About

Class 3 District 6

Big 8 West Conference

School Colors: Black and Gold

Head Coach: Lance Parnell (66-30, 9th season)

Assistant coaches: Clay Weldy (OC), Josh Schmitt (DB’s), Mark Elliott (OL), Ben Glidewell (DL), Bobby Blankenship (DB’s) and Collin Pearman (WR’s)

COACH PARNELL SAYS:

“The added practice time making a deep run in the playoffs will be a huge strength for us, I believe. The added practice time for the development of our younger players will be huge. We do not return very many starters on either side of the ball. We do return several skill position players that played several important snaps throughout the season.”

Five Year Trend (Playoffs)

• 2020: 10-3 (State Semifinals)
• 2019: 12-3 (State Runner-up)
• 2018: 9-2 11-1 (Third Round)
• 2017: 7-4 (Second Round)
• 2016: 8-2 (Second Round)

2020 REVIEW

Cassville has become one of the most consistent programs in the state. The Wildcats finished last season 10-3 and made it to the state semifinals, before falling to Maryville 30-28. It’s the second straight season they’ve won 10+ games, going 22-6 overall the last two seasons. “The best part of last year was having a complete season,” coach Parnell says, “With all the uncertainty surrounding the past year, it was nice to have some normalcy on Friday nights.” Yeah, we couldn’t agree more. “I was really proud of the way our football team handled all of the distractions and came to work each day to get better. The support we received from our parents, community and school administration was awesome as we navigated through the many changes that 2020 presented. Our guys never made any excuses or complained. They just did what was needed of them to give us the best opportunity to be successful.” The Wildcats graduated some talented kids, including Zach Coenen (Pitt State), Jaiden Reibert (Evangel), Drake Reese (MSSU) and Hayden Sink (MSSU) who are all playing at the next level.

RETURNING STARTERS (2020 stats)

DB Hernan Hernandez (Jr) 5’9″, 175 lb – 12 solo tackles, 2 interceptions

OTHER KEY RETURNERS

QB Cutter Hicks (Sr) 5’10”, 180 lb – 182 pass yds, TD

RB Ethan Fuchs (Sr) 5’9″, 165 lb – 101 rush yds

OL/DL Michael Morgan (Sr) 6’0″, 235 lb – 12 solo tackles

OL Landry Mills (Sr) 5’11”, 240 lb

LB Keaton Shellenberger (Jr) 6’1″, 190 lb – 23 solo tackles

DB Jake Anthonysz (Jr) 5’9″, 160 lb – 13 solo tackles

OL Christian Tidwell (Jr) 5’8″, 135 lb

RB Trey Wilson (Jr) 5’6″, 155 – 91 rush yds

RB/LB Bryson Jacobsen (So) 5’10”, 170 lb

TE/LB Isaac Hadlow (Jr) 6’1″, 215 lb

SCHEDULE:

8/27 vs. Mt. Vernon

9/3 @ Marshfield

9/10 vs. Nevada

9/17 vs. Logan-Rogersville

9/24 @ Lamar

10/1 vs. Monett

10/8 @ Seneca

10/15 vs. East Newton

10/22 @ McDonald County

2021 SEASON OUTLOOK

Cassville has been very good, but there are plenty of question marks heading into this season. I haven’t seen this very often in my time here, but the Wildcats will actually have to replace 20 of 21 starters from last year’s team. “We will be very inexperienced at several positions,” says coach Parnell, “Many of our young players got some valuable reps last season, but this will be their first experience as full-time starters on Friday night.” The good news for those players, as Parnell mentioned above, is that they actually got some extra practice time with the team’s deep playoff run last season. Not only that, but they got practice time on the field with some really good players. Cassville is too good of a program to take a big step back, even with the big losses to graduation. We’ll see a lot of new players, but I still don’t think teams will be excited to see Cassville on their schedule on Friday nights. The biggest thing they have to do is put together an offensive line, after graduating that entire group. That will be a big factor in Cassville’s success in 2021. “Our expectations are to improve as the season goes,” Parnell finishes, “We want to be playing our best football when district time comes.”