By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Missouri Western football team is ready to begin a new era tonight, as they kick off the 2023 season.
Tyler Fenwick will coach his first game as the new head man, as the Griffons host Central Missouri at Spratt Stadium.
Hired in December of last year, Fenwick says his team has practiced about as much as they can, and are ready to see another team.
"We're going to roll the ball out and let those guys fly around and go do their thing," Fenwick said. "I'm excited to watch them play. They've been putting in a lot of work and they deserve to get out there and put on a show for St. Joe."
Fenwick succeeds Matt Williamson, who was relieved as head coach last November.
Fenwick was Missouri Western's offensive coordinator from 2007-2012. He was part of arguably one of the most dominant runs in program history, as Missouri Western won a combined 53 games in those six seasons, and made the playoffs three times.
Fenwick looks forward to being back at Spratt on game day, but is focused on the task at hand.
"We'll take it all in and I'll take it all in pregame but once the ball gets kicked off, you kind of forget about all of that stuff and are just trying to play the next play."
It was nearly nine months ago when Fenwick was introduced as the seventh head football coach in Missouri Western history. After completing spring and fall camp, fifth-year senior and defensive lineman Dakari Streeter is excited to finally play a game.
"I just want to see how the team does," he said. "How we gel with each other. It's just a whole lot of newness. Can't go wrong with a lot of newness. I'm just excited to see how everything goes."
Redshirt junior and lead receiver Traveon James has noticed this group becoming more of a player-led team under this coaching staff.
"They like to have a player-led team," James said. "They respect that. We don't feel like we're in jail. I feel like I can come out of my shell and be myself and be who I am."
Junior running back Brandon Hall praises the work of new strength coach Zach Fears, who’s helped every player get bigger and stronger.
"His new strength program (Fears) has us going through," Hall explained, "we went up 2,000 pounds as a team on every max (lift). So, we definitely got bigger and he made everyone put on 10-15 pounds."
Fenwick believes his team is ready to play, and is better conditioned than they were in the spring. He says tonight's result comes down to which team makes the fewest mistakes.
"I feel like we're a more developed team than when we got here," he said. "Right now, it's coming down to, can we go out against Central Missouri and not have more mistakes than Central Missouri does in game one? That's what it's going to come down to."
Of the 85 players on the Griffons' roster, 69 of them were on the team last year. Missouri Western added 32 new freshmen and 10 transfers in the offseason.
Missouri Western comes off of a 5-6 record last year, while UCM was 4-7. The Mules beat the Griffons in Warrensburg in double overtime last November, 40-37.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. central. Coverage starts at 6 on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3, 680kfeq.com, KFEQ app).
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