By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Brick by brick, Kellen Hoover has turned McDonald County into a contender, culminating in last year’s district championship and playoff run.
It can’t be overstated that McDonald County went 0-10 the year before Hoover took over and a combined 3-37 in the four seasons before his arrival.
To go from that to being a possession away from advancing to the Final Four in less than a decade is remarkable.
“I feel like every year that I’ve been at McDonald County, our senior class has done a great job moving our program forward in a positive direction for the groups to come after them,” said Hoover. “It was great to see that consistent positive movement result in a district championship last season. It was incredible to watch that group come together with each other and with our underclassmen and approach each day with an urgency and embrace the possibility of being the first senior class to win a district in our program’s history.
“With the talent they had and the way they approached every day, they left their mark and a great legacy as we try to follow up our run through the playoffs with another successful season in 2024.”
The Mustangs return just nine starters from last year’s 8-5 group as the program looks to take the next step forward with sustained success.
Senior Malosi Sosef (5-9, 200) is one of the top returners in the Big 8 after earning all-league honors as a junior. Junior Breck Rubeck returns to the receiving corps after being one of few sophomores named All-Big 8.
Both will slide into larger roles this season on both sides of the ball.
“Malosi did a great job last year when we asked a little more of him because of an injury, and he continued through the season and in the playoffs was an important part of our two-headed rushing attack,” said Hoover. “Malosi will still get a lot of touches back there and has shown in camp that he’s still a powerful runner that we hope is a tough tackle this season.
“Breck will get a lot of reps at wide receiver this year and really shows a knack for route-running and has a great pair of hands. He’s a student of the game and has a high football IQ, so we look for big things from Breck this year.”
Seniors Aidrian Short and Isaac Wagner, as well as junior Maddox Feagin, will also see increased roles offensively, specifically getting some carries this fall.
Senior Dominic Navin and junior Brodie Roessler will compete for reps at receiver and in the secondary.
Senior Miguel Melendez (5-10, 235) will anchor the offensive line after earning all-area honors last year. Junior Maks Spurgeon (6-2, 280) all brings back some valuable experience.
Both will see reps on the defensive line as well.
Senior Jarrett McCool (5-9, 205), juniors JP Clarkson (6-0, 225), Wyatt Gordon, Wes Leach, AJ Mead and Sam Pacheco will all see reps at either fullback or tight end, while also figuring into the equation defensively.
Hoover has also been impressed by senior Jace Thomas and sophomore Vince James, who could see action at a variety of positions.
One of the biggest question marks regarding the roster is under center where Destyn Dowd leaves a massive hole in Mac County’s offense. Senior Anthony D’Amico and junior Ryder Martin have both been in competition to take over the starting quarterback job.
“Anthony is a senior that has run some version of our offense for three years and possesses a great grasp of our scheme and what we want to accomplish as an offense,” said Hoover. “He has great command over his job and the other positions around him, and he really looks relaxed back there as our field general. He can make all the throws and knows when to take some risks in our RPO offense.
“Ryder brings a lot of versatility to the position. He has spent a lot of his career as a running back, so we know he can still do that. He can really spin it as well with a lot of accuracy, which makes him a dual-threat back there to really put a lot of pressure on defenses.”
The thing that separated McDonald County over the last few years has been line play. That’s what allowed the program to upset programs like Bolivar and West Plains in the playoffs.
Toby Moore is already on campus at UNLV and replacing him would be impossible anyway.
But Hoover knows how quickly he can galvanize his line on both sides of the ball will play a major factor in deciding if 2024 is a reload or a rebuild as the Mustangs look to take the next step towards competing for a state championship.
“It’s always hard to replace our guys up front, especially when they are firing on all cylinders like our group started to last year,” said Hoover. “Those same guys were extremely stout against the run defensively and made us right as coaches a lot. I think as we go into 2024, our competition in practice will play a big part in us being ready. Our returning starters and leaders have to show our new faces what the physical brand of football we want to play looks like, and not just some of the time. Our guys up front have to bring elite effort and energy themselves, hold each other accountable for that as well, and compete with each other every day if we want to continue to be successful.”
McDonald County will jamboree at Mt. Vernon with Forsyth and Neosho before opening the 2024 regular season by hosting defending Class 2 state champion Lamar on Aug. 30.
