By Chris Parker
Fair Grove football went into the 2022 season looking at a rebuild, but it turned out to be a reload. The Eagles finished 7-5 and advanced to the program’s eighth straight district title game.
“Two years ago, we had 23 seniors. We started 10 on each side of the ball, so we knew that coming into last year there would several new faces on both sides of the ball. It was obviously a learning curve like anybody in our situation would have,” Fair Grove head coach Bill Voorhis said. “I thought we did a really good job in our program prioritizing and making junior varsity football extremely important, so kids were ready when they had to play on Friday nights. By the end of the year, I think we were playing our best football. From where we started at the beginning of the year to finishing where we finished, I thought was a huge accomplishment for that group.”
The Eagles return a wealth of talent across all grades this season.
Seven offensive starters return, and no player is more dynamic than junior Kellen Lair. He earned first-team all-state honors as a returner as a sophomore.
“Kellen is a special athlete as far as his agility, athleticism, quickness, speed and balance. He is extremely special,” Voorhis said. “One thing I don’t think gets talked about enough is just how much core strength and balance that young man has as far as his ability to do things with the football.”
He did a little bit of everything for Fair Grove last season with 54 carries for 622 yards and seven touchdowns to go with 36 catches for 534 yards and four touchdowns. He also returned two punts and three kickoffs for touchdowns. Lair averaged 34.6 yards per return on punts and 34.2 yards per return on kickoffs.
His place on offense this year will be that of an athlete playing both in the backfield and on the edges.
“It is going to be ‘how many different ways can we find to get Kellen the football?’ He is a difference maker,” Voorhis said. “He is the type of kid that any time he touches the football, there is a chance for it to go all the way.”
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Getting the ball to Lair will be either Bryden Baxter or Spensar Seiger. The two are battling for the quarterback position for the second straight year. Last summer, Baxter got hurt and missed the first four games of the season leaving Seiger to start at quarterback. In game five, Seiger got hurt which had Baxter starting for the rest of the season. Baxter threw for 1,056 yards in his seven games.
“Either one of them (Seiger and Baxter) I think would start (at quarterback) for the majority of the teams on our schedule or anybody else in the area for that matter,” Voorhis said. “We are in the process of trying to sort that out like we should’ve been able to do last year. Both those kids are extremely talented. Whoever ends up winning our quarterback position, the other kid will go and have a huge role on our offense at some other spot. They are both kids who have to be on the field.”
A host of players including Blaine Kirkpatrick, Kolton Stevens, Dylan George and freshman Wyatt Hallam could see carries. Returning running back Gabe Muncy will miss the season due to injury.
Junior Brock Bruner will be a weapon at tight end for Fair Grove
“He (Bruner) is probably our most gifted football player all around. He is six-foot-two and 225 pounds,” Voorhis said. “He will put his hand in the ground and we will split him out outside and try to single him up when we can.”
Carson Krider, Mason Koller and freshman Gavin Thomason are all in the mix for snaps at wide receiver.
Whoever isn’t playing quarterback will also factor into the offensive game plan.
Up front, all-conference lineman Sam Daugherty returns for his senior season.
“Sam is the kind of kid that is humble. He doesn’t try to bark orders. He just pushes people and leads by example,” Voorhis said. “His work ethic this winter in the weight room I think is going to pay huge dividends for him. He has gained a lot of weight and strength.”
He will be joined by two-way starter Seth Hardison.
“If I had to point to an emotional leader for our football team, it is (Seth),” Voorhis said.
Gabe McMains, Oakland Morrison and Jaren Robinson are also in the mix on the offensive line. Freshman Aaron Daugherty, the younger brother of Sam, will also push for playing time on the offensive line.
Defensively, Paul Thomas takes over as defensive coordinator after longtime defensive coordinator Ryan Buffington took a step back to focus on administrative duties.
Linebacker will be a strength for the new-look defense. Bruner will drop back from defensive end to linebacker and be joined by Kirkpatrick, Koller, Sawyer Haskins, and Jackson Martin.
Hardison and Mason Kern will be key players up front on the defensive line.
Kolton Stevens, Seiger, Baxter, Carter Roy, Lair, Krider, Carson Trussell and Thomason are all in the mix for time in the secondary.
The defense will use its speed advantage on most nights to play a more aggressive defensive style.
“I think that our overall team speed is going to be the thing that separates us and allows us to be successful,” Voorhis said. “Every one of those (players) at linebacker can run. Our defensive line can run. We were talking about how Seth, our nose guard, could drop back (to linebacker). We have some athletic kids all across the board. Because of that I think we can be super aggressive on defense and take some chances.”
The Fair Grove youth football program also continues to produce results. This year’s freshman class has been running the Fair Grove style since they were in the third grade. Voorhis believes they have been undefeated since then. Several freshmen could see playing time this season. In addition to the freshmen mentioned above, Kolton Klindworth and Harrison Martin could also push for playing time.
Fair Grove will host a jamboree on Aug. 18 with Marshfield, Glendale and West Plains before opening the season on Saturday, Aug. 26 at home against Mountain Grove.
