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The landscape of southwest Missouri’s high school conference affiliations has seen seismic shifts over that last two years that will first be felt this upcoming fall.
The area saw 30 schools change conference affiliations that caused two conferences in the Central Ozark Conference Small Division and Spring River Valley Conference cease to exist while two more in the Southwest Conference and Ozark Mountain Conference are newly formed.
CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF THE AREA’S 2018-19 CONFERENCE AFFILIATIONS
One school that was left out in the movement was Bolivar. Bolivar was a member of the COC Small. Former conference foes Hollister, Marshfield, Rogersville, Springfield Catholic and Reeds Spring moved on to the expanded Big 8 while Buffalo took up residence in the Ozark Mountain Conference.
Bolivar was unable to secure a conference affiliation, which means the Liberators will be an independent school for this two-year cycle. While it will make scheduling more difficult for all sports, football is an especially tricky puzzle with only nine available games and conferences like the Ozark Conference and COC Large having 10 members meaning no available non-conference openings. The Big 8 also has no non-conference openings with 14 teams. This left Bolivar with few options among area schools.
Technology has been key for Bolivar football in navigating the challenges presented by an independent schedule.
“The difficult part is Week 9 because that is usually your end of the conference championship time, so the teams that are in conferences are locked in. For the most part you blast out an email and see who has opens and from there you see who fits your schedule from week to week,” Bolivar head coach Glen Johnson said. “The other side of that is do we get a home game or an away game? We were a little bit afraid we might end up with a bunch of away games with one year all away and one year all home.”
Bolivar’s 2018 football schedule wound up well balanced with five home and four away games, but it is filled with many teams area football fans will be unfamiliar with:
2018 BOLIVAR FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Week 1 – at Eldon
Week 2 – vs. MV-BT/Liberty
Week 3 – at Hannibal
Week 4 – vs. Marshall
Week 5 – vs. Hannibal
Week 6 – at Union
Week 7 – vs. Clinton
Week 8 – at Fort Scott (Kan.)
Week 9 – vs. Cape Girardeau (Central)
Last year, Bolivar’s longest regular season road trip was 46 miles to Marshfield.
This year the shortest road trip will be 85.5 miles to Eldon. The longest trip will be a 218-mile trek to Hannibal with Union (170 miles) and Fort Scott (Kan.) (88 miles) also on the schedule.
Cape Girardeau Central is the school from the furthest away at 281 miles. The Liberators will host Central this year, but have to make the trip to Cape Girardeau next year.
This new schedule also brings scouting challenges, which is where technology comes into play again.
“(We are) really depending on technology there to help to be able to see what we are going to be going up against because there are a lot of (opponents) we don’t know a lot about other than what we can scrape up,” Johnson said.
The uncertainty brings some excitement for the Liberators.
“(An) independent schedule comes with some excitement because we have been playing in the COC for a long time,” Johnson said. “It is hard to hide in today’s age. We are all watching the news and internet and kind of know what everybody does anyway. It has been nice to explore those and see what they (new opponents) have coming back.”
The schools listed on Bolivar’s schedule seem a little random with schools from all around the state and even Kansas, but the Liberators weren’t without options when it came time to fill out the 2018 slate.
“We had really good feedback from people. Todd Schrader, our athletic director, did a really good job filling our schedule,” Johnson said. “I was able to look at several teams and say we want this team over that team. There are more teams out there looking for games than you think.”
The independent schedule also offers some postseason advantages and disadvantages according to Johnson.
“I think there are definitely advantages and disadvantages (in the postseason),” Johnson said. “It could be an advantage where it is a little harder for people to see us because we have been all over the state. I think more than anything it hurts our kids getting recognition in the district because nobody knows anybody we are playing. A kid can have 150 tackles, but if you don’t know who you are playing that doesn’t have a lot of merit.”
The COC Small is gone and the schedule has changed. Bolivar even brings in a young team to add to take on the new challenges that 2018 will bring.
What hasn’t changed is the spirit of the team and town.
“Our guys are really fired up. They are making a name for themselves because (with) a lot of these guys, nobody knows them,” Johnson said. “It is a great opportunity for them to come in and be a Liberator. They have been wanting to be a Liberator all their lives. That is the awesome part. Bolivar is such an awesome town and great community that we have really banded together. I just met with my momma Liberators to decide how we are going to feed them. When you travel five hours you have to feed them a few times. Everyone has come together and the kids are fired up for it.”
Bolivar will open the 2018 season on Aug. 24 at Eldon.
