Putting a capper on what has been a whirlwind of Nixa football coverage from this corner leading up to tonight’s Class 6 state championship, we’ve zeroed in on the Eagles’ much-ballyhooed offensive line.
We’ve posted three Nixa stories today and all three are Eagles O-line stories. Rightfully so.
What better day than today to bestow further appreciation for Nixa’s big men up front, considering they are universally acknowledged as the preeminent component why the Eagles are vying for a state title.
Nixa’s offensive numbers surely are adding up to a slew of school records. It will be easier to figure out what records Eagles offensive players have set this season than the ones they haven’t reached.
Most of these numbers have been well documented, but why not repeat:
— Nixa has scored 583 points, or an average of 44.8 a game.
— Running back Dylan Rebura has 46 rushing touchdowns.
— Wyatt Vincent has been asked to punt a mere eight times all season.
— Left tackle Jackson Cantwell has collected 153 pancake blocks.
Inquiring minds have wondered aloud, ‘Is this the best offensive line SWMO has ever seen, as in all-time?’
To try to give us a conclusive answer, we’ve assembled a variety of folks with decent SWMO football knowledge in most cases. We’re going roundtable with this discussion.
Let’s get the dialogue started and not waste any time by giving the floor to the most esteemed member of our panel. Lebanon coach Will Christian is a 1994 Nixa grad and was an Eagles offensive lineman himself back in his glory days.
“As a former Eagle player and lineman I’m so pumped for Nixa!” Christian exclaimed.
Christian began his coaching career at his alma mater as an assistant and has went on to enjoy great success at Marionville and with the Yellowjackets. Christian has led Lebanon to a 143-69 record over 20 seasons.
First off, Christian compares Cantwell favorably with Lebanon grads Justin Britt and Tristan Wilson.
Britt went on to play left tackle and right tackle at Mizzou and was a second-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2014 NFL Draft. He was a tackle, guard and center in the NFL for nine years, before retiring a year ago. Wilson is in his third season an offensive lineman at Mizzou.
“I’ve been blessed to coach an NFL offensive lineman and a current Missouri Tiger. Cantwell is as physically dominant as any player from our area that I’ve seen,” said Christian, who coached against Nixa for the first time this fall. “Cantwell is so physically gifted in every category. He also is very humble and has great work ethic.
“There is no doubt he is a future NFL player,” Christian added. “Hopefully he is a future Tiger….MIZ!”
Can we get a “ZOU!”
Kirkwood quarterback Owen Nesslage could’t help but become a Cantwell fan, while throwing for 451 yards and five touchdowns against Nixa in last weekend’s semifinal that saw the teams combine for 102 points.
“He's a big kid and he plays physical,” Nesslage said. "It’ll be fun to watch him at the next level.”
Cantwell’s cohorts include senior right guard Jacob Lile, senior center Oakly White, junior left guard Hunter Jensen and junior right tackle Hayden Mays.
Chris Parker, sports director at the Ozark Sports Zone for 12 years, nominates Lamar’s state championship 2013 offensive line as a contender for SWMO’s top O-line.
Lamar’s legendary 2013 O-line was led by Sam and Ben Bailey and Trenton Mooney. Sam Bailey went on to play at Mizzou, Ben Bailey suited up for Southern Illinois and Mooney was at North Dakota State, before transferring to Pitt State.
“Lamar's 2013 team rushed for a state-record 6,826 yards. That is almost 1,200 yards more than No. 2 on the list,” Parker said. “That is 455 rushing yards per game. They outscored their opponents 366-19 in their six-game postseason run. That (O-line) had both the success and, in hindsight, the pedigree with one SEC signee and two FCS signees.”
Scott Puryear covered preps and was a columnist for the Springfield News-Leader dating back to the 1990s and co-hosted a sport-talk radio show, The Sports Reporters, on The Jock. In addition to Lamar and its nine state championship teams from 2011-2023, Puryear adds Webb City’s 16 state championship teams from 1989-2021 had premier O-lines.
Ultimately, Puryear gives Nixa the nod.
"Hard to compare, but it would be hard to argue that there has been a more talented line in the Ozarks,” Puryear said. “Only (contenders), I would think, might be some of those Webb City and Lamar offensive lines during their periods of domination.”
Scott McCaulley has held the title of “The Voice of The Pirates” for 35 years as play-by-play man for Branson on KRZK 106.3 FM. He’s been at the mic for 374 consecutive Pirates games. Does the Guinness Book Of World Records know about McCaulley’s streak?
McCaulley, who was an offensive lineman back when Springfield Greenwood fielded a football team, notes Branson legendary running back Dan Kneeshaw had great offense linemen in front of him. Kneeshaw, who went on to play football and baseball at SMS, rushed for 4,995 rushing yards and in 1989 accounted for 344 points all by himself.
“Kneeshaw's final year (at Branson) was my first and that line was good, as were several other (Pirates O-lines) over the years,” McCaulley said.
McCaulley saw enough of Nixa’s O-line a year ago during the Pirates’ final season in the COC, to feel any praise of the Eagles is justified.
“Comparing talent over time is a tricky thing,” he said. “Considering how much strength conditioning has changed the game, it would be easy to consider this Nixa line one of the best. Last year, they were pretty darn good,”
Back to Parker, while choosing between the O-lines of Lamar in 2013 and Nixa in 2024, he sides with Cantwell and Co.
“Lamar's offensive line and rushing attack was truly elite, but it doesn't come close to what Nixa is doing at the Class 6 level,” Parker said. “Having a player like Cantwell sets this line apart from any that I have covered in my time in SWMO by a margin.
“Is Nixa's offensive line the area's best ever?” Parker adds. “People with a deeper knowledge of the history of SWMO can weigh in. Is Nixa's offensive line the best since 2012? Unquestionably yes.”
Pat Dailey is going on his seventh year as sports editor of the Headliner and previously spent 15 years as the sports editor in Branson. He’s been awe-struck at times while focusing his camera on the Eagles’ O-line.
“One of the greatest spectacles I've witnessed was Nixa’s offensive linemen going head-to-head with Lee’s Summit North’s defensive linemen (two weeks ago in a state quarterfinal),” Dailey said. “That was grown men slugging it out. Those clashes easily could produce five All-State selections in Cantwell, Lile, White and North’s Ka’Mori Moore and Kai Reed.”
Dailey adds North’s defensive line earned a draw that night. Otherwise, he’s never seen an O-line be so consistently great as the Eagles' this season.
“It’s easily the best O-line I’ve seen and the best position group offense or defense I’ve seen on the gridiron,” Dailey said. “Not to be underestimated is this is Class 6 football. There aren't 175-pound offensive lineman at this level. Nixa’s offensive linemen are so good they have been impossible to ignore. They have become accustomed to being interviewed by the media and fans know their name. Where else has that ever happened?"
For the final judgment, Christian can serve as authoritative an expert on SWMO football as anyone and he unabashedly declares Nixa’s O-line the greatest SWMO has had in the new milnennium, at least.
“There is no doubt successful teams start up front on both sides of the ball. The success I’ve been blessed to be a part of as a head coach, we always had good O-lines,” Christian said. “Nixa’s current offensive line is the best complete group I’ve seen. Not only are they big and athletic but they are finishers. You have to have skill(-position players), but to do what Nixa is (doing), you must be good up front and they are more than good, they are the best.”
