By Chris Parker
Nixa football came up one game short of its ultimate goal last season falling 35-20 to De Smet in the Class 6 state championship game. The Eagles finished the season with a 13-1 record.
Nixa head coach John Perry hopes last year’s loss proves to be a stepping stone to an even bigger 2025, much like he experienced when he was the head coach of Pearl High School in Mississippi.
“I think sometimes you have to get there and experience it before you win it,” Perry said. “One thing we understand is we do not control necessarily the scoreboard nor the outcome of the game. What we control is how we play. Our takeaway was that we didn’t play good enough to win the game and that’s not taking anything away from (De Smet). (De Smet) played better than us that night, and they deserved to win the ball game. We made a few mistakes. We missed a few tackles. We did a few things that were uncharacteristic of us. But saying that, it’s 28-20 with a 1:40 to go and we got the ball fourth and two with the opportunity to get a first down inside the 20-yard line or wherever we were and score and go for two and get into overtime. We just didn’t get it done. The takeaway is the longer you play, the better you have to be, and you have to play your best football at the end of the year, and that was not our best football. Some of that was because (De Smet) was really talented. They posed difficult matchups in some places, but we didn’t play our very best football. That night we needed to play error free or as close to error free as you can. I think our kids played hard. I was really proud of them. I didn’t walk away disheartened. We played for a state championship in 2016 at Pearl, got beat, played really well, got beat by a better team. We came back and won it in 2017, so I’m just hoping that maybe life is fixing to repeat itself.”
Nixa must replace a senior class that featured 14 all-conference honorees.
“They (the Class of 2025) are the winningest group to ever come through this building,” Perry said. “They lost one conference game in their three years. They’ve set the bar really high, and we want our next group to go after that group. You want the next group to try to beat that record, try to win more games and do the best they can do to be the very best that we can have. They (Class of 2025) set a really high bar. They were awesome. Like the group before them, they’ve done everything in the world that we’ve asked them to do to be the very best that we can be. That was their effort and their attitude, their work ethic was off the charts. I think that is why we have been as successful as we have been.”
Plenty of talent returns led by the No. 1 player in the country in Jackson Cantwell. The five-star offensive lineman committed to the University of Miami on May 13. He was the COC East and SWMFCA Clas 6 Offensive Player of the Year and Class 6 First-Team All-State.
Cantwell’s impact on the Eagles goes far beyond just his performance on Friday nights.
“When you’re the best player in the country, you obviously change the complexion right away,” Perry said. “What he (Cantwell) has done is raise the level of everybody else around him. When you have a player like that who is as good as he is, he raises the bar for the defensive ends, the defensive tackles and the offensive lineman that play with him. Everybody is raised to a different level than they were before, and that’s what great players do. Michael Jordan made everybody around him better. It is what it is. That’s one of the luxuries you have when you have a special player. Then when he works hard, practices hard, shows up every day, does everything that he does, he just makes everybody else better.”
Cantwell’s future college plans are settled, but Cantwell himself is not settling.
“The people that are elite get up every day to be better,” Perry said. “They are a five-star (recruit) that has a five-star work ethic. Our expectation is we want everybody to be elite. Elite doesn’t sit around and become complacent at where they’re at. Jackson Cantwell is not sitting around slacking off and easing up because he is a five-star, No. 1 recruit in the world. His goals and aspirations are so much bigger than that. Every day is a day to get better. When you wake up, you have a choice to get better or get worse and Jackson Cantwell’s mind is we’re going to get better every single day, and that is the way we want all of our kids to be. That is the example that’s being set by him and by other kids on our team. It’s very hard for a kid to show up and not give his best because if Jackson Cantwell is going to do it, if Adam McKnight is going to do it, if Western Weldon is going to do it, then everybody’s going to do it.”
McKnight, the quarterback, is the lone returning starting skill player for Nixa. The Eagles graduated Dylan Rebura and his 2,785 rushing yards along with 95% of the team’s receiving yards.
The junior quarterback threw for 1,733 yards and 22 touchdowns while rushing for 608 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore. He earned Class 6 Third-Team All-State honors.
“In the game of football, I think when you have a quarterback you have a chance to win,” Perry said. “It doesn’t matter what level of ball you’re on. If you go to college football or professional football, it’s hard to win without a quarterback. I’ve had years where we did not have super quarterbacks, and it was a super challenge. We do have the luxury right now of having one that is really, really good. He’s really competitive. His work ethic is really good. Again, it’s like Jackson Cantwell, in that when your best players show up to outwork everybody else, it raises the bar for everybody else. I expect Adam to have a fantastic year.”
McKnight has already earned an offer from Missouri State.
