The Panthers will be on the prowl this fall, according to the South-Central Association football head coaches.
Mountain Grove was a near-unanimous choice to win the 2025 SCA championship, per voting in the Carpenter Media Group’s SCA preseason coaches’ poll.
In the poll, through a vote of the schools’ head coaches, teams got seven points for a 1st-place vote, six points for a 2nd-place vote, five points for a 3rd-place vote, etc. Coaches couldn’t vote for their own teams.
Of the possible seven votes for the top spot, the Mountain Grove Panthers received six of them for 48 total points. Placing second, with the other two 1st-place votes, was Thayer with 44 points. Rounding out the poll, Mountain View Liberty was third with 34 points, Ava fourth with 31, Houston fifth with 23, Willow Springs sixth with 19, Salem seventh with 18 and Cabool eighth with seven.
Last season Liberty and Mountain Grove shared the SCA title, each with 6-1 league records. And four of the teams won seven or more games overall in 2025.
There are no new football head coaches in the SCA this year.
“I think it’ll be typical SCA,” said Salem head coach Neal Myers. “It will be ground and pound. Any of three teams could win. And if things turn out like we hope, we can be in that pack.”
“The SCA is tighter than it’s ever been,” said Mountain Grove head coach Daniel Swofford. “We will be solid and so will Thayer, Mountain View and Ava. I look for Salem and Willow to be in the mix as well. It will be challenging every week.”
“Our conference will be as tough as it always is year in and year out,” said Thayer head coach Briar Hancock. “Our league has had a long standing tradition of excellent football, and I do not see that changing this year.”
“I think the conference is going to be as tough as ever,” said Houston head coach Eric Sloan. “Several key players return throughout the conference.”
“The SCA is always one of the toughest football conferences in southwest Missouri,” said Jansen Acklin, who was a star player for his father with the Liberty Eagles before eventually becoming their head coach. “We respect all of our opponents and make sure to focus on who is in front of us each week.”
“I think the conference has to go through Grove and Liberty, because of what they accomplished last year,” said Ava head coach Casey Merrifield. “However, I think Thayer will be a tough out because they return a lot of talent and are well-coached. We intend to compete with the top three schools and be right in the mix. Salem will be loaded with young talent, and if they can jell early will be capable of surprising a lot of people.”
Here is a list of the league teams in their predicted order of finish from the Carpenter Media Group SCA coaches’ preseason poll (last season’s overall and league records in parenthesis):
1. Mountain Grove (7-4, 6-1): The Panthers are led by three-year starting sr. QB-DB Aden Estep (1,033, 7.4 yds-per-carry, 20 TDs rushing; 483 yds, six TDs passing; 56 tac., two ints.). Overall, Grove rushed for 3,381 yards and 44 TDs. Also leading the way is jr. FB-LB Wood Curtiss (910, 7.4, 10 TDs rushing; 86 tac.); jr. RB-DB Eli Golden (168 yds, 10.5 rushing; 60 tac., three sacks); sr. LB Aydon Barbe; jr. DB-WR Kale Gardner; sr. OL Peyton Metty, and soph. Maliki Davis.
2. Thayer (8-3, 5-2): The Bobcats have a slew of players back with starting experience, including 12 on offense and 10 on defense - including 1,000-yard rushers jr. RB-DB Thomas Poole (1,210 yds, 15 TDs) and sr. FB-DL Zeb DuBois (1,077 yds, 10 TDs; 47 tac., six sacks). Also back are jr. RB-LB Dominick Boyce (422 yds, six TDs rushing; 60 tac., 2 ints.); sr. RB-LB Heath Combs (551 yds, seven TDs rushing; 41 tac., 3 ints.); LB-RB Xavier Gonzales (87 tac., 1.5 sacks); QB Dawson Harris; OL-DL Kaleb Tipton; OL Blain Grimes; OL-LB Jasper Cypret; OL-DL Conner Crowder; WR-DB Tucker Wade; WR-DB Colton Mills; TE-LB Riley White; LB-RB Maddus Underwood; DL-OL Christian Pitts; DL-OL Eric Beville, and DB-WR Corbin Taylor.
