For many years Cassville’s football program was nothing for the local fans to brag about. But the Wildcats fortunes turned around with consecutive state championships in 2008 and 2009 and the program became known as one of the premiere gridiron teams in southwest Missouri. After the departure of head coach David Large, his long-time assistant Lance Parnell was named as his successor.
Now in his fourth year as head coach and 19th year at Cassville, Parnell has been around for the rough times, the best-of-times, and currently the mediocre times. In Parnell’s first year as head coach in 2013, the Wildcats string of 38 consecutive regular season wins came to a halt as did their string of four straight Big 8 championships.
Cassville went 6-5 that season after going 11-1 in 2012. Parnell’s second season also produced a 6-5 mark and last year the Wildcats went 5-6.
If you notice a pattern, Parnell does too. And he’s hoping this season the Wildcats will have a break-out season with the return of 19 lettermen including key members of the offensive and defensive lines.
“That’s always been my philosophy here in that we’re only as good as we are up front,” Parnell said. “We’ve got to be a physical team. We do have a lot of depth although some of it is very young that is going to develop as the year goes on.”
The returnees also include quarterback Shannon Haney, who started as a freshman, and a pair of Phelps.
Running back /defensive back River Phelps ran for 1,158 yards and 17 touchdowns last year and Devin Phelps is a key two-way starter on the offensive and defensive lines. He’s 6-3, 275-pounds and moves well.
“Devin’s a senior who’s played since he was a sophomore and unfortunately got injured against Carl Junction last year,” Parnell explained. “”He missed the second half of the season with a knee (injury) but has done a nice job rehabbing that. He also had a little mishap this summer where he broke his wrist so we’re not sure we’re going to have him the first couple of weeks but we think he will come back strong.”
The drop in Cassville’s win-total over the past several years is not unusual for a small town program where the influx of talent comes-and-goes. Plus the Big 8 conference that Cassville once dominated has now been taken over by five-time defending state champion Lamar and larger-classification Carl Junction.
“I’ve been here a long time and I’ve seen the talent swings come and go,” Parnell said. “The conference has been on an upswing with Lamar and Carl Junction having some great teams. You have those years. And we’re looking to get back to those 10, 11, 12-win years. I’ve got a great group of 20 seniors who have done a great job of leading. We’ve got a long way to go to be a great team but we’re excited with the progress we’re making.”
And despite the downturn in win-totals, Parnell says he still believes the community is behind him.
“This community supports you no matter what,” Parnell said. “They love their football here and the support is phenomenal.”
And they’ll continue to need their fans’ patience as Cassville opens the season against……gulp… Lamar.
“Gotta play ‘em sometime so we might as well play ‘em week one,” Parnell said with a smile. “Let’s go play and see where we’re at. They’re the top dog and that’s who you’ve got to beat in our conference so you might as well play them in week one.”
And the good news is while they’re in the same conference, they’re in different classes. Lamar’s in Class 2 while Cassville is in Class 3, District 4 that includes Aurora, East Newton, Hollister, Monett, Mt. Vernon, Reeds Spring and Seneca.
