Attica, Argonia come together with 8-Man II title in sight

Two seasons ago, Attica’s 8-man football team had 10 players. It wasn’t enough players to run a complete practice with a scout team, so coach Lance Vandeveer used cones to simulate players and help his team visualize a full squad on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

It’s not uncommon for small schools to be in such dire straits, but it’s a situation that rarely breeds success.

“It’s hard to hold a program together when you go out on Friday night, and there’s a pretty good chance you’ll get 45’ed,” said Vandeveer of games being ended in the second half when a 45-point difference is reached. “We went through several years like that.”

On Saturday, though, Vandeveer will be coaching in the 8-Man Division II championship game as co-coach of the unbeaten Attica-Argonia Titans.

Attica-Argonia (12-0) will play Victoria (11-1) at 11 a.m. at Newton’s Fischer Field.

The schools joined for football in 2013, but were not eligible for the postseason because it was in the middle of two-year district assignments. Attica-Argonia finished 5-4.

“This is pretty unbelievable, really,” said Devon Newberry, a junior running back and linebacker who attends Attica. “Coming from both of us not even having winning records two years ago and now we’re 12-0 in the state championship?

“I think it’s because of our hard work and we didn’t give up on each other. All of us are pretty much best friends, coming from two different towns, coming together.”

In 2012, Attica finished 2-7 and Vandeveer asked the school’s administration about joining with another team.

“It’s frustrating because you work just as hard with nine, 10, 11 guys as you do with 30, what with all the game prepping,” Vandeveer said. “You don’t like to lose, but you want to be able to compete. We weren’t even being competitive.”

Argonia, which was 1-8 and had 12 players, was interested in a joint venture.

“Whenever we worked on, especially our varsity defense, both coaches — me and my assistant — would play on the scout-team side, trying to give them at least some movement,” said Luke Greenwood, who is at Argonia and is now co-coach with Vandeveer.

Community meetings were conducted in both towns, and the idea was greeted enthusiastically. It helps that the schools have had a combined junior varsity team for about a decade.

“They really let us players be involved,” said junior quarterback Alec McDaniel, who goes to Attica. “Our vote counted a lot. I was all for it. There were some players that weren’t sure at first. Now that they’ve seen the success we’ve had, they’re all on board.”

Senior lineman Andrew Mages, who goes to Argonia, said the players met at a restaurant in Harper, which is midway between Attica and Argonia. They discussed a team name and new colors, going with Titans and red and black. Their logo is a variation on Texas A&M’s with the big ‘T’ in the middle and an ‘A’ on either side.

Home games are rotated between the schools, so they always practice at the home site the week of the game. With rotating practices, there are some logistical issues.

It’s a 30-minute drive, but Attica gets out of school at 3:10, while Argonia finishes at 3:45. When practices are at Argonia, Attica gets on its bus and practice starts shortly after Argonia’s school finishes. But when the practice is at Attica, Argonia doesn’t arrive until closer to 4:30.

“It works out,” Vandeveer said. “We watch film or lift weights, whatever we need to do until they get here.”

Then there was the coaching situation. Once they decided on being co-coaches, the next topic was which coach takes the offense.

When Greenwood asked to coach offense to run the pistol, Vandeveer agreed.

“I thought his packages probably fit our personnel a little better,” said Vandeveer, who ran a power-I offense. “I can just focus on defense, and he’s put up some unbelievable numbers.”

The Titans have outscored opponents 749-314 and have racked up 3,183 rushing yards. McDaniel has 1,540 rushing yards and 1,577 passing yards with 32 touchdowns, while Devon Newberry has 788 rushing yards.

“It’s no secret (McDaniel) is pretty much the straw that stirs the drink,” Greenwood said. “I’ll call a play, we’ll see how the defense lines up and I’ll tell my assistant, ‘Oh, this isn’t going to work.’ And Alec will pull a rabbit out of his hat and make it work. A lot of the times the plays are made by him. It’s not the play-calling. It’s him making something out of nothing.”

McDaniel is a force on defense, as well, with a team-high 161 tackles.

Attica-Argonia benefited by joining for the 2013 season, even though it meant no chance at the postseason. But with both struggling with such low numbers, qualifying for state didn’t seem to be a real possibility.

“In our situation, it would have been a huge mistake,” Greenwood said of waiting to join in 2014. “… If we went together (right away), it would give us a better shot at being competitive. They wanted more than that outlying opportunity to go to the playoffs. Being competitive during the season meant more.”

The first few weeks of 2013 were spent figuring out the offense and learning to trust each other. By the midpoint of the season, the Titans were playing well.

So when the 2014 season began, no time was needed to feel each other out. They knew what to expect scheme-wise and personally.

They’ve pushed each other, too, which is what happens when there’s more players.

“It’s a lot better having 19, 20 kids compared to 12 kids,” Newberry said. “We’re all fighting for spots here.”

And they’ve got the support of two communities.

For home games, there’s usually an equal amount of fans from both schools. And the Titans fans have traveled so well that they often have had more in attendance than the home team.

Now, with basketball season around the corner, the schools will be separate once again.

Attica will be in its black and gold, Argonia in its red and black.

The Titans gear that the football players wear will be put away. Until next season.

But first there’s the state championship game.

“This is easily the biggest thing in my high school career,” McDaniel said. “This is the biggest you can go in football.”

This story was originally published November 20, 2014 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Attica, Argonia come together with 8-Man II title in sight."