By Chris Parker
Cabool was a young team last year on the way to a 4-8 record and district runner-up finish. The Bulldogs return 13 players who saw time starting on offense and 14 who saw time starting on defense. That includes six returning all-conference players.
“The experience our kids gained last year should be big for us this year,” Cabool head coach Tyler Spittler said. “Last year, we turned the ball over too much early in the year and we weren’t very disciplined which hurt us. Late in the year, we fixed a lot of those small mistakes we were making early in the year and that’s a big part of the reason we had success late. Our kids have put in a lot of hard work in the weight room over the off-season and gotten stronger so that’ll help us out a lot this year.”
The anchor of the Cabool offense will be one of the area’s top returning running backs in Tyler Fleetwood. Fleetwood rushed for 1,628 yards and 16 touchdowns on 260 carries as a junior.
“He (Fleetwood) really wants to be successful. Football is his life, so he puts everything he has into it. He is a leader for us and also does a lot on his own to get better,” Spittler said. “He is one of our main leaders on the team. As long as he stays healthy, he should have a great year on both sides of the ball.”
Cabool’s No. 2 rusher Owen Casper also returns. Casper rushed for 797 yards and 12 touchdowns on 114 carries last season.
“Owen and Tyler will be a great one-two punch,” Spittler said. “Owen likes to remind Tyler that he actually averaged more yards and touchdowns per carry.”
The duo will have a pair of returning all-conference offensive line blocking for them in Logan Walls and Kadyn Hall. Walls was also a third-team all-state selection.
“Logan is Mr. Consistency and Kadyn understands the scheme very well. They are both basically assistant coaches on the field. We will lean heavily on their experience,” Spittler said. “They have a really good understanding of the scheme. We will see several different fronts from defenses and probably see a lot of pressure with people trying to stop our run game. These two can make on field adjustments and tell the other lineman what we need to do to make our offense work.”
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Walls plays center and Hall is the left tackle.
Jeff Gebke, Kiel Ellison and Esaia Pasay will also play on the offensive line.
The quarterback position is an open competition featuring Braxton McCall, Austin Daniel, Trey Atkins and Carson Long.
The receiving corps will feature whoever isn’t playing quarterback along with Seth Owens, Isaiah White-Wake and Casper when he isn’t in the backfield.
Defensively, the linebacking corps will be strong led by Fleetwood and Casper. Fleetwood pulled down a team-high 124 total tackles while Casper had a team-high 13 tackles for a loss with 80 total tackles.
“Owen and Tyler will be in charge of making sure our defense is lined up right,” Spittler said.
McCall, Daniel and White-Wake will also see time at linebacker.
Gebke returns on the defensive line at defensive end after he led the team in sacks with five sacks last year.
“Jeff’s greatest attribute is his motor,” Spittler said. “He is very athletic and fast for a lineman. He plays so hard that he is very hard to block.”
Walls, Hall, Ellison and Pasay will join Gebke on the defensive line.
In the secondary, Atkins pulled down five interceptions in just four games to lead the team last season.
“He (Atkins) has a lot of natural ability and is an instinctual football player,” Spittler said. “He only played three and a half games last year due to injury.”
McCall, Daniel, White-Wake, Doug Turpin, Owens, Blayne Davis, Carson Lindsey and Long will also look for time in the secondary.
“With the amount of experience we have coming back, I expect us to be very sound in our scheme,” Spittler said. “We shouldn’t make very many mental mistakes, and if we do, we should be able to fix them quickly.”
Cabool will travel to Sarcoxie for a jamboree before opening the regular season on Aug. 25 at home against Harrisburg.
