WILLARD, Mo. — Experience is a nice commodity.
Willard had it last season with a backfield tandem of three-year starters in Kyle Smith and Hunter Yeargan. Both are gone, and make for a tall task to replace.
The Tigers also have experience in another facet: size.
Head coach: Brock Roweton
2015 Record: 5-5
Key Players: Ethan Burson (TE/DL), Martin Eidson (DL), Brock Howard (RB), Sydney Mavengere (DB), Rudy Tapia (OL/DL), Tommy Tapia (OL/DL)
"For the next 10 years, we'll have that beefiness,” head coach Brock Roweton said. "It’s just in our genetics at Willard. I don't worry about size anymore. I just worry about skill. We have a bunch of guys that are big, physical, and want to do their part.”
Five lineman return with starting experience, including all-conference selections Martin Eldson and Rudy Tapia. In fact, the injury bug forced the Tigers to spread starting duties up and down the roster in 2015 en route to a 5-5 campaign.
"We've got 23 or 24 guys that have started at least a game. We lost a lot of good players, but we've got a lot of guys back who've had a taste of the Friday night lights.”
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That experience should pay dividends across the roster, but the Tigers still need guys to produce, not simply say they've been there.
Brock Howard comes in with the most experience at running back, while Kenny Chambers, Nate Swadley, Clay Gipson, and Jody Hall should also expect to contribute on offense.
"I've had life easy for the past couple years because I haven't had to coach them anymore. It was fun, but now I'm back to honing in on little details and making sure everybody is where they need to be."
Hall and Gipson will be key players in Willard’s secondary and Swadley will be flanked by Diego Munez and Josh McGuire in the linebacking corps. Overall, the Tigers return 11 players that started at least a game on defense.
Junior quarterback Quintin Batson transferred to Willard from Central High School over the summer and has been splitting snaps with senior Chance Hepola. Both are viable options and Batson provides a dual-threat option that opens a lot of doors for what the Tigers could do offensively.
"We've got two good quarterbacks that can execute our offense. It's fun to have guys like that because you can do so much. We can run, throw, and do everything."
Willard travels to Nixa to start the season on Aug. 19.
