Author: perry@perryphillipsinsurance.com

  Carlton Epps showed up on last years list for rewriting the single season goal record at Branson High School.  But as we learned in 2021, he was far from done.

    Early in this season he set a new mark for career goals, and spend most of the year looking to put that mark out of reach.  Epps, then proceeded to top the season goal number he set just a year ago…  Mission accomplished, when the final whistle blew he had scored two more goals than he had his junior season.  That mark now stands at 46.  That career mark that I mentioned earlier is an amazing 106.

    Epps is far from a ball hog though.  Just for good measure he added the single season assist record to his list of accomplishments, as well, this season.  

  He and Pilot Ascone, who set a school record with 10 shutouts this season in goal, helped lead the Pirates to a Co-Championship in Central Ozarks Conference play this season.  Epps was again named first team All-State.

     2021 was a year of change in leadership at Hollister.  New faces took over as Athletic Director, Head Football Coach, and Girls Basketball Coach.

  Nyla Milleson came in as the leader of the Activities at Hollister High School.  The former Drury, Missouri State, and George Mason  Ladies Basketball Coach took over the AD reins from John Burgi  

“Nyla Milleson is a person of outstanding character and will be a wonderful leader for our program,” Dr. Jared Terry, HHS Principal, for the 2021-2022 school year, said in a release. “She brings a proven record of success on the court and in developing successful student-athletes with exceptional character. We are very excited to have Coach Milleson joining the Hollister Tiger Family!”

   Rich Adkins accepted the Athletic Director job at Seneca so the Tigers needed a football coach.  They did not go very far, hiring Mike Johnson from within the district.  Before coming to Hollister, Johnson coached and taught in Colorado for 21 years.

  And, finally Jeff Dishman joined the staff at Hollister as the Head Girls Basketball coach.  He replaces Jimmy Lincoln who left the district to take over the program at Mountain Grove.

  Dishman has spent 14 years teaching and coaching and has won 5 state Championships.  Most recently he coached at Logan-Rogersville.  He says, “I want my program to be remembered as one that competes not only on the court but in the classroom as well.  We want young ladies that are great leaders in the school and the community who can be great role models for the younger girls.”

 

      For #9 in this years list of top Sports stories we go to Track and Field and to Branson High School.   

  Cali Essick had a heck of a meet at this years State Championships.  She finished 8th in the 200 meter dash.  She was a silver medalist in the long jump.  But, it was the triple jump that really made it special.  Her leap of 39 feet 4 inches not only made her the Class 5 State Champion it also set the Class 5 State Record.

  Essick still has her senior season at Branson High School to complete but her college choice has already been made.  She has signed a national letter of intent to continue her education and athletic career at the University of Missouri.

   Its time for my top ten sports stories of 2021.   As is the case each year I, pretty much, do this from the top of my head and could easily miss something that should be on the list or the list could, just as easily be in a different order.

   My #10 story is Steve Shepherd entering the Hall of Fame.  Shepherd is in his 20th season as the coach of the Bobcats.  Actually he was in last years class but Covid-19 forbid the ceremonies from taking place last year.

  In his time leading the Bobcats he has led them to a National Championship and three Fab Four’s.  Before coming to CofO he was an assistant at Evangel University and was on the Crusaders bench when they won the National Title.  His high school coaching career saw stops at Savanah, Marionville, Aurora, and Parkview.

In 2002, Shepherd was introduced as the fourth head coach in the history of College of the Ozarks’ men’s basketball. In his fourth year at the helm, the 2006 Bobcats delivered to College of the Ozarks their first-ever NAIA DII Men’s Basketball National Championship, defeating Huntington University 74-56 in the title game. He was also named NAIA DII National Coach of the Year.  In 2015, Shepherd added the role of Athletic Director to his resume, managing the day-to-day responsibilities of the College’s athletic program alongside his coaching responsibilities. He received the honor of being named A.I.I. Athletic Director of the Year in 2016-2017.

