By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
After five straight winning seasons, the 2021 campaign was more of a rebuilding year for the Pierce City football team. The Eagles finished with a 2-7 record, scoring 102 points in their two victories but just 66 in those seven losses.
“I think every coach will say that if you’re forced to play some younger kids before they’re ready, you’re going to take some lumps but at the same time hopefully down the road it reaps some benefits,” said head coach Brad Hocker. “We had some young kids playing before they probably should have and now they’ve gotten stronger in the weight room and accustomed to what we do on offense and defense. Hopefully we have a little more success this year.”
The Eagles lost a pair of All-Conference linemen to graduation but do return seven starters on each side of the ball and a dozen lettermen. Highlighting the list of returners on offense is senior Clayten O’Hara, who earned first team honors in the Southwest Conference as a running back after rushing for 1,246 yards, receiving for 353 and scoring 16 touchdowns. He’ll be the team’s quarterback this year, and he did complete 11 passes for 96 yards in limited action last year.
Junior Judah Linn is a returning receiver who caught 10 passes for 62 yards and rushed for 154 with two scores. Junior Jaxon Turner will also see time out wide.
Getting time at tight end will be junior Carson Jespersen, Gage Warner and senior Bryan Puente.
“We’ll have some inexperience at wide receiver but we have gotten a little more athletic,” Hocker said. “Some of our tight ends like Bryan Puente got some playing time but these other kids are big sophomore kids.”
Senior Zane Clayton will serve as a running back; he gained 375 rushing yards and 144 receiving yards last year. Sophomore Evan Salazar and Mekhi Kleiboeker will also play in the backfield.
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Senior Lane VanNote returns to the offensive line after earning honorable mention All-Conference honors. He’ll probably be the starting center. Sophomore Jacob Lawrimore will probably start at right guard and junior Kale Murphy, who moved in from Aurora, will probably start at right tackle. Senior Dylan Carmen, Ayden Coy and Sean O’Hara will also see time on the line.
The defense returns All-Conference players O’Hara (honorable mention) at linebacker, Clayton (first team) at linebacker and Puente (honorable mention) at linebacker.
Carmen brings some experience to the defensive line, while Jespersen and Gage Warner will take over at the ends. Coy will also start at tackle.
Kleiboeker and Salazar should play at outside linebacker. Linn returns to the secondary, and Turner didn’t play last year due to an injury but should also see time in the defensive backfield.
“We always say that if you can get used to getting your alignment correct on defense as quickly as possible, you speed up your game play,” Hocker said. “If you eliminate confusion then your game play speeds up. That’s what we’re going to do, get them aligned, see they know where to go and when to go. Offensively we’ve really looked good. These are smart kids and we’ve thrown a lot at them in two weeks of camp. You can’t have any injuries at a small school, though, because then you’re forced to play kids who aren’t ready yet.”
The Eagles are right around 30 players on the roster, which is typical for Pierce City. In addition to focusing on defensive alignment, Hocker has tried to streamline things by focusing on just three or four formations, an attempt at “being good at a few things as opposed to mediocre at a bunch of them,” he said.
“Being able to run the same basic run plays out of three or four different formations, that’s what we’ve focused on offensively,” he said. “Defensively we’re just trying to get aligned correctly and we’ve done a good job on those two areas.”
Pierce City will head to Sarcoxie for the jamboree. The Eagles host Lighthouse Christian in week one; last year they played an 8-man exhibition game against Lockwood to start.
