previews of each area football team. The index of teams is as follows:
Creston
Mount Ayr
Nodaway Valley
East Union Murray
pages 1-3
page 5
pages 8
Orient-Macksburg
Southwest Valley
Lenox
page 4
pages 6-7
page 9
A supplement to
page 10
page 11
Diagonal page 12