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By Chris Parker
Logan-Rogersville enters the fourth season of the Mark Talbert era looking to take another step after a giant leap last season. The Wildcats went 0-10 in Talbert’s first year and followed that up with a 3-8 showing in Year Two. Last year, the Rogersville finished 7-3, which was the first winning record for the program since 2011.
Now, Rogersville is looking for even more with a program full of players who only know Talbert’s expectations.
“It (entering Year Four) is great because these kids have consistently had the same coaches throughout their whole high school careers. We are grateful that we have had that opportunity to stay together and build that camaraderie,” Talbert said. “The consistency of the expectation of what we are trying to do is showing through with these kids for the first time. Our seniors have been with us for four years. Our juniors have also been with us for four years. We invested in our middle school (program) when we got here, and we are seeing a huge payoff on that.”
Rogersville will have to replace a strong group of graduated players that were led by first-team all-conference defensive back and second-team all-conference running back Zach Bergmann.
“Zach was a tremendous leader. He got a lot of kids around him that hadn’t necessarily been that interested in football to come out and believe in something. We are going to miss that tremendously,” Talbert said.
Bergmann was a key defensive player, but was also a standout in the backfield rushing for 701 yards on 130 carries with 13 touchdowns.
“Zach was a big deal for us last year. (He was) just that huge, physical back that we knew could go get three yards every time we needed it,” Talbert said.
Fortunately for Rogersville, quarterback JJ O’Neal does return. O’Neal is one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the area. He threw for 1,358 yards and 11 touchdowns last year while rushing for 1,144 yards and 11 more touchdowns on 137 carries.
“We look for him (O’Neal) to take some major strides this year in his overall management of the game and keep us in front of the sticks. We are really excited about JJ’s playmaking ability, and his ability to make something out of nothing. Overall, he is just an extremely dynamic player. He is a smart football player. He has worked hard to become the guy for us,” Talbert said.
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O’Neal will have his top target back on the outside in senior Cody Rasmussen. Rasmussen earned second-team all-conference honors after he caught 28 passes for 552 yards and 6 touchdowns averaging 19.7 yards per catch.
“He (Rasmussen) is an extremely big receiver. He is 6’3 and 180 to 190 pounds. The thing that makes him special is he has the ability to play the ball in the air. He’s got really good hands, and he just tracks the ball well in the air,” Talbert said. “Cody was deep threat guy last year and home run hitter. He caught a couple screens that he turned into big plays for us. I think we’ll see a lot more of the same from him this year.”
Logan Cook will also factor into the receiving game as he agreed to switch from quarterback to receiver and cornerback this year.
“He (Cook) was our JV quarterback last year. We went to him and said ‘we would like for you to make the biggest impact that you can on this football team’ and he accepted that role. He is going to wind up being a starting receiver and probably a starting corner for us instead of sitting in a backup role at the quarterback position. I think he will be one of the top receivers in the conference before the season is over,” Talbert said.
The backfield will see several players vying for carries. Junior Luke Hauer was the junior varsity running back last year. He had 16 carries for 58 yards on varsity as a sophomore. Patrick Comito is a senior that has gotten bigger in the weight room and will be a factor.
Junior Caleb Cole could see time at either wide receiver or running back.
Much of the success of the skill players will be made possible by a deep and experienced offensive line anchored by seniors Carson Combs and Calvin Chainey. Both players were second-team all-conference selections on the offensive line last season.
“We’re really excited about our offensive line this year,” Talbert said. “Carson has gotten ridiculously big in the weight room. He has worked as hard as anybody in our program trying to get where he needs to be. He’s got high aspirations to play college football, so he is doing everything he can do to get himself into that situation. Calvin Chainey is another big kid that has worked extremely hard. Him and Carson are really close. Those two guys offer a lot of leadership for us up front.”
Jess Hanes will bring serious strength to the offensive line in his senior season.
“He (Hanes) is the strongest kid in our entire school. He is a big, physical right tackle coming back for us,” Talbert said.
Senior Mason Grable along with juniors Joey Anderson, Davin Agee and Josh Woosley and sophomore Kolbey Ballowe will all see time on the offensive line. Kaden Daniels, a transfer from MV-BT Liberty, will also find time on the offensive line.
“We’ve got quite a good-looking offensive line. They are going to be big and physical. We are finally going to be able to match that Big 8 style of play and we are excited about that,” Talbert said.
Defensively, Rogersville will look to match the physical play of its Big 8 opponents.
“Last year we took some strides and did well on the East side, but went 1-2 on the West side. We are trying to reach that goal of being able to meet the physicality of the Nevada’s and Cassville’s,” Talbert said.
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Combs will be a leader in the middle of the defense at middle linebacker. He earned second-team all-conference honors after he pulled down 52 tackles last season.
“He (Combs) is probably built a little more like a defensive end or defensive tackle, but he does a great job of plugging up the middle for us at that (middle) linebacker position,” Talbert said. “It gives us the ability to meet the physicality of our league really for the first time.”
Hauer and Comito will also be at linebacker with junior Cooper Martin and sophomores Cameron Wray and Brady Buckman competing for time as well.
Up front, Joey Anderson returns at defensive tackle after he earned honorable mention all-conference honors at the position last year. Anderson pulled down 57 tackles with three tackles for a loss as a sophomore.
“Joey has taken a huge step forward. He is just a hard-working kid. He’s not scared of anything, won’t back down from anything and works extremely hard in the weight room. He is a wrestler, so he has a tough mentality,” Talbert said.
Agee, who also wrestles, will also be a force on the defensive line.
“He is another wrestler that brings that toughness to our kids up front on the defensive line,” Talbert said.
Daniels will also be an important piece of the defensive line.
The secondary will be led by O’Neal, who will play safety. O’Neal had 40 tackles with four pass break-ups last year.
“His speed and his range make it tough on offenses when you have a kid like that playing centerfield,” Talbert said.
Clay Palen will find a lot of time in the secondary in his first season coming out for football. Cook will also be a factor in the secondary. Garrett Carlson, Tanner Peterson and Rasmussen are also players to watch in the secondary.
Rogersville will have to place some key leaders, but Talbert is not worried about finding new leaders to step up.
“When you got when you’ve got JJ (O’Neal) and Carson Combs leading the way, you feel pretty good about your senior leadership,” Talbert said. “This group is the last group that remembers going 0-10 in my first year. We definitely want to take advantage of that this year because there is something about going through that experience that made our kids tougher and made our kids understand that you have to work and nobody is going to give you anything.”
Rogersville will travel to Hillcrest on Aug. 20 for a jamboree with the host Hornets, Central and Strafford. The Wildcats open the season on Aug. 27 at Nevada.
