By Staff

2019 Fall Preview: Neosho Football

By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

One of the biggest surprises of last fall was the play of Neosho in just its second season under Leon Miller.

The Wildcats eight wins were their most in more than a decade.

Neosho’s four losses came against a combination of Carthage, Joplin and Webb City. All three teams played in the Final Four for their respective class.

Winning hasn’t been done consistently at Neosho, but Miller has been able to find wins early on.

“We’ve had good players and a staff that works hard to put them in a situation to have success,” said Miller.

Miller’s third season at the helm will look a little different with Neosho returning just eight total starters.

All-COC Senior Gage Kelley is back after passing for 353 yards and four touchdowns, and rushing 757 yards and 12 more scores. He’ll transition to running back, replacing Cade Lyerla who graduated last spring.

Senior Drayke Perry (140 rushing yards, 2 TD in 2018) will also see reps at running back. Classmate Bret Camerer (3 INT in 2018) is the team’s returning leader in interceptions and will likely see a bigger role at receiver. He rushed for 186 yards as a junior.

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Sam Sullivan is a two-way starter at tight end and linebacker that is again in the fold.

Defensively, Neosho will be led by a pair of All-COC seniors in Sam Cook and Quincey Willis.

Cook is a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker. His 6-foot-6 frame has already drawn college interest. He had 87.5 tackles as a junior. Willis is a big defensive back that had 105.5 total tackles and 6.5 tackles for a loss last season.

Senior Hunter Box will take over quarterback duties this fall.

Junior Landon Kivett will anchor the offensive line after starting as a sophomore. He’s the lone returning starter to the unit. He’ll be joined by fellow letterwinners Brady Franklin and Jacob Wilson, both are seniors. Senior Kaden Decker and junior Tristen Linders will also compete for reps, along with a host of sophomores.

Many schools in the COC platoon, but Neosho could see several starters playing both ways. In addition to his returning starters, Miller has several newcomers that “look like they can contribute” and will be counted on to do so immediately.

Aside from the back-to-back losses to Webb City and Carthage in Weeks 2-3, Neosho allowed just 13.4 PPG, boasting one of the top defenses in the COC.

That mentality won’t change as the Wildcats plan to reload behind another run heavy attack and fundamentally sound defense.

The goal, of course, is to play for another district championship. Last year’s 35-7 loss to Webb City not only gave Neosho the experience necessary to see what it takes to win a district title, but the drive to want to get back.

“The district championship game was a great atmosphere for our players and coaches, games like that need to become the expectation for our program and we have to expect to win them,” said Miller. “We have to maintain the hunter mentality. We need to embrace the day to day challenges in order for our youth to develop and have a four-quarter quarter mentality.

Neosho will open the 2019 season at Ozark on Aug. 30. The Wildcats will play their home opener the following weekend against Branson.