After spending the past two seasons as an assistant coach for the Wright City Wildcats, Tyler Rickard has taken over as head coach — and believes that he’s ready for the challenge.

“I'm really excited about taking over as the head coach at Wright City. I've spent the previous two years as an assistant, so I've gotten to know our team, parents, and community very well,” Rickard told The Record. “This has made the transition to the head coaching position seamless.”

The Wildcats, who were 5-5 in 2020, return a handful of key contributors that Rickard believes will have a meaningful impact in the upcoming season. Included in that group are a pair of seniors — Hayden Beck and Jake Smith.

Beck, who returns for his fourth season as the starting quarterback, will also see time at linebacker and punts. He is coming off of a season in which he threw for over 1,000 yards with eight touchdowns, ran for 235 yards with a pair of rushing scores, made 70 tackles — four for a loss, had one sack, and one interception.

“He has shown a lot of growth over his time in high school and looks to take another big step forward this year,” said Rickard. “He is also an excellent linebacker and will be relied on to play both ways.”

Smith, a wide receiver and defensive back, tallied 37 receptions for 601 yards last year, pulling down five touchdowns.

“Hayden's top target from last year returns after a very solid junior campaign,” said Rickard. “We will look to be creative in finding ways to get Jake the ball.”
Junior Jeremiah Davis is also set to take on a larger role on both offense and defense this season after being the Wildcats second leading rusher in 2020 with 616 yards and 11 touchdowns.

“He returns after a good sophomore campaign. After splitting time last year with senior Dalton Wiser, he will take over as our full time running back,” said Rickard. “He has tremendous speed and athleticism. Jeremiah is also our top returning tackler (75 with two forced fumbles) from last year. Look for him to make a big impact on that side of the ball as well.”

Another key returning player is junior lineman Kyle Horneker, who on the offensive side of the ball in 2020 was a key cog in a line that helped the offense to 1,690 rushing yards.

“Kyle will be starting for the third year in a row up front,” said Rickard. “He is the leader of our group and another player that has developed a lot in his first two years at the high school level. Look for him to be a big factor on both sides of the line this year.”

Junior Demetrice LeNoir (wide receiver, outside linebacker), sophomore Carleon Jones (wide receiver, linebacker), and junior Blaine Niemann (running back, linebacker) are also back for the Wildcats.

“They all had good years in 2020,” said Rickard. “Look for them to be more involved this year on both offense and defense.”

Rickard also included several other players who will be new to varsity in 2021 — a group that should all see plenty of action — that includes junior Nate Womack, junior Noah Lamb, senior Riley Shive, senior Phoenix Andrews, sophomore Joey Gendron, sophomore Denzel Dowdy, junior Blake Hogan, junior Corbin Schone, freshman Duan McRoberts, junior Fode Moore, freshman Micah Boekmann, freshman Mason Wendt, sophomore Garrett Smith, sophomore Draiden Edwards, and junior Mason Newcomb.

“We return a great deal of experience and production from last year's team and that coupled with the talent in our lower grades, has me really excited to get this year started. This summer we installed new schemes on both offense and defense and the team did a great job of picking it up,” said Rickard. “Offensively, we are going to be a balanced attack that focuses on getting the ball in our playmakers’ hands. Defensively, we are going to play fast, disciplined football.

“Our conference is going to be tough this year, as it always is. We don't have an easy game on the schedule. We are going to have to show up each Friday night ready to play, or we are going to get beat. However, with the leaders we have on this team I don't foresee us struggling to be prepared to play.”