COLUMN: Bearcats release Week 0 depth chart
Skye Pournazari
Jon Dykstra Managing Editor The Maryville Forum
Working with the folks at D2Football.com, I’ve increased my awareness of how other Division-II conferences work and it surprised me that some expect a lot of transparency from the weekly depth chart.
In the MIAA, I have never felt like the depth chart release was very informative. Maybe it’s the influence of being other place for head coach John McMenamin or just a coincidence, but I thought Monday’s release of the depth chart told us a lot.
We will see if it comes to fruition on Thursday with accurate usage, but here are some of my takeaways from the initial depth chart of 2025.
Backfield
QB: Chris Ruhnke | Zechariah Owens
RB: Te’Shaun Porter | Jadon Brady
If you were in any doubt about who the starting quarterback would be, you haven’t been following much around the program. Chris Ruhnke has been impressive in practice and this is clearly his team after being selected as a team captain.
Owens is interesting as the No. 2 QB. I talked last year about wanting to see a package of plays for the most athletic quarterback in the room. I’ll be curious if we get that, or if this is just a straight QB2 situation.
Porter is the most talented runner on the team and was probably that last season. It was things like pass protection and the little things that limited his workload. Hopefully this means he’s turned that corner.
Brady, another captain, does all those ‘little’ things. He is the perfect RB2 to trust.
Pass Catchers
WR: Luke Mathews | Cooper Warren
WR: Erwin Nash | T.J. Williams-Bey
WR: Madixx Morris | Delton Davis
TE: Gatlin Samuel | Trevor Spady
Luke and the kids. Mathews is one of the oldest guys on the team and is back to lead this group and give Ruhnke a security blanket.
Nash has been another camp standout. The 6’3, 217-pound Kansas State transfer looks more like a tight end than a receiver, but has been a good deep threat in practice.
Sophomore Madixx Morris is probably the starter fans are least familiar with, but Morris played for the NJCAA national champions at the College of DuPage in 2023. Williams-Bey is another JUCO product who will factor into the rotation.
Davis and Warren are redshirt freshmen who clearly have bright futures to crack the opening week depth chart.
Samuel hasn’t played a game for Northwest yet, but has had two years in the program while Spady is a redshirt freshman. Tight ends have felt like an underutilized part of the offense in the past and it will be interesting to see what Samuel and Spady can do.
Offensive Line
LT: Kaleb McCullough | Jack Gogue
LG: Reece Trammell | Greyson Else
C: Wes Merriman | Trevor Taylor
RG: Harrison Merriman | Ewan Mills
RT: Pierce Wand | Beau Knobloch
The interior was pretty easy to predict with the Merriman brothers back plus Trammell transferring in from Central Oklahoma. Mills is as experienced and versatile as you could want from a backup. Taylor has been in the program four years and worked his way up to the 2-deep while Else is an addition from Iowa Western Community College.
The bookend tackles are young with a pair of sophomores in Wand and McCullough. Wand always felt like a favorite to earn the right tackle spot, but McCullough played in just two games last season. He was First Team All-State player at the 3A level in Humboldt, Iowa.
Klobloch is another sophomore who factors in while Gogue is the most experienced tackle and a quality depth piece.
Defensive Line
DE: Cooper Berry | Grant Berry
NG: Nile Schuett | Lorenzo Brinkley III
DT: Clayton Power | Tre Melby
DE: Jacob Stockard | Jordan Pigram
On the edges, Cooper Berry is the veteran as a senior who has been a depth piece previously but gets his chance to start this season. Grant Berry (no relation), Stockard and Pigram are all sophomores — Stockard played in five games last season and had a sack.
Schuett and Power are the veterans with Power being the top returning defensive lineman in the MIAA according to last season’s All-MIAA teams. Melby is another senior in the rotation while Brinkley III is a sophomore.
Linebacker
WILL: Parker Bowen | Ethan Stuhr
MIKE: Carter Edwards | Devin Wilson
SAM: Ben Einess | Cody Simoncic
This was the easiest group of starters to predict with the trio of seniors, the interesting part is who was next in line. Simoncic was easy to predict as fans have heard a lot about the former Smithville star in his fourth year in the program.
Stuhr, a sophomore, has also risen the ranks in the program the last couple years. Wilson was an All-State selection under former Bearcat Willie Horn in high school and his future is evident by making the depth chart as a redshirt freshman.
Defensive Back
CB: O’Shea Davis | Mike Harrison
CB: Patrick Martin | Antwon Jenkins Jr.
SS: Shane Fredrickson | Baruch Hasabu
FS: Holden Zigmant | Jackson Torry
Fredrickson is a captain and the leader of the secondary, but Zigmant was very good as a freshman next to him last season and returns. Hasabu, a junior, was a teammate of Zigmant’s at Mill Valley before going the JUCO route. Torry is another Willie Horn product from Lee’s Summit West as a redshirt freshman.
Corner was the mystery heading into the offseason. Davis was a transfer from Stephen F. Austin who played in two games last year and was always a good bet to start as a senior. Martin played in seven games last season and impressed this offseason to earn the starting gig as a junior.
Harrison (Lincoln) and Jenkins (Mary) both are Division-II transfers from less successful programs, but bring experience to the corner room.
Specialists
P: Tommy Warner | Jacob Bell
K: Mo Alwaely | Jacob Bell
H: Jacob Bell | Tommy Warner
LS: Will Berendzen | Tre Melby
PR: Dominic Myers | Cooper Warren
KR: Dominic Myers | Jadon Brady
Berendzen and Myers are the returners at those spots and were always going to have those roles. Alwaely is a junior transferring from Lincoln where he was 9-of-15 on field goals with a long of 50 yards — two of the misses were blocked. He was 18-for-18 on extra points.
Warner is a fun one as a true freshman punter who grew up in Melbourne, Australia.
