‘It’s going to be a playoff atmosphere’: South Shelby heads to Monroe City for CCC opener

MONROE CITY, Mo. — The Monroe City football team sees the train coming down the tracks.

“The kids know what’s coming,” Panthers coach David Kirby said.

And as the train that bears the name South Shelby quickly approaches, Kirby knows the kind of performance it will take to knock off the reigning Clarence Cannon Conference champions.

“We’re going to have to play a mistake-free football game,” Kirby said. “They have a group of kids coming back that knows what it takes to be successful and what it takes to win. They’re highly motivated to prove to a lot of people that they can be better than they were last year.”

South Shelby’s conductor — coach Adam Gunterman — understands that the Cardinals’ next stop and first in their defense of that CCC title won’t be a restful one.

“Through the film and studying them and knowing what they have coming back, this is a really good football team,” Gunterman said of Monroe City. “They’re going to be hungry and excited, and hopefully we can match that hunger.”

The Panthers and Cardinals will tangle Friday at Monroe City’s Lankford Field in a clash that could not only determine the eventual CCC champion but also home field advantage in the postseason.

“It adds another element, too, that we’re in the same district and we’re vying for the same thing,” Kirby said. “It’s going to be a playoff atmosphere and hopefully one of those fun, high school games that people want to come to and see two good teams playing great football.”

Both teams roll into their conference opener after commanding wins in Week 2 — Monroe City a 58-18 drubbing of Montgomery County and South Shelby a 62-0 dismantling of Westran.

“We came out last week and took care of business early,” Gunterman said.

South Shelby pulled away from Harrisburg in the second half en route to a 60-22 victory in Week 1, while Monroe City lost to vaunted Valle Catholic 47-14 in its season-opener.

“I think it was a good reset,” Gunterman said of Week 2. “That’s what Monroe had with Montgomery County. It was a good way for them to be like, ‘Hey this is who we are, we are a good football team.’ They took care of business last weekend and made that statement of ‘we’re pretty darn good. Don’t let Week 1 fool you.’”

Both coaches have been impressed with their offensive lines, Kirby specifically with his group’s improvement from Week 1 to Week 2.

“I thought we blocked much better,” Kirby said of the Montgomery County game. “I thought in Week One we were taking too many incorrect first steps and we were missing our aiming points, whereas this past week, we had a great week of practice and we put a lot of attention to detail in our first step and hitting our aiming points, and I thought the kids did a much better job of that. I was very proud of the way the offensive line bounced back from the Valle Catholic game.”

For Gunterman, his offensive line provides the backbone for a unit that racks up points and yards with the top teams in the state.

“The biggest thing for me is up front,” Gunterman said. “Kaiden Pool, Draden Black, Aadon Magruder, Cooper Elsen, and then a sophomore Kolt Threlkeld have played extremely well. Those five guys are the cornerstone of our football team.”

Add to that both teams’ insistence on running the ball, and you have all the makings of a 12-round heavyweight fight.

“Both teams have the same attitude toward football. They want to be physical, play great defense and run the ball,” Gunterman said. “We do it very differently from how they do it, but when it comes down to it, it’s believing in your run game and playing defense, and that’s what both teams do.”

While the Panthers and Cardinals rely heavily on their run games, both quarterbacks — Monroe City’s Wyatt DeGrave and South Shelby’s Chase Moellering — have plenty of tools in the toolbox.

“I think Wyatt matured a lot last week,” Kirby said. “He made some really good decisions with his feet and with his arm to put us in scoring opportunities. The Moellering kid is a stud dual threat and causes a lot of matchup problems. They’ve got a lot of pieces to that puzzle.”

The Cardinals enter Week 3 as the No. 7 team in the Class 2 state rankings, putting an even bigger target on the their backs, one that was already quite large having run roughshod through the CCC in 2023.

“When you win the CCC, that’s a really hard thing to do, so everybody is going to be coming to get you,” Gunterman said. “That pressure is a good thing because that means you’re a pretty good program. Monroe has had that pressure for a long time.”

Even though the Cardinals handled Monroe City 59-6 last season, there is no guarantee of a similar result this time around.

“History says in this conference if you mess around, you’re going to get beat,” Gunterman said. “This week is a great example of that.”