CHERRY TWP — How do you replace 92 percent of your offense?

That's the question the Moniteau football team must answer this season.

Quarterback Derek Boben and running back Shonn Kline accounted for 2,908 of Moniteau's 3,178 yards last season.

They also racked up 307 tackles on defense.

Both are gone, leaving coach Wade Vogan the task of finding ways to fill those two big voids.

“I'm realizing as a coach every year you're going to have one or two of those kids that you say, 'Man, I'm never going to see another kid like this again,'” Vogan said. “But then, you come to practice (the next year) and you say, 'Oh my gosh, we have a young kid playing well.'

“But Derek Boben and Shonn Kline,” Vogan added. “Losing them — you don't see guys like them too much.”

Vogan and the Warriors, though, may have another burgeoning star in senior Dalton Anderson, who caught 31 passes for 519 yards and three touchdowns last season.

Vogan will devise ways to get the ball into Anderson's hands this season, either at wideout, running back or even some plays at quarterback.

“He's our next Mr. Derek Boben, do-it-all,” Vogan said.

Anderson said he is excited about this season, even though many pundits are expecting a down year from Moniteau because of their two big graduation losses.

“We're definitely going to be back for sure this year,” Anderson said.

To get there, the offense will be turned over to a pair of sophomore quarterbacks in Chance Nagy and Hunter Fitzingo, who are locked in a battle for the starting nod.

Vogan said he has been pleased with the competition so far and believes one or both can help the Warriors this season.

“Both played last year at quarterback in the ninth grade,” Vogan said. “Chance is a little more athletic, very smart in the pocket. Hunter is a little better passer, but not as agile, but still pretty athletic back there. Right now, they're still splitting reps. I do like the fact they are competing against each other.”

Vogan likes to run the ball and that may help ease whoever wins the job into the offense.

“I explained to them that last year in the playoff game against St. Marys, we ran the ball 49 times and didn't throw it,” Vogan said, smiling. Moniteau won that game, 17-6, before losing to Karns City in the District 10 Class AA championship game. “But, as the quarterback, the game is still on their shoulders. I expect to run the ball. I think we're going to surprise some people with our speed.”

Moniteau will also get a boon from the return of running back Corey Goyak, who played only three games last season because of injury.

He rushed for 91 yards on 15 carries in limited action.

“He's a speedster,” Vogan said.

Mitch DiMaria returns at fullback and Cody Wise, a 5-foot-10, 210-pound sophomore, will also get some carries.

And then there's Donovan Francois, who will provide Moniteau with a unique look in the backfield.

Francois is a 6-4, 295-pound sophomore and will play some fullback this season.

“I'm a ground and pound type guy,” Vogan said. “And when he's back there, we're grounding and pounding.

“He's an athletic kid. He can touch the rim in basketball,” Vogan added. “It's a way to keep him around the program and have some fun. We do some unconventional things at Moniteau.”

Vogan will tweak the defense a bit this season.

“We ran a 4-3 last year and it was geared more toward the linebackers,” Vogan said. “We're running a 5-3 this year because we have the big boys up front. We're going to rotate a lot up front to keep them fresh and we have three linebackers coming up in James Parenti, Tyler Kerr and Cody Wise. I'm hoping to reload at that position.”

It also helped that Vogan got an extra week with this group because of the heat acclimation days.

“We get a whole extra week with the kids. We're running offense and we're running defense and we're trying to get a feel for the kids,” Vogan said. “That's really fine. Us having 34 kids — numbers-wise I'd like to be up around 40 — and us being a small school, we have to save our kids. We don't want to be beating them up.”