MISSOURIAN

SPORTS

MARYVILLE HS FOOTBALL

Follow @NWMSports for live updates as

the Spoofhounds work to improve to 3-0
against Chillicothe 7 p.m Friday.

Complete coverage of Bearcat and Spoofhound athletics

Thursday | September 4, 2014

V89 | N26

Front 7 sets tone for repeat

Senior linebackers D.J. Gnader, Cody Matthewson and Eric Reimer return to the dominant front 7 in the Bearcats quest to repeat a national championship run.

Longacre, Gnader return

to historic Bearcat defense
BRANDON ZENNER
Editor in Chief | @brandonzenner

Darrell Morris is aware of the competition he faces on Thursday. He knows

the environment that comes with a trip to
Bearcat Stadium. After all, Morris spent his
time in the early 80s picking apart defenses
as the quarterback of the Bearcats.
Now as the head coach of the University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers, Morris
must endure the tough task of figuring out a
way past his alma maters defense Thursday
night. The unit that is regarded as the best
in Division 2 football is the front 7 of the
Bearcats and poses a daunting test to the
offense of the Lopers.
Its tough going against a unit like their
front 7, Morris said. They have a ton of talent and are the best in the country and the
only way to deal with that is be technically
and fundamentally sound.
In last years matchup, the Bearcats held

the Lopers to 5 first downs and 123 total

yards, including 4 turnovers, as they went
on to a 53-7 victory. Northwests defense
made their presence known in the Nebraska-Kearney backfield, managing 8 tackles
for loss and 3 sacks.
One of those sacks came from allamerican senior linebacker Eric Reimer,
who finished second on the team with 106
tackles in 2013, trailing another all-american senior linebacker D.J. Gnader, who finished with 111.
Its exciting to have guys back but experience doesnt mean much, Reimer said.
Experience is always nice to have but its a
new year and we gotta prepare every week
like we did last year.
The test for Morris and the rest of the
MIAA extends past the Reimer-Gnader
duo, though. Division 2 Defensive Player
of the Year and First Team All-American
senior Matt Longacre finished 2013 with 12
sacks and 20.5 tackles for loss and will return as the anchor to the defensive line for
the Bearcats.
First team All-MIAA defensive tackle
Brandon Yost, ex-Iowa State Cyclone Collin
Bevins, and Zach Williams are expected to

BRANDON ZENNER | NW MISSOURIAN

Junior quarterback and captain Brady Bolles drops back and

rolls outside the pocket during fall camp.

Bolles takes over,

leads young offense
Junior quarterback named captain
TYLER BROWN
Sports Editor | @tyman4_

There is a new regime

taking over under center
after three years with Trevor Adams at the helm.
While junior captain
quarterback Brady Bolles
got plenty of playing time
during the Bearcats title
run last season, this will be
his first season being the
face of the offense.
Brady Bolles speaks
about how getting playing time alongside Adams
helped him going into this
season.
Hes (Trevor Adams) a
great student of the game,
Bolles said. Being behind

him really helped me grow

as a leader and a quarterback.
(Playing last year
helped me) get a feel for the
game. It slows the game
down and you get your feet
wet and you get a feel for
how the game is. It helps
out a bunch now that Im
the guy.
Head coach Adam
Dorrell said that Bolles is
more than ready to take
over as the leader and facilitator Hes doing well,
Dorrel said. Our focus for
him has been be smart, be
a dual threat guy. One of
the things that were challenging him to do is run
and run effectively, but be

smart at the end of runs.

The only difference
I have seen in him is hes
been more vocal. Obviously thats what you want to
see now that hes a captain.
Brady Bolles put up
1,119 passing yards and
607 rushing yards last season as a backup. Although
Bolles is known as a runner, Dorrel made it clear he
is confident in his ability to
pass the ball.
We have all the faith
that he can throw, Dorrel
said. Last year if we were
going to run a two quarterback system when we
brought him in, we certainly wanted him to be different than the guy (Trevor
Adams) we had in there.
While Bolles mainly
came in last season when
they wanted to give an opponent more of a running
attack, Bolles is not sure if
hell be more of a passer or
runner.
Im not really quite
sure, Bolles said. Im just
going to do what my coaches ask me to do and do my
best at it.
One thing Dorrel
wanted to drill into Bolles
head is to stay away from
injury situations if he is
going to be a scrambling
quarterback. The coach
had a unique way to prepare Bolles for those type
of situations.
You dont ever want to
talk too much about injuries, Dorrel said. So I had
him watch every game of
the Seattle Seahawks. Russell Wilson runs the football. I could count on one
hand Russell Wilson gets
hit hard last year. He gets
big gains down the field but
hes being smart, hes going
down and hes running out
of bounds.
At the same time, Dorrel does not want to take
the competitiveness out
of Bolles mind. He wants
his quarterback to pick the
right situations and to go
for the big play if he needs
to.
If youre going to be a
dual threat guy, be a smart
dual threat guy, Dorrel

