Coaches Poll

DUQUESNE, Mo. -- The Miller Cardinals and the Cassville Wildcats were selected as preseason favorites in polling of their respective conference's coaches, it was announced Wednesday (July 27) during the second annual Southwest Missouri High School Football Media Day at the Southwest Missouri Bank Conference Center.

The media day was presented by KSEK-FM -- The Ticket, 99.1 ESPN Radio of Pittsburg, Kan., which hosted high school coaches from the Spring River Valley and Big Eight conferences as well as the coaches from Joplin, McAuley Catholic and Carthage.

Miller, guided by head coach Dustin Baldwin, finished 11-2 last season and is the defending champion of the Spring River Valley Conference. The Cardinals advanced to the Class 1 quarterfinals in 2010, where they fell to enventual champion Ste. Genevieve-Valle Catholic, 56-26. MHS's only other loss in 2010 was to Class 2 Hogan Prep of Kansas City in week three of the season.

Miller picked up four of the six available first-place votes (coaches could not vote for their own school, and one coach did not return a ballot) and edged the Pierce City Eagles by one point in the poll, 44-43.

Pierce City finished 2010 at 10-2 under first-year head coach Mac Whitehead, with both losses coming to league-rival Miller -- the latest in the second round of the playoffs. The Eagles picked up two first-place votes but also was ranked in the top three on all six ballots returned.

The third of four SRVC squads to earn a spot in the Class 1 playoff field -- they fell to Miller in the first round -- Lockwood (6-4) was third in the survey with 37 points and the other remaining first-place vote. Greenfield (6-5) ended up fourth in the poll with 35 points. The Wildcats fell to Pierce City in the opening round of the 2010 postseason.

The Cassville Wildcats are coming off a 13-1 season in which they fell to eventual Class 3 champion Richmond, 23-21, in the state semifinals while trying to defend their 2009 state crown. Head coach David Large's squad had four of the possible six first-place votes in the Big Eight poll (like in the SRVC, one coach did not return a ballot) and 46 points.

Lamar (10-4) was second in the conference survey with 43 points and two first-place votes. The Tigers advanced to the Class 2 semifinals for the second time in as many seasons, where head coach Scott Bailey's troops dropped a 33-19 decision to Maplewood-Richmond Heights. Bailey reported he expects 76 kids to start practice for the Tigers.

Aurora (6-4) placed third in the poll with 37 points and the other remaining first-place vote. The Houn' Dogs started the 2010 season at 5-1, but missed the Class 3 playoffs with losses in three of their last four games.

Mount Vernon (5-6) edged Seneca (8-3) by one point for fourth place in the Big Eight ranking, 28-27. The Mountaineers won three of their last four regular season games to make the Class 3 bracket, but fell to their week-one opponent, Logan-Rogersville by a 19-16 score (MVHS lost the first meeting, 39-21).

Seneca will be under new leadership in 2011, as former Missouri Southern assistant Dan Scheible takes the reins. Like Mount Vernon, the Indians fell in the first round of the Class 3 playoffs -- a 28-14 decision to Holden. Though not hired until June 1, Scheible said he and his staff hit the ground running and he's happy with what he hasseen from his new squad through conditioning and camps to this point of the summer.

Regular season action starts on Aug. 27 for most schools in southwest Missouri, with practice beginning on Aug. 8.