Countdown to kickoff: Panthers believe being more physical, disciplined will lead to turnaround

PALMYRA, Mo. — Physical, tough and disciplined.

That is Dalton Hill’s mantra.

“We don’t have to beat people based upon talent, but what we are going to do is we are going to be a physical team, we’re going to be a tough team, we’re going to be a disciplined team,” the second-year Palmyra football coach said. “We’re going to fly around and make things happen. We’re going to find ways to hang in the fray and keep grinding play after play after play. I think if we can do that, we’ll have some success.”

The Panthers went 2-8 in 2023 after a whirlwind of a 2022 season and ensuing offseason that featured two coaching changes and plenty of distractions.

From what Hill could tell, his players blocked out the noise.

“To be honest, I don’t feel like our kids fed into that too much whatsoever,” HIll said. “They did a great job in trying to set a new standard and head in a different direction. I really didn’t hear much from them about any of the things that were going on.”

The Panthers’ focus is squarely on the road in front of them.

“Our kids are starting to adapt to the new and get rid of the old,” Hill said.

Hill’s youthful energy rubs off on Panthers

How many coaches will line up at left tackle — in a t-shirt and shorts and his players in full pads — and run plays at close to full speed with his team at practice?

Hill does, and it’s all by design.

“When I ask my kids to do something, whether that’s at practice or in the weight room, I never ask them to do something I haven’t done and would be willing to do again,” Hill said.

Panthers center Colby Jones said Hill may have lost a step or two, but he wishes anyone good luck getting past him.

“He can’t go full speed, but if he gets his hands on you, it’s game over. You’re not moving,” Jones said.

By putting his words into action by running drills or doing the same lifts in the weight room that his players do, Hill practices what he preaches.

“I’m a big believer that if you can preach it all day that’s great, but there’s a difference between preaching it and actually getting in there and showing them,” Hill said.

Hill graduated from Northwest Missouri State in 2022 where he started on the offensive line and from Mark Twain High School in 2017 where he was a second-team all-state lineman. So it hasn’t been long since Hill was in his players’ shoes.

“That’s something I feel like I have in my back pocket,” Hill said. “Being young, I do feel like I can connect with my players. I understand a lot of the grind and some of the things that are tough.” 

Hill rarely lacks for fire and passion, which junior quarterback Rylan Compton said is infectious.

“He brings a lot of energy,” Compton said. “Sometimes we’re not all bringing it, but our coaches are all young and having fun with us. It just makes practices and games that much better.”

Compton’s baseball background suits him well

Compton, an All-Clarence Cannon Conference middle infielder for the Palmyra baseball team, said playing shortstop and quarterback are actually quite similar, especially when it comes to creating arm angles on his throws.

“It’s the same thing with turning a double play at short, different arm angles, and if you’ve got a defensive end rushing at you, you’ve got to make that sidearm throw every once in a while,” Compton said.

He is entering his second season as the Panthers’ starting quarterback.

“Last year, he was raw to the position, just got thrown in there,” Hill said of Compton. “He had never played a snap at quarterback in his life, but he made great strides.”

Hill said the physical tools as well as the intangibles of playing shortstop translate to the quarterback position.

“I think anytime you’re a shortstop on the baseball team and you have to communicate with the field, you kind of are the quarterback of the baseball field and have to make those kinds of throws, I think it directly correlates,” Hill said.

Compton will have a tandem of Landon Carroll and Wyatt Augspurg to hand the ball off to. Jones said when these two physical runners come barrelling down the tracks, defenders better brace for a high-speed collision.

“They will get after you,” Jones said. “If you’re not ready at linebacker, they will run through you.”

Compton’s top receiving target will likely be sophomore Pierce White, and Hill expects the offensive line led by Jones to be vastly improved, a pleasant sight for a former offensive lineman.

”We’re shaping up nicely,” Hill said. “They’re starting to become detail-oriented on their own. When we watch film for position meetings and things like that before practice, they’re able to tell me a lot of times where they went wrong. I think when they can tell me exactly what they did wrong, they’ve heard it enough times from me, and they’re able to make those corrections on their own.”

Weight room critical to Panthers’ growth

With just 34 players on the Palmyra roster, avoiding injuries will be paramount.

“We don’t have a lot of depth at certain positions, so we’re trying to keep our guys healthy,” Hill said.

With Hill’s background in strength and conditioning — that’s what he was hired to coach at Palmyra before taking the head coaching job last April — he has put an emphasis on being purposeful in the weight room, which not only helps accomplish the goal of keeping players healthy, but also contributes to the physical, tough and disciplined mentality that Hill preaches and practices.

“I feel like there’s no other place in the world that sets your culture like the weight room,” Hill said. “Whoever you’re going to be and whatever your identity is, it’s going to be formed in that weight room. The way we approach our lifting sessions from how we walk in to what we wear while we lift, how we set up underneath the bar to how we encourage somebody else, all those things come right out that door (of the weight room) onto the football field. 

“I feel like if you go through the motions in the weight room, you’re going to go through the motions during practices and games.”

What they lack in numbers the Panthers make up for in sheer will.

“We may not have depth, but we have a drive that no other team has,” senior defensive back and receiver Drew Copenhaver said. “All we want to do is get back to what Palmyra used to be. We want to show everybody that we’re not a 2-8 ball team. I don’t think there’s a team on planet earth that’s going to outwork a single person on this field or in the weight room.”