WARDSVILLE, Mo. - Change has been a common theme for head coach Terry Walker and the Blair Oaks Falcons.
Year 1 in 2015 was a coaching change, with Walker taking the reins in his first year as a head coach. As for Year 2, it's gong to be a high turnover of starting players in regard to personnel changes.
The Falcons were 13-1 last season, advancing to the state semifinals for the fourth time in five years. This year they only return four starters on offense and five starters on defense. Still, the high turnover isn't a major concern for Walker.
"We don't spend a bunch of time thinking about that," Walker said. "We spend a bunch of time thinking about what we need to do in order to develop the kids fundamentally, both offensively and defensively. Then we spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out how to get them in the best position to be successful.
"Sure, we know we have a lot of kids that we lost last year, but I think if you look at most programs that are fairly solid, they're going to lose five to six to seven kids every year that they're going to have to replace."
The Falcons will have to replace nine All Tri-County Conference players, a group that also includes first team all-state players like quarterback Jordan Hair, wide receiver C.J. Closser, lineman Chance Cumpton and defensive back Adam Schell. Blair Oaks is also ranked in this year's media preseason poll, picked at No. 3 in Class 3.
That's what happens when a program is accustomed to success like the Falcons have been.
"The kids kind of expect it, the local community kind of expects it and I know all of the coaches on our coaching staff expect it," Walker said of last season's results. "It was great, but it was last year. Last year is done and over, and I haven't really spent any brain cells thinking about it."
Walker and his team are looking forward and moving ahead. That's one of the things which won't change this season.
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It's a different year and Walker has a different defensive scheme for the Falcons.
Last season, he envisioned using a three-man front, only to find out after assessing the team at the end of the summer, Blair Oaks was better off going with four players on the defensive line.
This summer, Walker planned to stick with a four-man front. That idea didn't last for long either.
"This year, barring injury which would drive us to do something different, you're going to see us in a five-man front for a majority of the season," Walker said.
The Falcons used a five-man front at the Jamboree, which was particularly successful during the first series of defense against Helias. Walker knows putting nearly half the defense on the line thins out the secondary, but he sees plenty of advantages with the adjustment.
"It's more of an attacking style-type defense," Walker said. "You always have the opportunity to line up in a five-man front and then drop one of the ends off into coverage, so they don't really know for sure whether or not you are going to be rushing five or rushing four."
The only returning starter on the defensive line is senior Riley Boeckman, who will play at left defensive tackle. Boeckman recorded two sacks last season and also had two fumble recoveries. Junior Justin Cobb will also be on the left side at defensive end.
Walker has rotated multiple players at the remaining three spots on the line, all seniors. Kaleb Cox and Paul Karsten are in the mix at right defensive end, Daniel Mudd and Garrett Welschmeyer are competing at nose guard and Mason Gipe has been working at right defensive tackle. Brett Bishop has worked both at nose guard and defensive tackle this preseason.
The secondary returns a pair of all-conference players with senior Brenden Brown at linebacker and senior Cody Alexander, who was a cornerback last season but will transition to safety this fall.
"Hopefully getting him more toward the middle of the field will allow him to make more plays," Walker said of Alexander, who had four interceptions and broke up eight pass attempts last season.
Brown and Alexander each made 66 tackles last season, tied for the most among returning players.
Joining Brown at the other linebacker spot will be junior Drew Boessen, with juniors Jared Lootens and Bryce Kempker also in the mix.
The cornerbacks will be sophomore Ben Thomas and senior Jake VanRonzelen, a former safety who is swapping positions with Alexander this season. Walker said juniors Ethan Luebbering and Tyler Gish will also rotate in at cornerback.
Joining Alexnader at the other safety position is sophomore Braydan Pritchett, who had a fumble recovery against Owensville at the Jamboree. Senior Austin Veltrop and junior Chase Forck are also in the mix.
"We're always looking for kids that will go out there and make plays," Walker said. "Maybe we miss the mark on a kid and when they're given the opportunity to get in the game, maybe they do something that we didn't expect that they could do. We hope that our lineup will be pretty solid by the time we get to the first game, but there's always those kids that kind of start to shine when the lights come on. We're hoping we have a couple of those."
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Blair Oaks has a number of options on the offensive side of the ball. Some still have question marks. Some don't need to be questioned at all.
