T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - The Marshalltown High School football team brings back 17 letterwinners in hopes of improving upon last year’s 2-7 season record. Pictured (from left) are front row: John Schoenfelder, Tyler Englund, Zak Wilder, Jordan Haynes, Declan Greene, Mochamad Pramana, Juan Pablo Perez and Aiden Smitherman; back row: Jaxson Hinkle, Jonathan Schaeffer, Xavier Verdinez, Zane Moore, Jamison Niehouse, Talon Halsted, Logan Hoffman, Jacob Hayes and Kyle Smith.

The implementation of the flexbone offense didn’t yield immediate success for the Marshalltown High School football program last fall, but it did open the Bobcats’ eyes to what might be possible.

The full-scale installation of the triple-option offense popularized by the service academies of college football continues into Year 2 for head coach Adam Goodvin and the Bobcats, but the process remains in progress.

“We really locked in on the effort piece and putting forth consistent effort and taking care of ourselves as far as ensuring that we’re getting better every day,” Goodvin said at the outset of his ninth season at the helm. “We can’t afford any setbacks — you’re either getting better or getting worse, there’s really no in between. And I think the kids are starting to understand that.

“I truly feel like we’re a little more consistent as far as our effort goes from a practice standpoint, every single day, and that’s been really awesome to see.”

In the first year of its new offense, Marshalltown ran for 1,505 yards across its nine-game schedule — ranking 22nd out of 36 teams in Class 5A. The consistency conundrum seems to have checked itself off the list this season, Goodvin said, and the Bobcats expect to take another step toward the likes of Navy and Air Force.

“That was a huge issue that we identified a year ago and for whatever reason, we were extremely inconsistent with our effort,” Goodvin said. “And that’s really hard to coach. But I thinik this year our kids have really understood that and are really taking some ownership and putting forth some intent behind good effort.”

The detail-driven, run-first offense hit an occasional home run last fall, but the Bobcats couldn’t make it work for them the way they wanted it to. Goodvin hopes another year into the scheme will give Marshalltown more opportunities to fine-tune the offense and take advantage of its continuity.

The personnel has to fit, however, and the Bobcats are thin, so to speak, up front.

Seniors Jaxson Hinkle and Xavier Verdinez return to the offensive line, and junior Jonathan Schaeffer has moved from guard to center this season. Hinkle was a first-team all-district selection last year, while Schaeffer was a second-team pick.

Senior Carlos Estrada, junior Nathan Sinclair and junior Holden Rice have received regular practice reps ahead of the start of the season, but Goodvin will continue to assess the lineup in hopes of finding the right pieces to fit the puzzle.

“We do bring back quite a few kids and fortunately they have had a year experience running this offense,” Goodvin said. “I think where we’re the most thin at is up front on the offensive line, but we do have some quality kids there.”

Seniors Ignacio Macias, Damien Nino and Robert Nino, junior Austin Odom and sophomore Hunter Fors have also worked their way into the offensive line rotations in practice.

The line will work in front of a new quarterback this season, as senior Jacob Hayes has made the selfless move to tight end to clear a lane for junior Jamison Niehouse to call the shots for the Bobcat attack. Hayes proved to be the right person for the job in Marshalltown’s first season of running the flexbone, but Niehouse has been handed the reins this year.

“We knew last summer that we had two kids that could play quarterback at a pretty good leveel,” Goodvin said. “Jamison had such a heavy load on defense last year and Jacob was slowly progressing and getting better and better every week.

“Jamison has been phenomenal. He’s got a great skill set. He’s the ultimate football player and he’s a competitor. We’re excited to see what he can do with his legs, and he’s going to go out there and do everything he can to help the team.”

Goodvin credited Hayes for making a move not a lot of players might accept after serving as the starting quarterback a year earlier.

“You’ve got to understand the value that you bring to our program, and he truly does,” Goodvin said. “He wants to be out on the football field wherever he’s needed, where he can make an impact and put our team in the best position to win football games. He cares more about team success than anything, and that’s ultimately what we’re trying to instill in all of our kids.”

The flexbone offense leans heavily on its fullback, a durable and capable ball-carrier who helps to set the tone with punishing runs between the tackles. The Bobcats had that player in then-senior Davis Ragland a year ago, and junior John Schoenfelder had stepped into that role this season.

Fellow junior Gaston Feras will see some handoffs, while sophomores Yandel Manning and Drewmex Aichy are expected to get into the mix as well.

“At the B-back position, number one, you’ve got to be tough,” Goodvin said. “It can be a heavy load. We need guys that are willing to stick their nose in there and block you and be able to pound out three, four, five yards per carry.

