By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Now four seasons into the Cody Hilburn era at Seneca High School and the Indians football team has gone a combined 45-9 and finished as the Class 3 runner up each of the last two seasons with identical 13-1 records.
Last fall, Seneca won by an average of 40 points during a perfect regular season, and then outscored district and playoff opponents 191-39 before falling 38-28 to Blair Oaks in the championship. And the Indians were rewarded handsomely on postseason honors lists, with eight players named to the first team all-state list as well as having the Big 8 offensive and defensive players of the year and Hilburn earning Big 8 Coach of the Year honors.
Of course, Seneca wasn’t satisfied in losing the final game of the year.
“Two years ago when we went 13-1 and lost in the state championship we had taken the next step so it was tough to swallow, don’t get me wrong, but we still felt like we were heading in the right direction and then last year followed suit and did the same thing and it was tough to spin it to our kids, I’m not going to lie,” Hilburn said. “They had set out to go win that state championship game and it just didn’t go our way. A lot of that is a credit to Blair Oaks, a really good football team. We jumped on them early and just couldn’t hold on in the second half. I think I made the quote after the game, I told our kids no matter what happened, a trophy or not, those dudes were champions, those guys we lost. We really tried to focus on the process and how things are supposed to look week to week rather than outcome and those senior kids last year and all of our kids did things the right way and it just didn’t go our way. We talked a lot about how sometimes you do the right things in life a
nd it doesn’t go your way and that game is kind of a perfect example of that. You can choose to go two different ways, sit around and be upset and pout about it or go back to work and try to get back there again.”
This fall Seneca returns half of those all-state players in senior running back Roman Miller, senior defensive lineman Jace Renfro, senior defensive back Brodie Probert and senior linebacker Kye Adams. Miller was a unanimous selection in the Big 8 at running back and linebacker, Renfro was a unanimous Big 8 center and defensive tackle (and the conference defender of the year), Probert was also a first team Big 8 all-purpose back and linebacker, and Adams was also a unanimous all-conference linebacker.
The all-state players who graduated were quarterback Kaden Clouse (a first team athlete, first team Big 8 quarterback, unanimous Big 8 defensive back and the conference offensive player of the year), Hagen Ginger (all-state receiver, unanimous Big 8 tight end, second team Big 8 defensive end), offensive lineman Dom Brown (also a unanimous Big 8 tackle), and guard Nolan Napier (also unanimous Big 8 offensive and defensive lineman).
“Our offensive line took a hit, we lost some guys there, but we do return Jace Renfro, an all-state offensive lineman as a sophomore and all-state defensive lineman as a junior and he’s played a lot of football,” Hilburn said. “The one starter we return up front, and he’ll be the leader of our guys up front. Roman Miller rushed for over 1,700 yards last year and put in a ton of work in the offseason, he’s a luxury to have back. Brodie Probert was in the quarterback competition last year with Kaden Clouse and we used him as a Swiss army knife and moved him around everywhere, quarterback, running back, receiver. He rushed for over 1,000 yards in that utility role, and he’ll move into the full-time quarterback spot. We return three of our four receivers from last year in Blaze Graham, Drew Sherwood and Hunter Hanes so from a skill standpoint we return some skill guys, but we’ve got to reinvent ourselves up front a little bit.”
Seneca averaged 399 rushing yards per game last year. Miller totaled 1,711 yards and 27 touchdowns on 191 carries. Probert, in limited action at quarterback, completed 11 of 14 passes for 265 yards and 5 scores. He added 92 carries for 1,014 yards and 14 touchdowns. Graham, who was a second team all-conference receiver, had 16 catches for 433 yards and 6 scores and Sherwood had 7 catches for 102 yards and 2 scores.
The defensive unit that totaled 28 turnovers and limited opponents to 130 passing yards and 101 rushing yards per game will be especially strong up the middle, with Renfro back on the line after recording a team-high 8 sacks and 15 tackles for a loss, as well as a trio of all-conference linebackers behind him in Adams (92 tackles, 4 sacks, 9 TFL), Miller (71 tackles, 6 TFL, defensive TD) and Probert (69 tackles, 2 sacks).
“It’s one of the better linebacking corps I’ve ever been around,” Hilburn said.
The defensive backfield returns safety Hunter Hanes (70 tackles), a second-team Big 8 selection; safety Graham (50 tackles, 3 INT, defensive TD); and Sherwood (honorable mention Big 8, 41 tackles, 1 INT)) at corner.
“Six of our seven starters in the secondary and at linebacker are returners,” Hilburn said. “It’s the same issue we have on offense––finding some defensive linemen who are ready to go and can win those spots.”
One of those players could be senior Brock Pendergraft, who appeared in 11 games and saw action on both offensive and defensive line. He recorded 2 sacks and 2 TFL as a defensive end.
Sherwood also returns as the kicker (62 XPM) after making the Big 8 second team last fall.
The Indians will once again jamboree at Webb City along with Joplin and Lamar. They’ll open the regular season with road games at Cassville and Mt. Vernon before opening their home slate against Nevada. Former Big 8 rival Carl Junction will travel to Seneca in October for a rematch of last year’s 56-7 Seneca win.
“The thing about Seneca that’s cool is we’re a work in progress and we have a long ways to go but our kids are committed to showing up and working,” Hilburn said. “We don’t have to fight kids to get here, they want to get here and get better. It’s a good group of kids.”
