Hallsville Football kicking off new era under first-year head coach Paul Stevens

HALLSVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)

Hallsville is preparing to write a new chapter of its football program's history. The Paul Stevens era of Hallsville Football kicks off in exactly two weeks on Aug. 30 against Palmyra.

The team's first-year head coach is taking over a football program that has been trending upwards over the last five seasons. During that time span, Hallsville won 37 games and captured two district championships. Now, Stevens is striving to maintain that momentum while also leaving his own mark on the program.

"The biggest thing that I tell these kids is, we want your best effort. Whatever the scoreboard is out there, we're going to continue playing until there's zeros on there, so you can expect these kids to play fast, play physical," Stevens said. "That's just something that our team has fully bought into, and we're going to continue getting reps, and we're going to continue getting better."

Stevens is not the only person eager to build on Hallsville's recent success. His players have rose to that challenge, competing to maintain the program's winning culture.

"They have some grit. They have some fight to them," Stevens said. "We had a joint practice with North Callaway, very physical team, wants to run the football downhill. We had a lot of young kids out there, and they answered the call. Those kids were wanting to match the physicality of it, and that's what I was proud of the most."

Stevens is leading a young Hallsville football team in his first season at the helm. The program has just three returning starters on the offensive side of the football, but one of those players is bringing very valuable experience to the team. After leading the Tri-County Conference in passing yards last season, quarterback Brayden Matheney's leadership is going to be relied on heavily this season.

"From a first-year head coaching standpoint, I'm glad he's here," Stevens said. "Quarterback is one of the most important positions, not only from a football standpoint but also from a leadership standpoint, so I hold him to a lot higher standard than what I probably do everybody else because I expect that out of whoever the quarterback is on the team. He has all the intangibles that he can do physically, and then, I'm just continuing to work on him mentally to bring his teammates up, and he's been doing an outstanding job of doing that."

Kickoff for Stevens' first game as Hallsville's head football coach is scheduled for Aug. 30 at 7 p.m.