By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
From the first offseason workout on, Webb City football coach Ryan McFarland has noticed a different focus from his team after a 6-7 record last fall.
“Our record last year is not the standard for Webb City’s football program, and we’ve got some kids who want to make sure they get that fixed and they’re not the class that maybe lets down the community or the alumni because we have consecutive years of sub-par football,” McFarland said. “I think the biggest takeaway from last year is even when things weren’t going well they continued to show up and practice and prepared with the same mindset and it really paid off in the end. The best thing last year was having some success at the end, and our kids really bought into the philosophy our coaches have where maybe stuff doesn’t always go your way, but we’ll continue to fight and figure it out. These kids are highly motivated.”
The Cardinals got off to a 1-3 start and were 3-6 after the regular season before rolling through the district bracket and upsetting top seed Carthage (9-2) by two touchdowns in the district championship. Platte County ended Webb City’s season 35-0 in the quarterfinals. Injuries were a key part of the regular season adversity; in week three the Cardinals were starting six players who had been junior varsity starters in week one. Of the team’s six losses in the regular season, five of them were by a combined 13 points.
“We were running out of bodies of kids we thought were ready,” McFarland said. “The great part about it is you never really know what a kid is capable of until you give him an opportunity. We might have put a few kids in situations last year where maybe they weren’t ready and didn’t perform as well as they wanted to, and it was a good learning experience. Some kids maybe we didn’t think were ready, but they surprised us by being more prepared for Friday night football than we thought.”
This fall the Cardinals will look to capitalize on what could be an especially quick and athletic roster. McFarland said this year’s group could be as explosive as any Webb City team in the five years he’s been back as an assistant and head coach.
“We have the ability to fly around and use our speed as a huge advantage,” he said. “Our defensive coaches do a great job of coaching kids to run to the football and play with a high sense of energy, and the kids have really bought into that mindset. They know we’re not going to be the biggest defensive team maybe any Friday night, but we can counteract that with our speed and passion. We’re excited to see how that plays out.”
Offensively, senior Gabe Johnson returns as the team’s quarterback after missing his junior season with an injury. As a sophomore he was a first team COC athlete who rushed for 1,417 yards and 13 touchdowns while completing 31 of 50 passes for 604 yards and 5 touchdowns. He added 2 kickoff return touchdowns and also made 9 catches for 139 yards and 2 scores.
“He knew he was going to miss football season but never missed a summer workout or a practice last year,” McFarland said. “On game nights he stood with me, and we had a lot of discussions on offensive football and play calling during the games. It gave him an opportunity to step back as an athlete and focus on the intelligence side and his football IQ. It’s carried over to this summer, he’s a better football player now, not just a better athlete.”
Senior Slade Hurd will be a three-year starter after contributing during the team’s playoff run in 2023. He tore his MCL in the season opener last fall and provided a boost when he returned by districts; he finished with 405 yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground.
Senior Mason Williams is another returning running back who totaled 444 yards and 3 touchdowns on 40 carries. He had started at linebacker as a sophomore, but after four different injuries to running backs last year the team moved him into the backfield where he averaged better than 10 yards per carry. He still nabbed second team all-conference honors as a linebacker.
“He’s a real explosive kid who gives us a home run threat in the backfield, so we’re really excited about those two running backs,” McFarland said.
Senior Holden Johnson is a returning wide receiver and offers a big target with his 6-foot-4 frame. Senior Travien Turner is something of an unknown at receiver after focusing on basketball the last few seasons, but he’ll provide another explosive athlete at a skill position for Johnson to get the ball to.
“I feel really good about our skill positions,” McFarland said. “It seemed last year like we just weren’t very explosive at times and this year we have the opportunity to hopefully score on any play.”
The offensive line will feature juniors Louden Bolinger (second team all-conference) and Kayle Chrismon who both played every snap last season with Bolinger at center and Chrismon at strong tackle.
“They took their growing pains early last year and started playing really well by midseason,” McFarland said. “We expect them to be big leaders up front this year.”
Senior Gus Karnes (4 catches, 68 yards, 3 TD) is back at tight end, a position McFarland said he’s mastered. Junior Grayson Gannaway, a more traditional blocking tight end, will start on the other side. Senior Jace Cartright could be the only senior starter on the line, and junior Abel Getz will be the backup at running back. Sophomores and juniors could fill the rest of the spots.
Webb City’s defense limited opponents to about 23 points per game in 2024. Six times the Cardinals held an opponent to 15 points or less. That unit will feature an especially deep line in 2025, with McFarland saying the team has six to eight players who can play on Fridays.
“We’ll rotate a lot of guys in up front,” he said. “Probably undersized a little bit and there isn’t a lot of senior experience up front but we have a lot of sophomores and juniors who have put in work in the weight room, and they’ll get an opportunity to play.”
That group includes seniors Brendan LaMae and Gavin Stodghill (61 tackles), as well as junior Cooper Tingle who saw some time as a sophomore and junior end Elijah Wyrick.
Junior linebacker River Lenker started as a sophomore (63 tackles) and is perhaps the team’s leading defender when it comes to instincts and understanding the game, McFarland said. Senior Bryson Bard will play the other linebacker spot and has special teams experience but should see a bigger role this year.
Senior Karsen Myers (95 tackles) is a returning starter at safety who McFarland views as potentially the unit’s biggest playmaker. Senior Braden Strickland, also the backup quarterback, will start at cornerback. Junior Mason Young, now 6-foot-4, also plays quarterback but will start at safety. Junior Barek Hoffman will also play at safety.
The Cardinals will host Seneca, Joplin and Lamar for the jamboree and then open the regular season at home with Lebanon. Webb City concludes the regular season with road games at rivals Carthage and Joplin.
