By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
GOWER - East Buchanan football has enjoyed a pretty nice run of success lately, with seven winning seasons in the last eight years and two district titles since 2014.
The late Kevin Bryan was the head coach for much of that run, spending 13 years as the Bulldogs' head coach before retiring in 2020.
"Coach Bryan definitely set the tone here," second-year head coach Daniel Ritter said. "I'm reaping the benefits of him and how much he gave to this program, because I came into a good situation, and I can't thank the man and his family enough for doing that."
After an 8-3 run in his first season last year, Ritter looks to guide the Bulldogs this fall to their first district title since 2017.
He'll do it with a fairly young team. Of the 51 kids out for football this year, only 12 are upperclassmen.
"But those 12 have a lot of talent," Ritter reiterated, "and they are good leaders and I'm excited to see how they can bring these younger kids along to really make us become a team that we could be. This team has a lot of potential. We definitely are young, so we'll use that as motivation, because it's either now or never, so let's do it."
One of those 12 upperclassmen is senior Cru Conaway, who plays both safety and receiver. He says the best way the upperclassmen can lead is by example.
"It's not about yourself, but it's about what you're doing," Conaway said. "You've got to set an example, and depending on what kind of leader you are, whether you lead by example or whether you lead vocally, you just have to step up and be a leader. Everybody does."
Senior Trevor Rush, a starter on the offensive and defensive line, is optimistic that this team will adjust, despite the loss of guys like Cross McCormack, Heath Walley, Blake Antle and Gavin Ray up front.
"We're just going to keep pushing each other and adapt to change," Rush said. "We lost one of our starting defensive and offensive linemen. But, we're just going to adapt to it and keep getting better everyday."
Ritter has been pleasantly surprised by the amount of energy and enthusiasm his team has brought in the early days of practice, and he's excited to oversee a larger roster than last year.
"These young men have a lot of energy," Ritter admitted. "I was very surprised the first day. They just came out ready to go. We have 51 kids. Last year, we only had around 40. So, there's definitely some things moving around here in Gower, Missouri and at East Buchanan for sure."
The players, however, aren't the only ones bringing the energy this fall.
"One thing I love about Coach Ritter is that he's very energetic," Rush said. "He always knows what to say, and he's always there for us. He's always working on keeping us energetic and keeping us working in the offseason and during the season."
That said, the upperclassmen on this team had the chance to play for Kevin Bryan, and they haven't forgotten the lessons he instilled in them.
"I played for Coach Bryan my first two years here," Conaway recalled. "He taught me a lot of what I know about football, and the way he coached still is still in my memory bank and I still take all of that in and use it."
East Buchanan opens their season on August 27 at East Harrison. They also have road trips at Trenton, West Platte, North Platte and rival Mid-Buchanan, which is always a fun area rivalry for those involved.
"It's the battle of the Buchanans," Conaway said. "That's all I put there, but at the end of the day, it's about who comes out on top and it's going to be a never ending battle between us two."
The Bulldogs have home games against Lathrop, Hamilton/Penney, Plattsburg and Lawson.
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