3. Mtn. View Liberty (9-3, 6-1): The Tune boys are back to help power the Liberty Eagles. Sr. Parker Tune is back at QB-ATH while jr. Reed Tune is at LB-RB. Other key players include sr. RB-LB Jaren Rutledge; sr. OL-DL Matt Bushong; sr. WR-DB Kyle Roberts; sr. OL-DL Hayen Oziah; jr. OL-DL Preston Smothers; jr. WR-DB Jasper Melby; sr. WR-DB Brayden Mays, and sr. WR-DB Eddie Rodriguez.
4. Ava (7-3, 5-2): The Bears are paced by a backfield which includes four-year sr. starting QB Aiden Lane (630 yds, 8.3, 10 TD rushing; 423 yds, three TDs passing) and sr. RB-LB Jacob Laub (434 yds, 8.9, seven TDs rushing; 85 tac.). Others back are sr. Ben Stewart, who is moving from OL to FB; jr. RB-DB Grants Swatosh; sr. OL-DL Thomas Brown, and sr. OL-DL Maeson Trujillo. The big loss to graduation was three-year standout FB Hunter Adams.
5. Houston (6-5, 3-4): The Tigers have some replacing to do in the backfield, losing more than 1,700 rushing yards and 860 receiving yards to graduation. However, the team does bring back QB-DB DJ Riley (1,007 yds, eight TDs passing; 458 yds, 6.5, eight TDs rushing); TE-LB Mason Dodson (99 tac.); RB-LB Aaron McCarthy (60 tac.); WR-DB Kaden Beasley (33 tac.); OL-DL Toby Head (20 tac.), and FB-DL Caden Guerra.
6. Willow Springs (2-8, 1-6): The Bears are hoping to move up the standings behind sr. WR-DB John Baugh; sr. WR-DB Christopher McCune; sr. WR-DB Gavin Glenn; jr. OL-LB Eljah Roberts; jr. RB-LB Anthony Shortridge; soph. QB-DB Caden Lee; soph. RB-DL Braden Scarbrough, and soph. RB-LB Logan Bryan.
7. Salem (2-8, 2-5): The Tigers have a large group of talented youngsters coming into the program, and return eight starters on each side of the ball to go with them. Top players back include sr. QB Hayden Ragsdale; jr. RB-DB Sylis DuBois; jr. RB-DB Brody Ray; sr. FB Cason Malone; sr. LB Everett Campbell; sr. LB Ira Barton; jr. S Max Scholemer; jr. CB Paxton Deason, and sr. DE-LB Gavin Sapaugh.
8. Cabool (0-10, 0-7): The Bulldogs will be trying to snap an 11-game losing streak entering this fall. Leading the way are sr. RB-LB Carson Long; sr. LB-TE Justin Moore; sr. WR-LB Quinton Greene; sr. OL-DL Corbin Crewse; jr. RB-DB Briley Honeycutt; soph. QB Josiah Leonard, and jr. OL-DL Braylon Haywood. Newcomers include jr. C Nathan Long; soph. DB-WR Ryley Ryerson; soph. OL-LB Lucas Hong; fr. OL-DL Ben Lohman; soph. OL-DL Trevor Lowtharp; soph. FB-LB Mikey Donalson; WR-DB Heath Blackwelder, and fr. WR-DB Ransen Kidwell.
The Carpenter Media Group South-Central Assoc. Preseason Coaches Poll:
(1st-place votes in parenthesis):
1. Mtn. Grove, 48 pts (6)
2. Thayer, 44 (2)
3. Mtn. View Liberty, 34
4. Ava, 31
5. Houston, 23
6. Willow Springs, 19
7. Salem, 18
8. Cabool, 7
