Its the annual Dead Week for Fall Sports. There will be NO Contact between school sports staff and student athletes. Its a week to recoup from the summer workouts and get ready for the upcoming school year.
On Monday the year officially starts. Fall, practices will get underway. Now, Football players will not be allowed to make full contact and will be forced to go back to shorts for the first week. Gotta get used to that heat. I mean, its been a full week since they were in full pads going at it a various team camps. All sarcasm aside, dead week means we are one week closer to getting it all going, for real. We are starting a week later this year, Jamborees are July 17th and Football Friday Nights Start on the 24th.
Its not just football. The same timeline, for workouts apply to all fall sports. Cross-Country Runners, Softball Players, Fall Golfers, Tennis Players, and Soccer athletes can all get going on Monday.
For many folks, there has not been a whole lot of time off. Between summer workouts, camps, and in some cases “summer ball” high school sports is almost a year round commitment. Especially for multi-sport athletes. But, most would not want it any other way. I can tell you from experience those days fly by.
Most schools will start in a couple weeks, in most cases just before the first competition.
Its the “calm before the storm” but a STORM that I cant wait to arrive.
The countdown has begun and in few short weeks it will be football season. Gone is the Small COC, and here is the New Big 8. This is a conference that has a ton of tradition.
A preview of this years teams will come in the not so distant future but I thought I would give you a few tidbits on some of the new places we will be seeing. Get used to the words tradition and pride, they are more than just catch phrases in the Big 8.
Nothing new for Reeds Spring in seeing Hollister, Rogersville, Catholic, or Marshfield, they have been playing for years. The other two teams in the East may not be quite as familiar but not far from it.
Aurora- The Houn Dawgs and Wolves might as well have been in the same league. Whether it was district playoffs or regular season the two seemingly always got together. Before last year they had played 10 of the previous 11 seasons. They still play at the field by the old high school. Its a grass field. Coach Moler was at Aurora before coming to Reeds Spring.
Mt Vernon- Wolves have played these guys 4 times in the previous two seasons. The ‘Neers defeated Reeds Spring for the district championship a year ago on their way to the State Championship Game. Very nice, still new stadium with artificial turf. Nice field house for home team visitors have a little walk, they dress and the school
There are some familiar faces in the other division as well as some folks that the Wolves have never seen
Cassville- This is one of the teams that the Wolves are pretty familiar with. The two have played the previous three seasons including twice a year ago. This is a school that has plenty of tradition. David Large built a state power there and those expectations continue today. Older grass field but a nice facility, well taken care of.
Monett- This is a school that Reeds Spring has played sparingly through the years. Its a team that won the State Title two years ago. Wolves beat them for the first time last season. Its a school that expects success and usually achieves it. Knowledgeable and very loyal fan base. A nice artificial turf field. Did a nice job of keeping the nice feel of an older stadium with the new field. Nice place to see a game.
Lamar- This is one of the teams that Reeds Spring has never played but everyone has heard about. One of the best programs in the state at any level. They have won seven straight Class 2 State Titles. Large fan base… Unique Offense… Hard Nose Defense…. Very nice natural surface field.
East Newton- The Patriots have struggled for quite a while, there is no denying that. The have struggled with numbers and playing in a tough league has not done them any favors. They were shut out six times a year ago, scoring more than a touchdown only once. Older facility with a grass field.
Seneca- Another team with tradition. They really had some playoff battles with Branson, back in the day. Usually smash-mouth, hard nose football is a given with the Indians. They have a grass playing surface and the fans are right on top of the field. Can be an intimating place to play.
McDonald County- The biggest School in the bunch and the newest member of the Big Eight (before this expansion) The Mustangs have struggled as of late but seemingly turned a corner last year. After going winless in 2016, a new coach and seemingly new team emerged in 2017 getting all the way back to the .500 mark. The Mustangs play on grass.
Nevada- Probably the school that I know least about. They were a charter member of the Big 8 when it was formed in 1929. They will return to the league this season. One of the few places I have not been. They do have a grass playing surface.
Looking forward to seeing some of these places over the next few years.. Just a reminder.. Teams play everyone in their division every year and also play three teams from the other division. Next year you play the same teams but flip-flop home and away. Then we go to the next rotation.
Blue Eye girls basketball was made quite a run last season. Picking up where they left off in 2016-2017. The addition of Taylor Arnold proved to be key, as the Lady Bulldogs won District and Sectional Championships before falling to Skyline in the State Quarterfinals.
While Arnold still has her senior season at Blue Eye to play, she has made a decision on where she will play her college ball.
She has announced she will join the Evangel Crusaders and coach Megan Leuzinger as part of the 2019-2020 signing class.
Arnold averaged more than 16 points for Coach Ken Elfrink and the Lady Bulldogs this past season. But, its not just on the court where Arnold excels. Her 4.0 grade point average proves that she makes sure to get the job done in the classroom as well.
The countdown is on. We are less than SEVEN WEEKS from the start of the high school football season.
Things will look different around the tri-lakes. Three of the areas four teams are in new conferences. Only Branson, remains in the same league, but that will be different, as Joplin has joined the COC. Notice there is no longer a need to have LARGE in front of those letters. Also, Forsyth has a more manageable schedule and will be competing in a district and the post season for the first time. For the first time in the programs existence, Jacob Hamon will not be on the Hollister Tiger Blue and White. He has joined the staff at Branson and former Mountain Grove coach, Rich Adkins, has taken over the reigns.
Here is a look at the composite schedule for the area teams.
All four teams will take part in Jamborees on Aug 17th.
