By Staff

2019 Fall Preview: Waynesville Football

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By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Few coaches in the Ozarks are more passionate or energetic than Waynesville’s Joe Haynes and there’s a zero percent chance that changes entering the 2019 campaign.

Haynes returns 13 starters – eight on the offensive side of the ball – making his expectations high for his Tigers as his second season approaches.

“Last season was definitely a transition year overall,” said Haynes. “Transition within the players and coaching staff in our way of pride for our community, level of thinking, effort in competing, and the importance of brotherhood. Three victories for this senior class was due to the level of heart, attitude, and relentless determination that they were able to display when they were competing at their best. We feel that we definitely made steps in the right direction and we look forward to continued levels of success as we enter the 2019 season.”

Leading the charge this fall will be All-Everything senior Shen Butler-Lawson, who is coming off a junior season that saw him total 1,237 yards and 14 touchdowns on just 147 touches from scrimmage.

Butler-Lawson already holds a pair of Division One offers (Purdue and South Dakota) with many more actively recruiting the 6-foot, 200lb running back.

“Our offensive system is built to showcase players with dynamic skill sets and Shen is clearly one of those guys on this year’s team,” said Haynes. “All the teams in the Ozark Conference are very much aware of what he brings to the table. So naturally, we want to put ourselves in successful positions throughout the game, and Shen will be a major factor in such.

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“He is truly an all-purpose back. Any run scheme fits him, receiving the ball out of the back field, aligning wide as a receiver, and even aligning at ‘Wildcat’ QB are all ways that we have and will continue to utilize his talent offensively. Defensively, we would be crazy to not get him on the field. A dynamic player with his talent can help the defensive unit greatly. We have some plans for that this season just the same.”

Junior quarterback Michael Lewis also returns after passing for 896 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, completing 55% of his passes.

Lewis will have two of his favorite targets back as well in Kevin Poinsette and Jaylen Andrews.

Defensively, Poinsette sets that tone after totaling 37 tackles and four interceptions with a team-high 12 pass breakups last season. He’s joined in the secondary by A.J. Martin (42 tackles, INT). Linebackers Maurice Fiame (69 tackles, 3 sacks) and Ian Williams (62 tackles, 5 sacks) will lead the front seven.

Haynes believes his defensive has the potential to surprise some people this fall as a unit.

“We have skill players throughout our secondary that make us feel good about lining up against any team,” said Haynes. “We have depth in our secondary with Kevin and AJ Martin both returning. Our two ILBs Ian Williams and Maurice Fiame are both seniors that started together all season in 2018, and our D-Line has a few players that could develop into solid impact players. We do believe our defense will be tough, they will fly to the ball, and ultimately, they will compete hard.”

Haynes also has his eyes on a few newcomers to make immediate contributions.

Devon Smith is a high-motor senior that will help anchor the defensive line. He will likely be joined by sophomore Aidan McFarland to help solidify the defensive front.

Junior Jared Hyatt is a basketball player that has converted into wide receiver and at 6-foot-4 will be vertical threat. Sophomore Eric Richardson ran a sub 10-second 100 as a freshman and will see reps on both sides of the ball because of that speed.

For Haynes, Year Two will be about continuing to establish the foundation of what is now a sleeping giant program.

Since winning state in 2007, the Tigers have had as many winning seasons as winless seasons (2). None of those .500 or better seasons have happened this decade.

Haynes is excited about the process and knows he has something special in Waynesville. It may not happen overnight, but it’s going to happen. Much of that will start as his program takes on the attitude and leadership of its coach.

“Last season we rolled into fall camp without a true identity of who we were,” said Haynes. “There were a lot of transitions among the staff and personnel even going into late July, so we got off to a slower start that we would have liked. This season, we have a clear understanding of who we are and our goals have been clearly established. I believe the 2019 Tigers will remind our faithful following of some of the great days in Waynesville Tiger football past; tough, hardworking, disciplined football!

“We anticipate a successful season where we feel we should be able to make a push for our conference title. It’s going to take winning a few games late in the fourth quarter, or winning a couple in overtime. But the toughness and determination to achieve that level of greatness is what our kids have been striving for all off season. There are a lot of really good teams within our conference, and we recognize that all teams are formidable opponents. We overlook none, but we believe that it should be a lot of fun in Tiger Country this fall.”

Waynesville will open the 2019 season on Aug. 30 at Camdenton. The Tigers will play their home opener the following week against Kickapoo.