“Schoenfelder has done an outstanding job. He’s like another coach out there.”

Junior Tyler Englund was the Bobcats’ second-leading rusher behind Ragland as a B-back last season, but he has moved over to the slot position in hopes of maximizing the speed he brings to the field. Aiden Smitherman remains as a returning starter in the slot, while fellow seniors Mochamad Pramana, Zak Wilder and Declan Greene have practiced at the same position.

“I think the slot is probably the most difficult position to play in this offense to be honest,” Goodvin said. “They’ve got to do it all. You’ve got to be tough and physical and come off the football and block and be detailed in your steps and you’ve got to be able to be skilled enough to take a toss or go out on a pass route.”

Hayes will be joined at tight end by fellow senior Talon Halsted, while senior Kyle Smith and junior Zane Moore lead the receiving corps at this stage. Junior Drake Gersema and senior Logan Hoffman will also take reps on the outside.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence in those guys and they’re really starting to understand how important they are because of their effort as far as their assignments when the ball’s not coming to them,” Goodvin said. “You’ve got to be extremely selfless. We tell them ‘if you want big plays, you’ve got to do the dirty work, and I think they understand that.'”

Ragland was last year’s leading tackler, too, but the Bobcats have a number of players back on that side of the ball who made stops. Linebackers Wilder (34.5), Niehouse (33.5) and Schoenfelder (32.5) and cornerbacks Pramana (26.5) and senior Juan Pablo Perez (17.5) are back in action on the defense.

Due to a general lack of size and depth up front, Marshalltown will align in a 3-4 defense this season to give its talented linebacking corps a chance to make plays from sideline to sideline. It’s the team’s deepest position on defense, Goodvin said, with sophomores Elicha Mboungou, Garrett Thede, Cobe Ruring and Manning getting second-string reps along with freshman Larrs Schoenfelder.

“It’s a very physical group, a smart group, and coach (Duncan) Ferch does an excellent job with them,” Goodvin said. “I’m very excited to see what they can do this fall for us.”

The Bobcats will have options in the defensive backfield as well after returning starters Pramana, Perez and Smith. Hayes, Gersema and Hoffman have competed for jobs on the back end along with sophomores Giles Smith and Terry Wyant.

“We’ve got some guys back and some guys have moved positions,” Goodvin said. “We feel like we’re sitting in a good position with defensive backs. We have a lot of smart guys, athletic guys and good communicators.”

The Bobcats are three seasons removed from a 5-4 campaign, but 13 years away from their last playoff berth (2012). Marshalltown will be gifted their first trip to the UNI-Dome since the state runner-up team of 2009 when they travel to face Waterloo East in Week 2, but first a showdown with archrival Ames awaits in a Week 1 home game at Leonard Cole Field.

“I think it’s always fun to be able to start the year with Ames,” said Goodvin. “Long-time rival, you get them at home, and we experienced some success against them a year ago, so our kids are excited.

“From the big picture, playing Ames in Week 1 at home, I don’t think it gets any better than that.”

The Week 2 game with Waterloo East has been moved to the UNI-Dome due to construction at Memorial Stadium, but the Bobcats’ Week 8 game at Waterloo West is still scheduled to be played there.

Marshalltown hosts Mason City for Homecoming on Sept. 12, and the Bobcats are Des Moines East’s Homecoming foe on Sept. 19.

This season’s schedule features a few teams the Bobcats don’t regular see, starting with a Sept. 26 home game against Cedar Rapids Kennedy. MHS visits Waukee in Week 6, hosts Dallas Center-Grimes in Week 7, and plays at Waterloo West in Week 8.

The regular-season schedule closes with a home game against perennial power Dowling Catholic, a state semifinalist a year ago.

How much success the Bobcats find this season might be directly related with how quickly they continue to advance through the flexbone offense.

“We pulled up film from a year ago and from our very first day of full pads, we compared it to now and it was just night and day difference as far as where are kids are at technique-wise because it is a very detailed offense,” Goodvin said. “We’ve learned a lot.”

Marshalltown Football

Aug. 29 AMES, 7 p.m.

Sept. 5 at Waterloo East, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 12 MASON CITY, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 19 at Des Moines East, 7 p.m.

Sept. 26 CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY, 7 p.m.

Oct. 3 at Waukee, 7 p.m.

Oct. 10 DALLAS CENTER-GRIMES, 7 p.m.

Oct. 17 at Waterloo West, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 24 DOWLING CATHOLIC, 7 p.m.