T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - Marshalltown football returns 15 letterwinners in hopes of finding a way back to the playoffs for the first time since 2012. Pictured are front row: (from left) Luis Monge Jr., Sam Greazel, Ignacio Macias, Mochamad Pramana, Aiden Smitherman, Zak Wilder and Juan Pablo Perez; back row: Jaxson Hinkle, Lincoln Barker, Owen Eaton, Davis Ragland, Xayvion Anderson, Jacob Hayes, Kyle Smith and Johan Gomez.

Much like the campus around it, Marshalltown High School’s football program has been under construction.

A 2-7 record last fall prompted change for head coach Adam Goodvin, who went back to the drawing board after the season and began implementing a brand-new offense ahead of his eighth year at the helm of the Bobcats.

The result has yielded an improved focus from the football program at all levels and a more concerted effort in the offseason.

“We were kinda brainstorming because we knew we needed to make some changes,” Goodvin said. “A lot of schools are running the same offense and we’re at a point right now where we have to be different. We’ve got to do things differently in order to make it hard on teams to prepare for us in a short amount of time for stuff they don’t see every single week.

“It’s a system we can buy into, and the guys have been great.”

The Marshalltown football program has gone the way of the service academies of college football, following the likes of Navy and Air Force by employing the flexbone offense from the top down. Goodvin said the Bobcats will run this run-first triple-option offense from the varsity all the way down through middle school in hopes of mastering a method that has proven effective in many ways over the years.

Georgia Southern won a record six NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) national titles running the flexbone, and last year Harding University claimed the NCAA Division II national championship after running for more than 500 yards in the title game against the Colorado School of Mines.

“You’ve gotta be all in,” Goodvin said. “This is a system that you’ve got to understand the big picture. It’s going to be a grind-it-out football game and we may not blow teams out 56-0 but I can guarantee we’re not going to get blown out 56-0. It’s going to keep us in ballgames.

“Our schedule’s tough, there’s a lot of teams with a lot of talent on them, but this is going to give us a really good chance I believe versus showing up on Friday nights and trying to run an offense that our kids might not be great at that the opposing team also saw the week prior.”

Marshalltown’s offense was balanced in its production a season ago, throwing for 1,120 yards while running for 933 more. Xayvion Anderson, a senior, is the top returning rusher after racking up 217 yards and a touchdown on 62 carries a season ago.

Fellow senior Davis Ragland will see an increased role in the new flexbone offense, while sophomores Tyler Englund and JJ Schoenfelder should see some carries as well.

“These guys will carry such a heavy load in our offense,” Goodvin said. “Davis Ragland was probably an automatic, but knowing he’s our starting middle linebacker was going to intensify that load so we knew we had to find some others to play that position because he’s not going to be able to do that the entire game.

“Keeping those guys fresh and at the same time having a lot of confidence to play that B-back position well is good. They’re all gonna get a lot of carries.”

The Bobcats have a pair of capable quarterbacks who have worked hard in the offseason to hone their skills in the detail-oriented offense. Junior Jacob Hayes and sophomore Jamison Niehouse have given themselves to the craft, and Goodvin feels fortunate to have two dedicated signal-callers getting repetitions in practice.

“This spring when we implemented this new offense and began our every-day drills and our skills, watching both our quarterbacks I thought ‘this is gonna be a lot of fun’ because we’ve got two kids right here who are going to do really good with this,” Goodvin said. “We weren’t quite sure who’s going to give us the best chance to move the ball efficiently and give us the best chance to win football games, but at some point we’re going to have to make a clear decision and roll with somebody.

“I think the good thing with this offense is if someone’s struggling to make reads or control what we need to control, we’re able to make a switch real quick and we’re going to feel just as comfortable with the other guy. They don’t complain, they push each other, and this is really the first time we’ve had a true quarterback battle since I’ve been here. It’s been a lot of fun and we have confidence in both those guys. We weren’t asking them to be as detailed as we are now and they’ve really bought into that.”

