CAMP POINT, Ill. — A stout defense and the Wing-T offense will once again be what the Central Panthers will be built around.
Panthers head coach Brad Dixon wouldn’t have it any other way, with his trusted band of assistants keeping the standards high at Camp Point.
“Fortunately, I have the same staff back,” said Dixon. “This is my 19th season here. Coach (Casey) Rhea is in 18th, and Coach (Kasey) Monroe is in his 16th. The Griffin’s have been with us four or five years, and went through the program. Coach (Remington) Buehler is back for year two after playing in program and playing at QU. To have that stability is huge.”
Central will once again have a stable of running backs, even with the graduation of its leading rusher, Elijah Genenbacher. The Panthers also graduated Nate Peters and Konnor Bush from its running back rotation.
Two players who figures to get a fair amount of carries are seniors Curtis Rigg and Zack Wear, with the former averaging 7.1 yards per carry and scoring two touchdowns and the latter averaging 12.3 yards per carry and scoring four touchdowns last year.
While known for his kicking, Marco Rodriguez could get more time in the backfield after averaging 7.5 yards per carry and scored a pair of touchdowns last year.
“We like the guys we have coming back,” said Dixon. “We also got three different sophomores that are pretty talented. Jackson Fowler at fullback. Luke Ippensen is a guy a lot of people remember from basketball, and then also Grant Hamilton. Then also
The Panthers also put Kadin Niekamp in the backfield last year, and he responded with 92 carries for 774 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“I was running with the one’s for the fullback,” said Niekamp of last year. “Then played some wing back and stuff like that. So I think I should be there full time this year.”
Having this running back mix will keep the pressure off the quarterback, which is a three-way competition between sophomore Kale Niekamp, junior Brady Wittler and senior Dylan Mowen.
Dixon has also liked what he has seen out of sophomore Luke Huston at quarterback.
“We really like our quarterback room,” said Dixon. “We’re just trying to sort out where best to put guys at QB. It may be by committee at different times. Then, if they’re not playing QB, where’s the next best place to put them? So we’re working though some of that.”
Last year, Kale Niekamp started off as quarterback before Dixon moved Genenbacher under center.
“(Kale) practices quarterback, tight end, full back or whatever,” said Kadin Niekamp of his younger brother. “They try out different spots for him. Since we’re having to replace Elijah, he’s been running some quarterback and then some tight end.”
Sophomore tight end Kolin Bockhold is Central’s top returning receiver, who made a key catch to keep a drive alive on a fake punt in the Panthers 16-7 win over Calhoun in the Class 1A state quarterfinal.
Bockhold caught eight passes for 132 yards and a touchdown las season, and should have a bigger year in 2025.
“He’s getting some reps at fullback, as well as tight end,” said Dixon. “Kolin’s 6′ 2″ and 200 pounds, and had a great freshman year playing both sides of the ball. We’re expecting big things out of him on offense, and then obviously at outside linebacker on defense.”
Central graduated All-Conference center Jaden Summy and All-Conference left tackle Nathan Post, who will be replaced by senior Chase Barner at center and junior Evan Walker at left tackle.
Other players in the mix for the Panthers offensive line are senior Jack Weese and juniors Paxton Flesner, Briggs Wiskirchen and Jayden Wooster. Wooster a transfer from Monroe City, who also run the Wing-T.
“We’ve also got some young guys we like (at offensive line),” said Dixon. “We feel like we’ve got a lot of good depth.”
Kadin Niekamp has been a force on the defensive line and is coming off a season where he totaled 92 tackles, 18 stops for a loss, eight sacks and a fumble recovery.
Even with the graduation of Genenbacher, who made a team-high 136 tackles last year, the Panthers are solid at linebacker with Wear, Bockhold, Flesner and Wiskirchern returning.
Wear made 73 tackles, three sacks, two pass deflections and one fumble recovery last year.
“Zack played most of the year with a partially torn ligament in his foot that no one really knew about, and had surgery after the year,” said Dixon. “To get him back 100% is big.”
Kale Niekamp came away with a team-high three interceptions last year, including a pick in the Class 1A state quarterfinal against Calhoun. He will be joined in the secondary by Mowen, Rigg, Rodriguez and others.
Rodriguez is also a huge asset for Central as its kicker, one of the best in the area.
“Marco is like a folk hero around Central for what he’s done in the playoffs and in the regular season,” said Dixon. “Obviously in our state championship year (in 2023), he had crazy kicks. Then last year, he kicked a huge field goal down in Calhoun in the quarterfinals to put us up nine points and he executed a really good pooch kick.”