www.nwmissourinews.com

supplement the heart of the defensive line,

with Kevin Arnold offering support opposite of Longacre. Arnold stepped into a bigger role on the Bearcats defense last season
and recorded 5.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for
loss.
Gnader says the four guys up front allow the defense to fly around and cause
headaches for opposing quarterbacks.
Its great, especially with the defensive
line we have, Gnader said. All of us linebackers always say having those guys in
front, they protect us and let us run around.
Were all on the same page and basically in
the same system that we ran last year, just
the experience is at a whole nother level
and its really a good feeling.
There are a multitude of players who
could see playing time next to Reimer and
Gnader. Jayron Robinson was poised to
start last season until he suffered a seasonending leg injury in the first game of the
season. Cody Matthewson took most of
Robinsons snaps in 2013, but Brock Sherman is poised to start after recording 31
tackles last season. Zach Maloney should
see time in the front 7 as well.
While preseason all-americans Gnader,

said. I feel like we got him

coached where we want
him. If you take off running
and its fourth and eight or
third and eighth, dont run
out of bounds with one
yard to go. Get your competitive juices going when
we need them going.
Senior captain wide receiver Bryce Young recognizes when Bolles decides
to scramble outside the
pocket, he and the receivers will have to improvise.
The biggest thing is
if were not open on the
first move, were going to
know that he is outside the
pocket, Young said. That
turns into scramble drills
for us, getting to the sideline or getting open down
the field.
With seniors Korey
Jackson, Jason Jozaites and
Young all returning to represent the receiving core,
Young believes Bolles will
have no problem finding
open guys.
We got so many targets, defenses cant key
on one guy, Young said.
I think that (having three
returning receivers) kind of
takes some pressure of us
because we are the big play
guys on offense.
Although the Bearcats
represent possibly the best
front 7 and special teams
in the country, that does
not mean the team will be
careful on offense. Dorrel
wants a well-balanced offense.
I just believe that
if youre going to win a
championship, you need
to be great on defense and
special teams, Dorrel said.
But that doesnt mean that
were going to be conservative on offense. Were going
to be dynamic and take our
shots down the field.
As for tonights season opener, Bolles goal is
simple.
Come away with a
win, Bolles said. Obviously that is our biggest
goal for week one. When
we all trust each other
and do our one-eleventh,
were a pretty good football
team.

@NWMSports

FILE PHOTO | NW MISSOURIAN

Longacre, and Yost certainly have the eyes

of Division 2 football on Maryville, Gnader
says they will not be satisfied until they live
up to the hype as the best unit in the nation.
Right now, its just all talk, he said.
I know that every defensive player we
want to prove that. Weve got a good front
7 coming back and a good defense coming
back with a lot of experience and we really
want to prove that we can make up to be all
of this hype and be better than what it is.
With that experience, theres no reason we
shouldnt be.
Gnader says the reason for the consistency every year is simple.
We dont rebuild; we reload, Gnader
said.
As for Thursday night, the Bearcats will
look to replicate their performance from a
year ago and frustrate Morris and the offense of the Lopers. Though he is not rooting
for another national title for the Bearcats,
Morris knows he will face a difficult test under the lights of Bearcat Stadium.
They are a very good team all around,
Morris said. Thats why they are the defending national champions.

SHAWNA KINGSTON | NW MISSOURIAN

Senior all-state running back Brody McMahon breaks through a tackle and gives a
stiff arm to the St. Pius X defender Aug. 29. McMahon finished with 169 total yards.

Hounds face tough test in week 3

Maryville hosts 2-0 Chillicothe Friday night
AUSTIN HEINEN
Chief Sports Reporter | @TheMissourian

After crushing their first two opponents, the Hounds now face their
toughest opponent in Chillicothe.
Chillicothe holds a 2-0 record after narrowly escaping losses against
Marshall and Kirksville. Head coach
Matt Webb knows the Spoofhounds
can not afford to take them lightly.
They have a very proud tradition and weve been a big rivalry for a
while now, said Webb.
Like the Spoofhounds, the Hornets are inclined to approach the
game with the ground attack. Chillicothe rushed for more than 294 rushing yards against Kirksville last week.
Theyre very big and strong
up front and got excellent running
backs,said Webb. They like to run
the ball and create play action pass.
While Maryville has taken care of
business for the last two weeks, Chillicothe has won both games as well,
but only by eight points or less. Webb

Northwest Missourian

believes his team will succeed as long

as they execute the game plan.
Its very important we come out
and play well and go out and do what
we do, Webb said. Theyre very
good, but Im proud with what we can
bring to the table and we just got to
go out and play the best to our ability,
thats all you can ask for.
Conference and district games
are the games that matter in regards
to the playoffs but Webb is taking the
classic approach to the first conference game of the season.
I wouldnt say its the start of the
true season; regardless, we focus on
winning one week at a time, he said.
Senior linemen Brenden Weybrew does not want the team to grow
complacent throughout conference
play. He says the Hounds need to take
the one game at a time approach.
Anybody can come in and beat
you at anytime, Weybrew said. All
these teams are good and you cant
look past anybody or youre going to
end up with a loss.