By Jordan Burton
One day Scott Bailey will get a chance to look back on what he, his staff and his players have accomplished at Lamar and it will be nothing short of remarkable; the best run in Missouri history.
A record of 84-5 in the last six years is topped only by the fact that all six seasons were capped with Class 2 state titles. Keep in mind, this is a program that went winless in 2007, just four years before winning its first state championship.
We’re talking about something only historic dynasties like the Boston Celtics and UCLA Basketball have been able to accomplish.
Six titles in six years… not even Webb City or Valle Catholic have managed to pull that off.
“It is cliché, but we honestly don’t spend a lot of time talking about it with the current team,” said Bailey. “Probably afraid someone will catch up to us if we spend too much time talking about the past. We are just trying to figure out how to keep it going. When the former players come back around we talk about it some and normally just end up shaking our heads at the level of success we have been blessed with.”
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While Bailey doesn’t spend much time talking about the history of the run with his current team, this group has the pedigree to extend this historic span, which should be scary to the rest of Missouri.
Lamar returns 14 starters from last year’s team, several of those guys have played key roles for the Tigers already.
Cooper Lucas, reigning Class 2 and Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year, will earn many of the headlines and deservedly so. Lucas rushed 1,118 yards and 20 touchdowns on just 87 carries which is an average of 12.9 yards per carry. He also had 86 total tackles.
Lucas has one of the best motors you’ll ever see, but he’s hardly the only returning weapon for Scott Bailey’s offense.
All-Big 8 selection quarterback Stuart McKarus is projected to return to his starting quarterback position for his senior year. McKarus had 1,060 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns along with 780 yards passing and seven touchdowns.
Senior classmate Michael Danner will also receive more carries for the Tigers. McKarus and Danner combined to rush for 161 yards on 25 carries vs. Trinity Catholic.
Fellow seniors TW Ayers (All-State TE), Hayden Bartholomew (All-Big OL), Seth Fullerton (TE) and OL Cameron Augusta, as well as Caleb Gouge (All-Big 8 OL) are back to boost the line for Lamar. Ayers was a force on defense as well with 91 total tackles last season as a junior.
Lucas, Ayers and Danner will likely play both sides of the ball again, but the defense will again expect major contributions from Travis Bailey. Bailey led the team in tackles last year with 98. Senior Hunter Bayless and Andrew Hillman will be interior defensive linemen and Landon Hardman returns to the secondary.
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Bailey also sees potential in several juniors and sophomores that could play major roles after having a strong summer.
The Tigers routinely dominate the trenches, which has been the foundation for every Scott Bailey team. Losing three all-staters up front hurts, but it will remain the “next man up” attitude for Lamar.
“In the past we never tried to get one person to raise their level of play in order to replace the outstanding players we lost to graduation,” said Bailey. “We normally placed that expectation on the entire team and that is what we are currently working on.
“We return five players with starting experience on our offensive line from TE to TE, including two-time all-state TE TW Ayers. We return 4 players with starting experience on our defensive line, including Cooper Lucas. We return our leading tackler in Travis Bailey at Mike linebacker. Those position groups are going to need to play at a high level from the start while we get a number of our younger skill players on both sides of the ball some varsity experience.”
Lamar will open the 2017 season at Cassville on Aug. 18. The Tigers won’t play their first home game until Sept. 8 when they host defending Class 3 state champion Monett.