   In all Shepherd has led his teams to a record of record of 651-282, going into the current season.

  With two weeks left in the regular season the Football Districts are starting to become a little more clear.  Hollister and Forsyth will almost assuredly be at home for the opening round.  Branson still has a shot, but likely needs help and Reeds Spring sees their likely destinations narrowing down.

Class 5

1 Lebanon     38.28

2 Glendale 41.78

3 Camdenton  37.1

4  Rolla   34.19

5  Branson  28

6 Central 27.04

7.  Waynesville  25.33

    Above are the current standings…  There is a decent chance that this is exactly how things finish.  Lebanon looks good to be number one.  Glendale and Camdenton play this week.  The winner will get the two.  Branson is chasing Rolla but is over six points behind.  Pirates do get a bonus for playing Joplin this week.  Also, don’t forget about Central.  They are less than a point behind Branson.  They have Buffalo and Forsyth coming up.  If they get either of those games it will be close.

 My projected first round pairings….

Lebanon BYE

Waynesville at Glendale

Central at Camdenton

Branson at Rolla

 

     Class 3

1.  Aurora   47.81
2. Hollister   38.1
3. Seneca       37.57
4. Mtn Grove   36.98
5. Buffalo    31.67
6. Reeds Spring  30.81
7. Cassville     26.29

       Again, this one might very well finish in the exact same order they are currently in.  Aurora has all but locked up the top spot.  Hollister is likely going to get the #2 seed as they finish with Catholic and Mt Vernon.  Tigers might want to make sure they get the max points possible in those games because it could get a little tight behind them.  The Tigers strength of schedule numbers are going to take a hit because the teams they have left have combined for only ONE win.  Tigers have a win over Seneca, so even if they pass Hollister, the Tigers would jump them because of the head to head matchup.  Seneca is likely to go 1-1 as they face Lamar this week but finish with Monett (a bonus point game)  Mountain Grove will try to crash the party.  The Panthers are in fourth but only 1.12 points out of second.  They, however, finish with Thayer, if they pull an upset it will be interesting.  Buffalo and Reeds Spring are separated by less than a point.  Wolves get a bonus for playing up next week but Buffalo gets a double bonus, this week, plus the opponent is Central, so they may very well get a win to boot.  Wolves likely need to win both games while Buffalo splits in order to pass the Bison.

  My projected matchups

Aurora     BYE

Cassville at Hollister (would be the first time the Tigers have ever hosted)

Reeds Spring at Seneca

Buffalo at Mountain Grove

 

   CLASS  2

1.  Ava      53.54
2. Forsyth   34.26
3. Liberty     30.69
4. Strafford   29.29
5. Catholic    27.57
6. Houston   25.63
7. Willow   25.62

     This one is a little different, as I project a little movement.  No doubt Ava is the one… they can put the BYE on their calendar.  Forsyth is likely the 2 unless something strange happens.  If they slip and lose they have a double bonus point game vs Central still in their pocket.  3-5 is where it will get interesting…. Mtn View-Liberty is likely fine in the three hole as long as they don’t slip up against Salem (they will get a bonus, no matter what) and not sure their week 9  game vs Houston will happen.  Strafford at Stockton this week could be huge in sorting all this out.  If the Indians lose they are likely to finish behind Catholic, even if they win it will be close.  The Irish will get bonus points in each of the last two games including a double bonus this week vs Monett.  Willow is .01 behind Houston but they beat the Tigers head to head and will jump them.

  My projections….

Ava    BYE

Houston at Forsyth

Willow at Liberty

Strafford at Catholic

  Keep in mind, these are guesses as best… More will become clear Friday Night….

 

    It was a long Friday night for both Reeds Spring and Hollister, but at Pirate Stadium, the Branson Pirates picked up a big win over rival Ozark.

