By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
District football kicks off around the Ozarks on Friday night. Here is your primer to what you can expect to see in district play.
The Ozarks typically performs extremely well here, but unlike most other classes, there is no dominant team here. We’ve seen Rogersville, Cassville, Seneca and Monett make runs in recent years. That should also be the case this year with several teams being in the hunt. There are several teams spread through three districts. Here’s what you should know.
District 4
Good luck figuring this thing out. Seneca is the No. 1 seed. Reeds Spring won the COC Small. Cassville, Aurora and Mount Vernon are difficult to figure out and Monett is the reigning state champion that always plays well this time of year. The winner of this district will likely be the favorite going into the quarterfinal matching with the District 3 winner.
Favorite: Seneca
Ryan McFarland has quickly turned the Indians around, doing so with just seven seniors on the roster this year. Seneca enters districts after taking it on the chin against Lamar, which might actually be a good sign because of the amount of Big 8 teams that lost to Lamar and still made Final Four runs. The one thing McFarland does probably better than anyone in this district is play with formations offensively, at times running his veer from spread looks and junior quarterback Gavin Clouse has thrived in it. Keep in mind Seneca had won eight games in the last three seasons combined and hasn’t won a district game since 2013’s state title game run. Obviously those teams were different, but winning is learned, especially in district play and it’s tough to take a group that hasn’t been through it. McFarland’s ability to get the Indians refocused and acclimated to playoff football will be imperative if Seneca is to make a run.
Best of the Rest
Reeds Spring opened 2017 with double-digit losses to future conference brethren Mount Vernon and Cassville. The Wolves responded by winning seven straight games, each by 20 points or more. Reeds has been the best regular season Class 3 team in the Ozarks over the last few years, but districts have been a different story. Since 2013, Reeds is 38-7 in the regular season – earning the No. 1 seed in the district each season – but the Wolves haven’t won a district title in that time and three of those losses have been by single digits. The Big 8 loves seeing teams that run the veer. Reeds will have to beat three straight Big 8 teams to win that elusive district championship…This was supposed to be a rebuilding year but Lance Parnell and company just reloaded. The only questionable game on their schedule was the loss to a much-improved Class 4 McDonald County team. The Cats enter districts with wins in four of their last five games, stealing the 2-seed by virtue of that Week 2 win at Reeds Spring. Those two will likely run it back in the district semifinals… Mount Vernon won five of its first six games, got ranked and proceeded to lose three straight to close the season. The Lamar loss isn’t bad (obviously), the Aurora and Cassville losses were a little surprising at some level. You look at those and think that the ‘Neers struggled to stop power football, but Mount Vernon owns wins over Reeds Spring, Catholic and Mac County. That might be more of an indictment on how good the Big 8 is compared to the COC Small. Mount Vernon’s ability to spread you out and take advantage might be the single most intriguing thing about this district. Ty Boswell and Andrew Montemayor are unicorns in a district of physical football teams. Sammy Robinson does give Tom Cox a ground presence, but MV can beat you in several different ways… Aurora has been a little inconsistent this year. They opened the season by getting drilled by Mountain Grove. A week later they beat MV-BT/Liberty, who would later beat Mountain Grove head-to-head. Aurora gave Lamar its best game of the season and nearly upset Seneca, but also lost to Cassville by three touchdowns. Craig Weldy also has a quarterback in John Lee that can get it done through the air (1,823 yards, 10 TDs) or on the ground (407 yards, 7 TDs). He also has a weapon in Clayton Dunning (767 receiving yards, 361 rush yards, 10 total TDs). Aurora might be the most dangerous team in the district. If you catch them on a night where they’re clicking and bringing it defensively, they can beat anyone.
Other Class 3 teams to keep an eye one
CLICK HERE FOR THE DISTRICT 3 BRACKET
Catholic is the 3-seed in District 3, but I think they’re still a dark horse. Their two losses, Mount Vernon and Reeds Spring, were two teams that held state rankings at some point this year. The Irish have been very good defensively for much of the season, establishing the run and playing defense will always travel this time of year. With that being said, last year Catholic got drilled by Eldon in a 3/6 upset. In 2015 the Irish got shutout in a 4/5 loss. There is hope. The 1-seed, St. James, got drilled at home by Cassville and the 2-seed, Eldon, is 8-1 but gave up 69 points to Owensville and 48 to Warsaw; Warsaw was a 4-5 Class 2 team. There’s some parity in the district but Catholic has as good of a chance as anyone else… Buffalo is a 7-seed and opens with Eldon. Obviously they’re an overwhelming underdog, but let’s just take a moment and appreciate the improvement. Ed Phillips has led a bit of resurgence in Buffalo and this year’s three wins is the program’s most since 2008. The crazy part is Buffalo lost to Marshfield by one and Rogersville by six; they were two possession away from their first winning season in years… Salem earned the 3-seed in District 1, which means they’re in with undefeated Park Hills Central. Salem enters districts with four straight wins. This district is tricky. Salem will see Dexter in the first round, a team that started 4-1 before losing four straight. They have no common opponents. Should Salem advance, they’d likely see Kennett, who is also 6-3 but has no common opponents. What everyone else has is irrelevant. If Salem and quarterback Cameron Camden can continue the roll they’ve been on, the Tigers will have a chance to compete for a district title.
Hudl Film I Love: Springfield Catholic ATH Tyson Riley
I won’t give him a position because he plays so many. He’s a safety that plays like a linebacker and a quarterback that plays like a running back. Regardless of if he has the ball or not, he’s looking to be physical and punish people. He’s the son of a coach and it shows in the film, he’s constantly making plays on the ball and very aware of where he’s at on the field. His future is definitely on the defensive side of the ball, which is why Catholic is a sleeper to make a district title run.
