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Willard football won four games last season, but that far from tells the full story of the 2016 season. The Tigers lost another four games by less than a touchdown.
Head coach Brock Roweton returns eight offensive and five defensive starters this season, but the 10 graduated seniors leave holes to fill.
“We lost some really elite guys,” Roweton said. “There were 10 different seniors we lost, but all of them were good players.”
Two of those players lost were key linemen that earned all-conference honors in three-year starter Martin Eidson and two-year starter Rudy Tapia. Tapia was a unanimous first-team all-conference selection on the offensive line.
Christian Smart (linebacker), Sydney Mavenger (safety) and Brock Howard (running back) are three more all-conference players that graduated.
Fortunately for the Tigers, there is a lot of returning talent led by two-way star Kenny Chambers.
“Kenny is just a very good athlete. He is a multisport guy with football and basketball. His athleticism is what carries him in both. He will be a guy that touches the ball for us on offense at receiver and will also play corner,” Roweton said.
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Chambers was a First-Team All-COC Large selection at wide receiver last season. He caught 36 balls for 829 yards and 12 touchdowns. The senior averaged 23 yards per catch on the season.
He started playing defense full time in Week 5 and was a playmaker on that side of the ball as well, as he picked off seven passes in six games. This year Chambers will play both ways full time.
Throwing Chambers the ball will be senior Quintin Batson. Batson transferred into Willard from Central last season and took over as starting quarterback. He had a few growing pains with the new offense, but still managed to earn third-team all-conference honors at quarterback. The senior finished with 1,276 yards and 17 touchdowns passing in 2016.
Big things are expected of Batson with a full year under his belt in Roweton’s system.
“Q’s arm-strength is a lot different now than it was a year ago. He has just become a better athlete and he has gained 10 or 12 pounds in the weight room,” Roweton said. “He had a lot of the tools last year already, but (now he is) comfortable with the coaches, understanding what we are trying to do, understanding the receivers and different movements. We are expecting a big year for Q.”
Willard has not lacked for size on the line and that won’t change this year led by senior Ethan Burson and junior Tommy Tapia.
Burson earned all-conference honors last season at both tight end and defensive end. The 6’5, 260-pound senior holds multiple offers from FCS schools.
“He is just a huge kid. He is a pretty good athlete,” Roweton said. “He basically played every snap of the game last year offensively and defensively. You try to have as many one-way players as possible, but every now and then there is a guy who is just a physical presence. They are still good enough even if they are at 80-percent and tired. They are still better than anyone else you could put out there. He is one of those.”
Two years ago, Tapia became the first freshman to start for Roweton at Willard. Since then he has developed both on the field and in the weight room. He closed out his sophomore year able to rep 225 pounds on the bench press 23 times along with a squat max of 555 pounds.
“He has put up huge numbers in the weight room. He is on his way to being another one of the great linemen that have come out of here over the last seven or eight years,” Roweton said.
Cody Johnson, John Baker, Dennis Tripp, Zach Wilkinson and Austin McMain will all see time on the line as well.
They will be blocking for returning senior Nate Swadley. The track star was the main tailback last year bringing the thunder to Howard’s lightening.
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Ethan Thompson and Austin Joplin will be in the mix as change of pace backs in the Willard running game. Sophomore Garrett Rice will see time at fullback.
Defensively, Christian Smart will be tough to replace at middle linebacker, but both outside linebackers in Dakota Mainprize and Chandler Murray return to offer stability in the linebacking corps.
Willard opens its season on Aug. 18 at home against Nixa.
