Boone provides uncertainty for Panthers in season opener

Creston/O-M football takes the field Friday night in Boone for its season opener, taking on the Boone Toreadors with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

With the certainty of a football season in a year where sports have not been certain, the pattern of not knowing what’s next will come again Friday night in Boone.

Creston/O-M and head coach Brian Morrison will face Chad Klein, Boone’s first-year head coach, and a slew of underclassmen who return to the Toreadors as upperclassmen.

“They have a new coach who came from Carrol-Kuemper (Kuemper Catholic),” said Morrison of Klein. Klein was formerly the defensive coordinator at Kuemper Catholic before moving to Boone as the head coach. “It’s tough to say what they’re going to be like. You can watch film on them last year, but it was a different coach. There’s different aspects of what Kuemper does and what (Klein) is going to bring to Boone and how it’s going to translate. A lot of unknowns with this game.”

The unknowns, however, did draw comparison from Morrison between the two teams.

“They’re very similar to us, last year, as far as (who graduated). ... We had a small senior class, they did too, and they played a lot of sophomores and juniors. I know they returned their top receivers, quarterback, corners, running backs, lineman,” said Morrison.

Boone’s Morgan Smith (1,176 passing yards), Tegan Bock (324 yards receiving, 93 1/2 tackles, four interceptions), Marcus McPartland (227 yards receiving), Jayden Angle (44 tackles) and Cole Burge (four interceptions) stand out as notable players from a year prior who reprise their roles within the program.

“We’ve looked at both teams and what they’ve done, structure wise,” said Morrison. “... [We] showed the kids both types of offenses and it has been a mixture of blocking schemes. It’s going to be one of those deals where we’re not going to go in blindfolded on what they’re doing. We have a good grasp of what we’ll see, but no guarantees either.”

For Creston, key players will make a return this season in the secondary in Brance Baker and Evan Bruce (combined two interceptions, 44 tackles). Elsewhere on defense, Jackson Kinsella, Garon Wurster and Andy Weis will get their second year to make a statement as a starter. On the offensive line, Chris Wilson returns as a big body up front to protect young quarterback Cole Strider.

With the most important position in most cases being the quarterback, faith in Strider, who will start his first game under center for the Panthers Friday, is not low.

“Cole, he competes. He wants to do well,” said Morrison. “We have weapons around him in wide receiver that we haven’t had in quite a while. We just have to protect him in the passing pocket, run the football and take pressure off him. ... Being a first-year quarterback, there’s going to be nerves no doubt. But, I think he’ll handle them and up front I think the guys are improved.”

Weapons provided for Strider will be Cael Kralik (763 yards, six touchdowns), Baker (441 yards, seven scores) and Derek Paup.

Morrison also noted the significance of establishing a run game, which was something the Panthers struggled with in 2019. If the Panthers can get run blocking working effectively enough to take pressure off Strider, Morrison said the success will be there.

With the first-string offense taking on the second-level defense, and vice versa, the energy and competition has been high in practice. Morrison liked what he saw out of the players going at one another leading into game week, feeling it’s high-level battles.

“As far a competition in practice, [its] been outstanding,” said Morrison. “It’s pretty good to see the competition between the kids in practice. I think it has been high-level competition in practice between scrimmages. That’ll help us.”

Morrison feels Friday will be a good chance for Creston to continue its day-to-day improvements, and that it won’t be a “statement” game to open the season.

KSIB Radio will have the call Friday night on KOOL 102 with Chad Reick. The News Advertiser will also have coverage, with live updates from Tyler Hetu on Twitter (@TheTylerHetu).

The last time Boone faced the Panthers was in 2017, with Boone squeezing out a 28-27 win. In the Quickstats era, Creston/O-M is 1-2 lifetime against the Toreadors.

Starting lineup

OFFENSE

T Avery Fuller 6-4 200 Jr.

G Owen Richards 6-0 280 Jr.

C Jackson Kinsella 6-1 200 Sr.

G Chris Wilson 6-1 285 Jr.

T Keegan Smith 6-0 270 Sr.

WR Derek Paup 6-2 210 Jr.

WR Brance Baker 6-0 160 Sr.

WR Cael Kralik 6-3 165 Sr.

QB Cole Strider 5-10 150 Sr.

RB Briley Hayes 5-10 150 Jr.

FB Garon Wurster 5-5 150 Sr.

K Aiden Anderson 5-9 150 Jr.

DEFENSE

DE Derek Paup 6-2 210 Jr.

DT Andy Weis 5-9 220 Sr.

DE Jackson Kinsella 6-1 200 JSr.

OLB Connor Travis 5-8 145 Sr.

ILB Briley Hayes 5-10 160 Jr.

ILB Garon Wurster 5-5 150 Sr.

OLB Kaden Bolton 5-8 150 Sr.

CB Kael Kralik 6-3 165 Sr.

CB Colby Burg 6-0 160 Sr.

SS Evan Bruce 5-8 135 Sr.

FS Brance Baker 6-0 160 Sr.

P Derek Paup 6-2 210 Jr.