The flexbone offense presents a zone-blocking scheme for the offensive front, which will be led this season by senior Owen Eaton (6-foot-1, 255 pounds) and junior Jaxson Hinkle (6-1, 253). Ignacio Macias, Jonathan Schaeffer, Arion Hancock, Nathan Sinclair, Xavier Verdinez and Carlos Estrada have played roles on the offensive line during camp, and Lincoln Barker is a returning first-team all-conference defensive lineman who has transitioned into playing some offensive line “because we can trust him,” Goodvin said.

Aiden Smitherman and Ethan Gorsuch will be featured in the A-back roles for Marshalltown, filling a role of versatility and toughness for the Bobcats and their new offensive scheme.

“They’ve got the heaviest load as far as what we ask out of any position on offense,” Goodvin said. “We’re looking for speed guys that are tough. Both are learning every single day and working hard.”

Mochamad Pramana, Declan Greene, Zak Wilder and Sam Greazel will also see time on offense in the A-back role, while the wide receiver group has been reduced due to the need for more backs and less of a tendency to throw the ball. Kyle Smith, a junior, gained varsity experience last fall, while sophomore Zane Moore and junior Talon Halsted are expected to align on the outside this year as well.

The Bobcats averaged just 14.4 points per game a season ago, though piling up points wasn’t the primary reason for the offensive scheme change. Goodvin hopes to make gains in toughness up front and better ball control for the unit. Shortening the game should go a long way in helping MHS contend against a daunting schedule.

“I’m excited about it,” Goodvin said. “Week 1 last year we truly thought we were going to be competitive and have a chance to win and we left with a sour taste in our mouth. I know our kids are eager to get (Mason City) at home this year. It was a tough game last year and our mindset is night and day compared to where it was last year.”

The Bobcats fell 32-3 to the Riverhawks, followed by a 40-0 loss at Cedar Rapids Jefferson. Marshalltown got off to an 0-4 start and never really recovered.

“Obviously it was a tough year and it was a challenging year,” Goodvin said. “We were forced into a position to play a lot more younger guys, sophomores, than you typically would like to. It was tough from a physical standpoint — we were smaller and not as strong as a majority of our opponents. I think our kids were tough, they were showing up every day working hard and fighting.

“The challenge for us coaches was making sure those sophomores were continuing to get better because we knew we were going to need them the next two years.”

The Bobcats have a lot of returning experience on defense, partly because of last year’s youth, and bring back a majority of its front line. Macias, Hinkle and Eaton will be joined by Verdinez and Estrada on the inside, while Barker, Johan Gomez and Eaton will get repetitions at defensive end.

Ragland and Anderson return as the team’s top two tacklers from last season, making 43.5 and 42.5 tackles last fall, and they’ll be the signal-callers of the defense from their linebacker positions. Wilder, Englund, Schoenfelder and Halstead have earned time at linebacker, along with quarterbacks Hayes and Niehouse.

“We’ve got a really good group of linebackers this year,” Goodvin said. “They do a heck of a job and they’re tough. We know they’re going to do some good things for us.”

The Bobcats have options in the defensive secondary as well, starting with returners Greazel and Smitherman. Logan Hoffman, Juan Pablo Perez, Smith and Pramana have joined the conversation at safety, while Declan Greene and Jordan Haynes are expected to contribute at cornerback along with Gorsuch.

“We feel like we’ve got a lot of guys that we can rotate in back there and I think it’s going to come down to who’s playing well, who we can trust and who’s making the right reads and keeping things in front of them.”

Senior placekicker Luis Monge Jr. will provide Marshalltown with an additional weapon with field goals and kickoffs.

“I think we’re in a much better position right now from a physical standpoint to be able to go into a football game and hold our own,” Goodvin said. “That was our biggest push over the offseason was to get into the weight room and put on as much strength as we possibly could. Looking at the numbers, I think we’ve gone in a pretty good direction.”

Marshalltown Football Schedule

* all games 7:30 p.m. unless noted

Aug. 30 MASON CITY

Sept. 6 CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON

Sept. 13 at Davenport North

Sept. 20 at Newton

Sept. 27 OTTUMWA

Oct. 4 WATERLOO WEST

Oct. 11 at Ames, 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 DM LINCOLN, 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 at WDM Valley, 7 p.m.