Wildcats ready for big offensive year

Oh, what a difference a year makes.
Just ask Kelly Donohoe and junior quarterback Jared Lanpher.
Just before the start of the 2007 Blue Springs football season, starting quarterback Bransen Ireland broke his foot in the football jamboree.
“There we were, grooming Jared to be a junior varsity quarterback, and all of a sudden, he’s thrown into the fire and has to start the season in place of Bransen,” said Donohoe, whose entering his ninth season at Blue Springs.
“And he did a great job – a great job! But the difference between Jared Lanpher in 2007 and Jared Lanpher in 2008 is unbelievable. He’s so much more confident, he’s familiar with the offense and he knows what to do out there.
“We don’t have to dumb anything down for him this year. He’s going to have the full (offensive) arsenal. We’re all pretty darned excited.”
Lanpher, who was a standout at the Blue Springs Quarterback and Wide Receiver Camp, that featured Missouri’s Chase Daniel, Kansas’ Todd Reesing and Kansas State’s Josh Freeman, can’t wait for the season opener.
“We all think it’s going to be a good season,” Lanpher said. “I know that, personally, I feel so much more confident this year. Last year was tough. But I got a lot of experience and that experience is going to pay off this year.”
The Wildcats were 8-3 last year and placed second in the Suburban Big Seven, suffering their only loss to cross-town rival Blue Springs South.
While Lanpher has a year under his belt, he also has a year’s experience with all-state wide receiver Keeston Terry.
“They work so well together,” Donohoe said of the two junior stars. “They did a lot of growing up last year and the next couple of years, they could be pretty special.”
The Wildcats will have to find a replacement for Missouri Coaches Association co-Offensive Player of the Year running back Carlos Anderson, who took his game to the next level at the University of Northern Iowa.
“Anyone who saw Carlos knows that you don’t replace Carlos Anderson; that’s just impossible,” Donohoe said. “But we have a sophomore named Darrian Miller (5-0, 180) who could be pretty special. I’m not going to be put the type of pressure on him by saying he could be as good as Carlos, because he hasn’t played a varsity game.
“But he’s just electric when he gets the ball in his hands.”
Donohoe is also excited about the play of returning all-area defensive lineman Gus Toca.
“Gus can play at the next level – at the highest level,” Donohoe said when asked about Toca’s future. “He is so big and so strong and no one works harder. He’s a great kid and a great athlete. You could ask him to play any position on the field and he’d smile and go out and play that position and play it to the best of his ability.”
One of the keys to the Wildcats’ success will be in the trenches, where they need to find three new offensive line starters.
“We’ve got some good players back, and a lot of guys are working hard to earn those starting roles,” Donohoe said. “Someone asked me the other day about all our juniors. They wanted to know if I thought next year would be our year and I told him, ‘This year could be our year.’”