Like at running back, for example. Alexander returns to the Falcons' backfield as the team's top rusher from 2015. Alexander led the way with 1,041 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also accounted for 32 2-point conversions, as well as five receiving touchdowns.
"He's got a real good skill set," Walker said. "He catches the ball well, he's got good vision. He runs the ball between the tackles fairly well. He's a good X threat also. We're going to look for ways to try to get him the football and try to give him an opportunity to make plays. That's just kind of the player he is."
Brown also returns to the Falcons' backfield this season, recording 448 yards rushing and five touchdowns last season.
The question mark arises at the quarterback position. Both VanRonzelen and sophomore Nolan Hair competed for the position this preseason and split time at the Jamboree. VanRonzelen stands out as more of an option quarterback, while Hair throws the ball more accurately downfield, Walker said.
"I've never been one that really wanted to rotate kids at quarterback," Walker said. "I think the kids on the offense need to know who's going to be coming into the huddle. I don't think it's really fair to the two kids rotating at quarterback to be looking over their shoulders to (see) who's coming in for them. I really don't like that.
"That being said, Jake and Nolan are pretty good competition at quarterback, and at the end of the day we're going to do whatever we need to do to get our best 11 players on the field. That may be Nolan and Jake at the same time. It may be just one of them out there. We're still trying to figure that part of it out."
At wide receiver, the Falcons will have sophomore Ben Thomas and junior Ethan Luebbering. Veltrop and Paschal, two newcomers to the team as seniors, will also rotate in at receiver.
"All four of those kids are fairly athletic, they all run fairly well," Walker said. "They all catch the ball extremely well. Usually what it comes down to in that instance is which ones know the offense best and which ones are the best blockers on the edge? Because that's where we're going to try to get the football to attack the defense."
Boessen will start at tight end this season.
The offensive line returns two starters with Cox at center and Boeckman at right guard. Cox was all-conference last season.
Cobb will be the starter at right tackle. Walker said the other two line positions are up for grabs, with senior Sam Dudenhoeffer and Gipe at left guard and Bishop and Karsten at left tackle. Mudd and juniors Kaden Carlton and Hunter Herigon are also in the mix on the offensive line.
Last year, Walker said he wanted to see close to a 60-40 ratio of run-to-pass plays. This season, he didn't have a number in mind, but the run game will continue to be the greater emphasis in the offense.
"You've got to posture yourself to be able to run the football at the end of the year," Walker said. "Last year, when we did our evaluation, the last two or three games we did not run the ball well. I think it certainly had an impact on our ability to execute offensively.
"We're going to play to our strengths. We know we've got some kids that can catch it, we've got some kids that can sling it. We plan to do both, but at the very backbone of what we do offensively and defensively, it's going to be physical."
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The Falcons will have several options on special teams replacing a jack-of-all-trades player like Schell.
The team has worked with multiple punters this preseason, which include Paschal, Karsten and VanRonzelen. In the return game, Walker said it will be a mix of Alexander, Thomas, Pritchett and Veltrop. Both Brown and Mudd, as well as Herigon, have been working at long snapper.
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The theme of change continues with the Falcons' schedule, which now features a different Week 1 opponent.
Blair Oaks will still face an opponent from the North Central Missouri Conference tonight in its opener. This time, however, it will be the Kirksville Tigers, rather than the Moberly Spartans.
In years past, the Falcons had a chance to see their Week 1 opponent in person at the Jamboree. That's not the case this year.
"Kirksville, I don't really know hardly much about them at all," Walker said. "We've got their Jamboree film. We know that they have a new coach that's taking over there. I know that they have a strong junior class that they've been waiting on for a couple years to come in and start having a significant impact with their program.
"I'm sure with a new coach, they'll come down here extremely fired up and extremely energetic, looking to start the year off on a good note. We'll have to meet their intensity with our own."
The Tigers, along with new head coach Conrad Schottel, will make the long trip down Highway 63 for the 7 p.m. start.
"For the 2016 Falcons, the expectations are always the same," Walker said. "I want the kids to embrace the process of taking on the challenge to do the work, with the understanding that if they do the work, then they will have nothing to apologize for on a Friday night.
"I'm sure with a new coach, they'll come down here extremely fired up and extremely energetic, looking to start the year off on a good note. We'll have to meet their intensity with our own."
Blair Oaks hosts Kirksville
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