“I think he is a Division I quarterback,” Perry said. “I don’t believe that there are many universities in the United States of America that have four or five quarterbacks better than him. I think his ceiling is really high. He obviously has Missouri State right now, which would be a fantastic place to go play football and lead the Bears. I believe he’s a big time Division I quarterback.”
He will be joined in the backfield by transfer running back Jayden McCaster. McCaster transferred to Nixa from De Smet during the summer. As a junior, McCaster rushed for more than 1,500 yards and had more than 400 yards receiving. He had 13 carries for 200 yards and two touchdowns against Nixa in the state title game. The Southern Illinois commit was named Class 6 Second-Team All-State.
“The starter is Jayden McCaster who we believe is the best running back in the state of Missouri,” Perry said. “He is explosive. I think he is very much like Ramone Green but a faster version of Ramone. (McCaster) can go sideways as fast as he can go forward. He has elite speed.”
Seniors Max Nicoll and Bryin Sandgrin along with junior Jax Adams are also options at running back.
Randy Flint will be a two-way player in his senior season adding wide receiver duties coming off a second-team all-state selection for his efforts as a cornerback.
“He (Flint) is very much on the high school level like the kid that just won the Heisman Trophy,” Perry said. “He’s super-fast. He’s one of the fastest guys in the state. He’s long, and he’s very athletic. He was all-state last year at corner. He is phenomenal. We have turned around and played him on offense as well this year, and I think he’s going to be very explosive because he’s so fast, and he’s so smart, and he plays the game the right way. He is a great leader and a great kid with a great work ethic. He’s going to have a special year.”
Senior Owen lock and junior Carter Mabe will also be factors in the passing game at wide receiver. Scholar Brown is a senior move in from Kansas who will look to have an immediate impact.
The offensive line runs deeper than just Jackson Cantwell with first-team all-conference selections Hayden Mays and Hunter Jensen back.
Mays, also one of the nation’s top throwers in the spring, has seen his recruiting pick up in the offseason.
“I think Hayden Mays is a Division I guy,” Perry said. “He is 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds and explosive with what he throws in the shot and the discus. I think he is a sleeper that will draw a lot of attention.”
Jensen will see time playing both ways on the defensive line as well.
“Hunter Jensen is fantastic,” Perry said. “He is very athletic. (He is) a little undersized at 6-foot-2, 265 pounds, but he plays the game the right way. He is a mean, nasty offensive lineman that will play college football and get his school paid for.”
Dylan Terry and Jaxon Stewart round out the offensive line.
On the defensive side, Flint returns to his spot at cornerback after an all-state season that saw him rack up five interceptions and 13 pass breakups with 46 total tackles. Senior Braydon Parks and junior Jaren Davis will also factor in at cornerback.
Ty Kellis returns for his third season as a starter. The junior pulled down 84 total tackles last season.
“He (Kellis) will be the leader back there because he has started so much. He is a really good football player,” Perry said.
Mabe and Jaden Russell are also options for the other safety spot.
Senior Morgan Thompson returns to his inside linebacker spot where he earned first-team all-conference honors. Thompson had 120 total tackles with eight tackles for a loss last season.
“He is really athletic,” Perry said. “He is not the biggest of inside linebackers, but he gets away with it because he’s super-fast, he pulls his trigger super-fast and he’s really strong. He gets to the football really well. We expect him to have a fantastic year.”
Junior Weston Weldon joins Thompson at inside linebacker after seeing limited varsity action as a sophomore.
“(Weldon) played a little bit last year,” Perry said. “He’s a lot bigger. He’s more of a Mike linebacker. He’s been outstanding this summer. He is super talented. We think he’s going to be a big-time football player at inside linebacker.”
Junior Reed Wilson and Nicoll will also see action at linebacker.
Luke Blevins will play both outside linebacker and defensive end in his junior season.
Look for seniors Urban Arnold (DT), Kade Flood (DE), Wyatt Isaacson (DE) and Jamison Truitt (DT) along with Jensen on the defensive line. Junior Max Gredell
The kicking game will also be strong with the return of Braden Kahmke and Jonah Fields. Kahmke scored 81 points kicking last season. Fields averaged 51.3 yards per kickoff with 13 touchbacks on 94 kickoffs.
Nixa hosts Kickapoo and Ozark for a jamboree on Aug. 22 before opening the regular season on Aug. 29 at Republic.
The expectation for Nixa this season is simple.
“To be the very best that we can be and try to get a little bit better every single day,” Perry said. “(We want to) put together routines that can come out on Friday night and be such an example that when people come to the game, they’re proud to support and watch and like the way that we play football.”
