Fall 2019 Preview: Cabool Football

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By Justin Sampson (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Little has been consistent for the Cabool football program in recent memory. The Bulldogs enter the 2019 season with their fourth different head coach in five years.

Tyler Spittler will take the reins from Vincent McCroskey, whose contract was not renewed after one year back with the program. Spittler, a 2011 MV-BT/Liberty graduate, spent the last two years leading the middle school team at West Plains.

“I’ve been excited to get to know the players,” Spittler said. “They’re working hard and we’ve had a good turnout so far.”

His first varsity head coaching job will involve turning around a program with only five wins in four seasons. Four of those came last year as Cabool started 3-0 and put up its best record since 2014 They also put a scare into some traditional conference powers, dropping a meeting at MV-BT/Liberty by only two points before falling 14-7 to eventual district champion Thayer in the opening round of the playoffs.

That effort landed nine Bulldogs on postseason honor lists for the South Central Association. Five of those return to the 2019 squad, including senior Hayden Casper and junior Dakota Schawnk, who will be key cogs in the spread offense that Spittler will implement.

Casper was an All-SCA First Team selection on the offensive line as a junior and has already impressed his new head coach with his work ethic. Schwank was a second-team honoree at running back and could be the biggest offensive weapon to return.

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Senior Collin Emery and junior Adrian Ortega also expect to get touches out of the backfield.

The quarterback position is up for grabs as incumbent starter Will Johnson will battle fellow junior Quincy Flanagan during camp.

The defense will remain the same, led by All-SCA First-Team linebacker Austin Parsons. The senior comes with high praise as one coach believes he could be the best linebacker the program has seen over the last decade. He collected 136 tackles and 78 solo tackles as a junior.

Emery will also platoon the secondary following a Second-Team All-SCA selection at defensive back.

The remainder of the starting unit will include underclassmen that will be learning the ropes of the varsity game. Spittler will do the same from the sideline as he gets acclimated to everything that entails being in charge of a program.

“It’s almost a little overwhelming,” he said. “There is a lot that I’m figuring out in terms of how to be a head coach… things I haven’t had to deal with before behind the scenes. I’m eager to get the pads on and see what we’ve got.”

His competitive nature makes it hard to put limitations on what Cabool can put together this season. He believes he has players that will commit to the system and is eager to see that put to use when the Bulldogs open against Doniphan.

“It’s not going to come easy, but we expect to compete. We have a lot of hard-working kids. I think that will transfer well to the field. They will fly around and be very physical.”