By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
A one-point loss on the final play of the season opener wasn’t how the Monett football team wanted to start 2019, but the Cubs later won seven-straight games and went on to claim their first Big 8 Conference championship in 12 years.
Monett finished 8-3 with the three losses coming by a combined 21 points. It was the team’s first winning season since 2016 when the Cubs won the Class 3 state championship.
“We lost by a point to Mt. Vernon on the last play of the game and so what I was most proud of is how our kids came back from that and ended up winning eight games,” head coach Derrek Uhl said. “Ended up being conference champs. They could have gone either way with that but I thought they did a good job.”
Monett has some key losses to make up for this fall. Gone are players like Wes Merriman, a unanimous first team Big 8 West offensive tackle who also earned Second-Team Class 3 All-State honors. He’s now playing at Northwest Missouri State. Junior Villa was a First-Team All-Big 8 West linebacker who started for three years. Karter Brink was a First-Team All-Big 8 West quarterback who rushed for 304 yards and nine touchdowns and passed for 1,060 yards and 11 scores. Chet Butterworth was a First-Team All-Big 8 West guard and Brandon Majors was a First-Team All-Big 8 West running back. Majors rushed for 1,070 yards and seven touchdowns.
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Five offensive starters earned first team all-conference honors last year; all five graduated.
Monett does return seven starters on offense, including junior Harrison Merriman, a Second-Team All-Big 8 West tackle, senior Parker Ticknor and senior Christian Selvey, an Honorable Mention All-Big 8 center, on the offensive line. Junior Ethan Umfleet started at running back last year and will take over as quarterback this fall. He rushed for 373 yards and four touchdowns and added 365 receiving yards and three scores while earning Second-Team All-Big 8 honors as an all-purpose back. He also excelled as a kick returner, earning Third-Team Class 3 All-State honors and first team all-conference honors.
“We’re excited because at the quarterback position for the offense we’re running the ball’s going to be in his hands every play and we run triple option so he’s going to have a lot of times where he’s going to be able to run the football,” Uhl said. “With the ball in his hand he’s very dangerous as far as making a lot of big plays for us. He’s what you want as an option quarterback.”
At receiver the team returns two starters in seniors Dylan Lynch (270 yards receiving) and Arnold Cavazos (90 yards). Senior Miles Laning also played a lot at receiver. Senior Tanner Wright also returns as a starter at tight end. Lynch and Wright were both honorable mention Big 8 players at their positions.
Playing behind Umfleet in the offense will be junior Corbin McCully at running back. Three young players are battling for the other wing back position and three players are also in competition for fullback: senior Aleks Salas, who’s also the team’s kicker; senior Dru Guinn (161 rushing yards) and sophomore Stuart Weltes.
Joining the three returners on the offensive line are seniors Joe Korasick and Ray Villalta, an All-State defensive tackle who will play offensive guard.
Defensively the Cubs return their entire line, including Villalta, the Defensive Player of the Year in the Big 8 West last fall and a Second-Team Class 3 All-State player. Wright returns at defensive end after earning second team all-conference honors. Merriman returns as a Second-Team All-Big 8 defensive tackle and Salas, a Second-Team All-Big 8 kicker, returns at the other end.
Uhl said the defensive line should be a strength.
“Defensively it’s definitely up front because they’re all back,” he said. “Our D-line is going to be a strength of the D and offensively I would probably say the same thing, a lot of those same kids are playing on the offensive line.”
Cole Davis returns at inside linebacker and will be starting for the third-straight year. He earned Second-Team All-Big 8 honors last year. Some younger players are competing for the other inside spot. Umfleet returns at safety for his third year starting after earning Second-Team All-Big 8 honors there. At corner the team has seniors Dylan Lynch, Miles Laning and Arnold Cavazos competing for playing time. Hugo Marquez, who played as a freshman and moved away, could also return in the defensive backfield.
Junior Corbin McCully returns at outside linebacker and wrestler Matthew Bahl, who’s returning for his senior season after an injury last year, will play either outside linebacker or corner. He finished third at 126 pounds in the state wrestling tournament last winter. Senior Dru Guinn and sophomore Daven Madrid could also see time at linebacker.
“As a coaching staff we’re excited, we lost some key kids, we had some good leaders in that senior group but this group it’s going to be who’s going to be the leaders?” Uhl said. “Definitely a lot of experience coming back.”
There are still question marks, like who will play fullback and replace a thousand-yard rusher? And in the secondary the team lost three players to graduation.
“I’ll say this, I think we feel like we could have a good season,” Uhl said. “The way the summer has gone with all the distraction and our kids have done a good job of showing up to weights and our attendance has been as good as it’s ever been since I’ve been here. I just think the kids are excited to play and when you have that it potentially makes for a good season.”
The team has passed out 62 helmets but Uhl expects more players could join before the season starts.
