By Chris Parker
Waynesville has a new head coach in Dalton Hill this season. Hill, who played collegiately at Northwest Missouri State, started his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater Mark Twain before two years as a head coach at Palmyra.
He saw definite building blocks at Waynesville during the interview process.
“Waynesville has the bones to be successful,” Hill said. “When I interviewed, I was really impressed with the tour. They have beautiful facilities, great weight rooms, and an awesome football field. You name it and there is a really good bone structure here. You are going to get the opportunity at Waynesville to have a large roster. When you pair those two things together, you set yourself up for success moving forward if you do things the right way.”
He will look to turnaround a program coming off a winless season and one that has not posted a winning record since 2019.
“I believe it starts with implementing a sound culture within our program,” Hill said. “We have to get our kids to buy into our four pillars of excellence which are: commitment, accountability, discipline and integrity. I think it starts there. Buzzwords that we use in our program that tag along with those four pillars of excellence would be toughness, determination, grit, poise, selfless and relentless. Those are things we talk about on a daily basis within our program. I do believe in order to get this going in the right direction, we need all of our team to buy into that culture of excellence and give their best every single day they are out there. We strive to become one percent better each day that we take the field. If we stack quality days on top of one another then good things will occur in the future.”
Ball control will be the goal on offense.
“We will be multiple on offense,” Hill said. “We will be versatile with what we are able to do in the run game and the pass game. The goal will be to keep the offense on the field and defense off, so controlling the clock will be a big thing for us. With every great football team, you have to have a great run game. Being efficient on the ground in going to be a big point of emphasis going forward.”
Aden Maust and Ryder Wells are in competition at quarterback.
Leland Wright and MJ Greene will be key wide receivers.
“MJ Greene is stepping up on both sides of the ball,” Hill said. “He is playing with an edge. He is an uber-competitive kid. He is working hard in everything that he is doing.”
Kaden Wilson and Taai Fau are top options at running back.
“Kaden Wilson at running back is doing good things for us right now,” Hill said. “He is an athletic kid who is a one-cut type back. He has some quickness to him.”
Sawyer Baker and Seth Hance will also be offensive factors.
Up front, look for Devonte Martin, Jackson Sheehan, Joe Machuca, Jayden Braun, Cush Penitito and Tavita Saia Tilei on the offensive line.
Hill on Sheehan: “Jackson Sheehan is doing a good job on the offensive line. He is a tough kid. He is a poised kid. He is a disciplined kid. He is a kid that plays with an edge. He is extremely coachable.”
Hill on Martin: “Devonte Martin is selling out in everything that we are doing. He is an extremely coachable kid. He is an intelligent kid. He is a big-bodied kid who is going to play with an edge for us. This summer has been very good for his development.”
Hill on Penitito: “Cush is a supremely athletic kid. He has got a great twitch. He is a physical and intelligent kid.”
While the offense looks to run the ball, the defense will lock in stopping it.
“We want to be a physical, relentless and tough defense,” Hill said. “We want to hang our hat on stopping the run. We do not want teams to be able to control the clock by running the football on us. We want to back teams up and put them in uncomfortable situations as best as possible.”
The defensive line will feature Martin, Penitito, Sheehan and Saia Tilei.
Jeremiah Frage and Jeramie Mays will be at linebacker.
Greene, Karmello Jackson and Leland Wright will be in the secondary.
When Waynesville travels to Carthage for the season-opener on Aug. 29, it will be the dawn of a new era for Waynesville football.
“We need to set a foundation,” Hill said. “At the end season we need to look back and reflect and truly evaluate whether or not our players bought into the culture that we are trying to build at Waynesville. (We will look at) if our kids are doing the right things both on and off the field, if they are taking care of their grades in the classroom and being respectful and if we are developing leaders. If we are doing those things, then I feel like the season will be a success no matter wins or losses. To me it is about developing champions on the field and off the field.”
