By Chris Parker
Lockwood football had a breakthrough season in 2023 by winning the program’s first district title as an 8-man team.
This season marks the fourth season for Lockwood as an 8-man program meaning every player on the team has only ever played 8-man football at the high school level.
“I think our kids and community have enjoyed watching the boys compete the last few years,” Lockwood head coach Clay Lasater said. “There are so many teams playing 8-man football in Missouri now that we are playing a lot of teams that we have had long time rivals with. These games make for some fun Friday night football games.”
Now Lockwood will look to make it deeper into the playoffs. To do that, the overall physicality of the team must increase.
“We have to get a little more physical on both sides of the ball and we have to tackle better as a team,” Lasater said. “Playing defense in 8-man is very difficult and to move on deep into the playoffs you have to tackle extremely well as a team and be very physical.”
Lockwood returns one of the best offensive players in 8-man in senior Nik Thieman this season. Thieman was named first-team all-state and the SWMFCA 8-man Offensive Player of the Year. He had 208 carries for 1,621 yards and 32 touchdowns while adding another 21 receptions for 324 yards in the passing game.
“He (Thieman) is a tough runner. He has just enough size and speed to be tough to catch but what makes him special is how hard he runs. He is always falling forward for extra yards and runs hard through contact,” Lasater said. “Nik ended with far more carries and yards than I expected last fall. I think he will have another great year after the experience he gained last fall. He will not surprise anyone this year though after the season he had last year. He will have teams making plans to stop him.”
Thieman is also an outside linebacker where he was second-team all-region. He had 96 total tackles with 11.5 tackles for a loss and six interceptions on defense.
Logan Pittsenbarger was named first-team all-region at tight end and defensive back. He will again be a key two-way force at tight end and linebacker this season.
“Logan works really hard as a blocker. He is a total team-first guy. Logan never cares about what his role is or whether he gets the ball. He blocks really well and then has good hands when he gets out into routes,” Lasater said. “Logan is a really good tackler. He is probably our most sure-handed tackler on the team.”
Last year, Pittsenbarger had 10 catches for 182 yards and three touchdowns. Defensively, Pittsenbarger pulled down 119 total tackles with three interceptions and four fumble recoveries.
Landry Ogden will step in at quarterback after the graduation of Hank Eggerman.
Sophomore Sean Contrera and senior Reed Parker will be two targets to watch in the passing game.
In addition to Thieman, look for Owen Patterson (junior) and Roper Gray (sophomore) at running back.
Up front, Miles Neely was first-team all-region on both offensive and defensive lines while Reed Gastel was first-team all-region on the offensive line.
“I was very pleasantly surprised with our offensive line play last fall,” Lasater said. “Last year, we had an entire new starting offensive line and that made me really nervous. They really came along as the season went on and played really well as a unit. Having our entire offensive line back for the 2024 season is really exciting.”
Neely will be the left tackle while Gastel will be the right guard. Rounding out the line will be Ryan Wells (center), Luke Baugh and Logan Jenkins (left guard) and Talan Richter and Elijah Beard. Braxton Garver has also looked good at tight end.
Six starters return on defense.
Patterson was a first-team all-region defensive end last season and will play linebacker this season. He had 95 total tackles with five sacks and 23 tackles for a loss last season.
“Owen is really quick,” Lasater said. “Owen is a difficult kid to block because he gets off the ball very low and very quick. He has a great motor and pursues the football really well.”
Neely returns to the defensive line where he had a team-high 5.5 sacks. Beard and Richter will also play on the defensive line.
Pittsenbarger, Patterson and Thieman will be joined by Gray at linebacker.
Ogden and Contreras both started in the secondary as freshmen and return to those spots this season. Garver and Parker also will factor into the secondary.
“I anticipate our strength on offense being our offensive line and I anticipate our strength on defense being our linebacking corps,” Lasater said.
Lockwood will travel to Greenfield for a jamboree with Jasper, Liberal and the host Wildcats on Aug. 23. The Tigers open the regular season on Aug. 30 at home against Archie.
