Taking over for a coaching legend like John Roderique is a job a lot of people wouldn’t even entertain, let alone prosper at.
The expectations were high for Webb City in the first season under Ryan McFarland and the Cardinals met nearly every single one of them after finishing the season with a 10-3 record, falling in the Class 5 state semifinals.
“I was blessed with 33 seniors who did a phenomenal job of leading the Webb City program,” Webb City coach Ryan McFarland said about his first season at the helm. “There were 33 guys who grew up their entire Webb City career with Coach Roderique in charge. Then, they were tasked with being stuck with me for their senior year. They came in, we changed some stuff up, and they completely bought in and were supportive. They led really well. That was probably the brightest spot for my first year as head coach.”
Now, Webb City will be navigating a schedule with several new Central Ozark Conference games on the docket. The conference has expanded with the additions of Lebanon, Waynesville, Kickapoo and Glendale in football and is divided into the COC West (Carthage, Joplin, Neosho, Webb City, Republic, Willard) and the COC East (Lebanon, Waynesville, Nixa, Ozark, Kickapoo, Glendale) in football. This season, the Cardinals will take on the Yellowjackets and Chiefs in Weeks 1 and 3.
“The COC is always tough, especially if you look back over the last five years,” McFarland said. “Lebanon last year was in the ballpark of playing for a state championship. We get them Week 1. We get Nixa in Week 2 with all of their skill guys and linemen that they have. Then, we get Kickapoo Week 3. … You add Lebanon and Kickapoo to our schedule on top of everyone else we play, there’s not a week where you look at the schedule and say this is a week we can work on some stuff because if you don’t play your best football every week, you’re probably going to get beat.”
Webb City returns 11 starters and 10 additional players with varsity experience, while welcoming three new players into the fold.
“Last year, we had some injuries at skill positions … so a lot of guys got experience throughout the rest of the season,” McFarland said. “We feel really good about our wide receivers, running backs, linebackers and our secondary. But, if you look up front, we lost four offensive linemen and two tight ends from last year who played the majority of our games.
“We have one lineman back who played a lot of offense. Defensive line, we graduated all four starters, so we will have four new starters there. The offensive line and defensive lines have done a great job this summer, but there will be some growing pains early. … I think our ceiling is really, really high up front once we get those guys some experience.”
Along the trenches on offense, OL Eric Lathan and OL/DL Brady Belcher return alongside senior RB Andrew Elwell (108 carries, 467 yards, 7 rushing TDs) and junior RB Slade Hurd (51 carries, 349 yards, 3 TDs). On the outside, senior WRs Joseph Degraffenreid (22 receptions, 358 yards, 4 TDs) and Cohen Epler bring back starting experience.
Senior QB Jackson Lucas is expected to get the bulk of the work under center after junior Gabe Johnson suffered a knee injury playing basketball over the summer.
“Gabe Johnson is just a special player,” McFarland said. “This is my 22nd year coaching and I can only think of two or three kids who have a skill set similar to him and what he is able to do. Losing him to an injury is going to be rough for us and we are going to miss him, but we are excited about our quarterback position.
“Jackson Lucas is a kid who has a really good skill set for our offense. He throws the ball really well. He is athletic enough to run our offense and be a playmaker with the ball in his hands.”
Senior TEs Gus Karnes and Fisher Derrick join the offense along with sophomore OLs Louden Bollinger, Kayla Chrismon and senior OLs Riley Parker and Rylan Walker.
Defensively, the Cardinals’ secondary is going to be a strength on that side of the ball. Webb City returns senior safety Brody Eggleston (98 tackles, 2 ints), junior safety Mason Williams (28 tackles, 3 ints) and senior cornerbacks Andrew Young (32 tackles, 6 ints) and Bradyen Ackerman (21 tackles, 3 ints). Senior Noah Duley returns along the defensive line.
Senior LBs Jackson Dodson and Brock Renfro are also back on the defensive end.
The Cardinals’ opener at Lebanon is scheduled for August 30.