By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
The Waynesville football team only won three games last season but the Tigers managed to end on a high note with the program’s first district win since 2019, an 18-0 triumph against Central.
Waynesville won’t be able to lean on much experience this fall, however, with the Tigers returning about 10 players who saw varsity time last year.
“We lost a lot of offensive power for the most part, but our kids have been working real hard during the summer so that’s pleasing,” head coach Kyle Barkley said. “We’re going to be very inexperienced from a varsity level standpoint so we’re going to rely a lot on some kids who played JV or were injured last year to come in and take a role on Friday nights. We’ll take our bumps and bruises, but I like the way the kids have been working hard this summer.”
The Tigers return four players on the offensive side and must replace the bulk of their production after graduating players like running back Chase Thomas-Plummer (First-Team All-Ozark Conference) and quarterback Davin Vernon (honorable mention all-conference). Those two combined for more than 1,600 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.
In all, Waynesville graduated six players who earned postseason honors on the offensive side of the ball.
The offensive returners are linemen Ian Sheppard, a junior, and Kalob Salinas, a senior, as well as running backs Michael Kelsey Jr., a junior, and Taumailelei Asi, a senior. Kelsey was an honorable mention pick last season on the all-conference and all-region squads and was second on the team with 1,075 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Asi rushed 30 times for 221 yards and three scores.
Senior Bishop Godwin has made a lot of strides as the team’s new starting quarterback, Barkley said. He rushed for 136 yards and attempted six passes as the team’s backup last fall.
“It’s definitely a work in progress,” Barkley said. “We’ve got a lot of kids working towards spots on the line. It’s hard to tell until you get out there and face somebody. We’ve got a lot of kids in new spots and for the most part they’ve been doing well for us.”
Waynesville returns a little more experience on defense, with six players back who saw the field last year. That list includes seniors Jonathan Hedrick (29 tackles, two interceptions) at defensive back, Mason Perez (14 tackles) at outside linebacker, Daylan Registe (14 tackles) at outside linebacker and Yediel Santana (19 tackles, four sacks) on the line, and junior linebackers Chris Scott (27 tackles) and Isaiah Hopper (45 tackles), who earned honorable mention honors on the all region and all-conference teams.
“We’ve got a nucleus on the defense but at defensive line we’re going to be very inexperienced, that’s our big concern right now,” Barkley said.
“We had a lot of big guys last year and this year we don’t have the 280, 290-pound guys so we’re going to have to do some things a little differently,” he said. “We’ve got a similar situation at defensive back. We’ve got a couple core kids but we’re going to be a little inexperienced. Our biggest thing we’re looking for is just wanting to compete. If you understand your assignment and alignment you have a good chance of playing.”
Waynesville will head to Rolla for its jamboree on Aug. 18, and opens the regular season at Glendale on Aug. 25.