   Branson had jumped out to a 20-7 lead over their rivals from up Hwy 65 but Ozark had come back to take a 21-20 lead late in the game.  The Pirates did not panic.  They drove down the field and into field goal range.  Enter freshman kicker Dane Efird who, like a seasoned veteran, calmly took the field and split the uprights to give the Pirates a 23-21 victory.

   Reeds Spring found out exactly why Lamar is the odds on favorite to win State Championship #9.  The Tigers controlled most every facet of the game and rolled to a 54-13 win, in the Wolves home opener. 

 Hollister fell to 1-1 as well, dropping a 54-28 decision to Nevada.  And, Forsyth fell a little short as well.  The Panthers lost 34-27 to Buffalo.

   The 2021 season got off on the right foot for Reeds Spring and Hollister as they both picked up road wins in Big 8 Cross-Division Games.  Branson did not fair as well at Nixa.

    The Wolves got off to about as good of a start as anyone could ask.  Evan Gross picked up the opening kickoff and took it back 86 yards for a touchdown.  After a defensive stop, Reeds Spring put together a sustained drive that ended with a Caden Wiest receiving touchdown.   Wiest would add another touchdown reception in the second half.  Gross would score four times on the night and do it in about every way conceivable.  He ran for one, caught one,  had a kick return for one, and had a fumble recovery for one.  Wolves beat East Newton 49-20.

  The Tigers trailing by one late in the 3rd quarter at Monett got touchdowns form Blake Russell and Luke Calovich to pick up a big road win.  Russell would run from 120 yards on the night and Calovich was good for 178 in the air as the Tigers had nearly 400 yards of total offense.  They defeated the Cubs 42-27.

  Branson got a pick 6 to take the early lead at Nixa but the Eagles got rolling and defeated the Pirates 42-6 in Central Ozarks Conference Action.

  The Forsyth Panthers will kickoff their season tonight and you can hear the game on Moarksports.com

       The Missouri State Activities Association released their Class and District lineups this morning for Fall Sports and there are some changes. Football, Volleyball, Softball, and Soccer all saw changes

 FOOTBALL

   Reeds Spring, Hollister, and Branson all noticed changes within their districts.  The Wolves and Tigers will notice that Mt Vernon is no longer a district foe.  The Mountaineers have moved down to Class 2.  They are replaced by Buffalo and Mountain Grove.  

  Branson will notice that it will finally get to play someone outside the COC.  They have been sent East for their District and are the only COC school in the district.

 Class 3 District 6

Aurora

Buffalo

Cassville

Hollister

Mtn Grove

Reeds Spring

Seneca

 

Class 5 District 5

Branson

Camdenton

Central

Glendale

Lebanon

Rolla

Rolla

Waynesville

 

Class 2 District 3

Ava

Forsyth

Houston

Mtn View Liberty

Catholic

Strafford

Willow Springs

 

        Volleyball

   Reeds Spring, Hollister, and Forsyth were all together last year but not the case this season.  Branson Volleyball moves up to Class 5

Class 3 District 11

Aurora

Cassville

Clever

Reeds Spring

Catholic

 

Class 3 District 10

Ava

Forsyth

Hollister

Mtn Grove

Willow Springs

 

Class 5 District 11

Branson

Kickapoo

Ozark 

Nixa

Republic

 

Class 1 District 7

Blue Eye

Bradleyville

Chadwick

Fordland

Galena

School of the Ozarks

 

Softball

Big changes on the Softball front as they have gone down to only 8 Districts

Class 3 District 4

Aurora

Cassville

Logan-Rogersville

Monett

Reeds Spring

Salem

Seneca

Willow Springs

 

Class 4 District 6

Branson

Carl Junction

Hillcrest

McDonald County

Neosho

Parkview

Webb City

Willard

 

Soccer

  Another sport in which they went to larger districts.  Branson stays Class 3

Class 3 District 5

Branson

Glendale

Hillcrest

Lebanon

Marshfield

Parkview

Catholic

West Plains