By Chris Parker
New year. New conference. New starting lineup.
Logan-Rogersville football will have a new look this season in more ways than one as the Wildcats move from the Big 8 East to the newly formed Ozark Mountain Conference.
“This will be a tough move for our football program but one that is probably necessary with the growth of our district into a perennial Class 4 program now,” Logan-Rogersville head coach Mark Talbert said. “We were and still are right on that line of Class 3 and Class 4. Rogersville is definitely growing community, but we will continue to be one of the smaller Class 4 programs in the state. Playing that type of schedule week after week will be good for the future growth of the program.”
Marshfield and Reeds Spring are the only teams that remain on Rogersville’s schedule from last season with a bulk of the new conference being comprised of teams from the Ozark Conference and Central Ozark Conference.
“I believe the schools that are moving in from the OC and COC will be at an advantage early just based upon their strength of schedule over the last six years,” Talbert said. “The Big 8 is an unbelievable small school conference but the schedule that West Plains, CJ or Branson have been seeing is not comparable for us.”
The Wildcats will have to navigate these new opponents with just three starters returning on each side of the ball.
It will take a full team effort for Rogersville to be competitive right away in the Ozark Mountain Conference.
“Success for us this year has been discussed since November of last year when we met after our last game. Commitment to culture with a team first attitude will allow for immediate growth,” Talbert said. “We want to win, we feel as though we will be more capable of winning than most will give us credit for only returning three players on each side of the ball, but we know that in order to get there, we must improve each week. We want to finish the year a much better team than we started.”
Offensively, all three starters returning are offensive linemen in Lucas Parris, Vance Nally and Brayden Kent. Grayson Harris, Parker White and Alex Getman will also be a part of a deep offensive line.
The depth up front will allow for Rogersville to play a little faster this season.
“Offensively, we will want to push pace this year,” Talbert said. “We have some good lineman up front with a little bit of depth. In order for us to get an advantage, we want to make your defense a little bit uncomfortable with the pace of our offense.”
Leading the offense at quarterback will be either junior Sam Frieze or freshman Kasimir Manczuk. Frieze led the junior varsity team to a 6-3 record last season. Manczuk led the eighth-grade team to an undefeated season.
“Both guys have been impressive this summer and have showed that they are capable of playing on Friday night,” Talbert said. “Ultimately only one of them can be on the field at a time and that decision will come after summer camps and jamboree.”
Rogersville will run more of a spread formation this year with less tight end usage. Jacob Shinkarevich and Damari Barr will serve as H backs and tight ends.
Skye Vaughn, Broden Cantrell, Nate Knowles, Cash Clark, Gage Hale, AJ Muncy, and Lucas White are all receivers who could make an impact.
“All of these guys will be in the rotation and play quite a bit,” Talbert said. “We feel as though this group is very talented and will allow for us to play a more traditional spread offense this year.”
Hale, Muncy and White could all see touches out of the backfield.
Defensively, Shinkarevich will be at the center of everything from his linebacker spot. The senior tore his ACL on the first play of the season last year, but as a sophomore had a 120-tackle season.
Eli Craft, Jack Cole, Dallas Boyer, Carl Westerling, Muncy, Kael Sharp and Jason Sales will join Shinkarevich at linebacker.
Carson Stinnett, Damari Barr, Kent, Parris, Nally and Keziah Queen will be on the defensive line.
Cash Clark, Vaughn and Cantrell will be the top cornerbacks for Rogersville. Gage Hale will play safety with Clark also seeing time at safety.
“Our strength this year will be centered around team unity,” Talbert said. “This group seems to be very tight knit and really focused on team success. We are anxious to see how this plays out on our schedule throughout the year. I’m excited to watch the growth of our players and how they have committed to doing what is best for the team. With so many new starters and roles, it has allowed us to get the most out of them.”
Rogersville will travel to Springfield Central on Aug. 23 for a jamboree with Hillcrest, Strafford and the host Bulldogs. The Wildcats open the regular season on Aug. 30 at home against Reeds Spring. They will play their first Ozark Mountain Conference game on Sept. 20 at home against Carl Junction.
