Crystal City made a two-point conversion in overtime and prevented a matching one by Charleston to defeat the Blue Jays 36-34 Nov. 15 in the Class 1 District 1 semifinals at JJ Commerford Stadium.
The victory earns the Hornets (6-5) another shot at the district championship, just as they had at this point in last year’s playoffs. But standing in their way again is the defending champ, undefeated and top-seeded St. Vincent of Perryville (11-0). The Indians host No. 2 seed Crystal Friday, with the winner advancing to the Class 1 final four.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the way our boys fought,” Crystal City head coach Adam Sims said. “(Charleston is) a good ball club and we figured out a way to rally as a group. Coaches, players and fans, all I heard was that was one of the best high school games we’ve seen.”
In overtime, each team gets at least one possession, starting at the opponent’s 25-yard line. The Hornets got the ball first and plowed down to the one-yard line, with Ricardo Pastrana running it in for the go-ahead TD. Quarterback Nolan Eisenbeis completed a pass to London Patton for the two-point conversion and a 36-28 advantage.
Charleston, winners of five of its previous six games, was the No. 3 seed and had matched Crystal score-for-score through four quarters. So it was no surprise when the Blue Jays turned to their battering-ram of a running back, DeShaun Henderson, who’s as big or bigger than his sizable teammates on the offensive line. Henderson plunged into pay turf to make it 36-34.
Everybody in the stadium knew who was getting the ball for the Jays’ tying two-point attempt.
Eleven red helmets converged on Henderson and kept him out.
“They have some size,” Sims said. “It was one of the biggest lines we’ve gone against. They gave (Henderson) the ball for the two-point conversion and we sent the house and we knew it was on the line.”
Eisenbeis converted a third-and-20 to set up Pastrana’s overtime touchdown. Eisenbeis also plays full-time on defense and has provided the two-way leadership so vital to the Hornets’ small roster of about 20 players – depending on injuries.
“(In OT) he put the team on his back,” Sims said. “(It’s) the fact that we put so much on him and he’s been able to do what he’s done. He is the leader on the field and kept the guys together, and (in our schedule) we put Class 4 team after Class 4 team in front of him. He’s also been able to put the ball in the air as of late.”
Trailing 6-0 in the first quarter, Eisenbeis tied the game with a 39-yard TD pass to one of his favorite targets this season, Landyn DeRousse, who caught three passes for 54 yards.
“That was a new play we installed,” DeRousse said. “It was a screen to the right and I got great blocks. Nolan’s done a fantastic job. He’s the best QB I will ever play with. We wouldn’t be where we are without him.”
When Eisenbeis isn’t throwing to DeRousse, he finds his other favorite target, Evan Wolfe, who hauled in an 89-yard touchdown aerial in the second quarter. DeRousse ran in the conversion and Crystal led 14-6. Charleston scored the next TD but failed on the conversion and the Hornets led 14-12 at halftime.
The Blue Jays scored the first touchdown of the second half and made the two-pointer to take a 20-14 lead.
DeRousse tied the game 20-20 with a 52-yard scoring jaunt, but Crystal missed the conversion and the contest remained knotted.
“I couldn’t have asked for better blocks,” DeRousse said. “We had guys playing out of position to fill in for injuries. I respect senior Matt Nelson playing tight end because of injuries and 180-pound Riley Hendrickson playing left guard.”
Eisenbeis’ brother, sophomore Trent, had to fill in at center, but on defense he made a game-breaking play, returning a fumble 31 yards to the end zone for the go-ahead TD in the fourth. Pastrana’s two-point run made it 28-20. But the Blue Jays tied the game to send it to OT.
The Crystal defense didn’t break down and benefited from sacks by Riley Henderson, Gage McPherson and David Parham, with Nolan Eisenbeis and Skyler Fowler recovering Charleston fumbles.
Eisenbeis finished with 219 yards of total offense (75 rushing, 144 passing) and a team-high nine tackles.
“It was a very long hard-fought game,” DeRousse said. “(The Blue Jays) did a great job on offense and defense. They were big, but at the same time they weren’t the fastest or the meanest.”
Between 2017 and 2019, Crystal City won one game. Dan Fox was hired as head coach and from 2020 to 2022 the Hornets upped their win total every season. In 2022-2023 Crystal won eight games, reaching the Class 1 District 2 championship against St. Vincent. Sims replaced Fox this year and has taken the same small but hardy band of players to the brink of a district title.
Sims said the community support for his squad is unmatched – and appreciated.
“It’s been a great opportunity to see these boys grow out of the support from the community,” he said.
Festus shuts out Perryville, wins district title
A week after getting disciplined on-field by head coach AJ Ofodile for too many personal-foul penalties and other sloppy play, the Festus football team took it to heart and buried visiting Perryville 43-0 in the Class 4 District 1 championship game Nov. 15.
It’s the first district championship since Ofodile’s first season as head coach in 2020. The Mississippi Area Football Conference champions travel to St. Louis Saturday to play Gateway STEM (11-0) in the Class 4 quarterfinals.
After the No. 1 seeded Tigers (9-2) put away North County 35-10 the week before, Ofodile ran his players through postgame drills to show his displeasure at too much yellow laundry littering the field, and other miscues. But against a big, physical Pirate squad (10-2), the No. 2 seed, Festus was unrelenting and looked like the team many believe could make it to Columbia and the state finals next month.
“A lot of it was our commitment to be focused and detailed all week,” said Ofodile, who played at the University of Missouri and in the NFL and later coached at Mizzou. “We let a lot of what happened in the second half of the North County game go out the window. I challenged everybody to be focused and undistracted.
“We had an excellent game plan. The players’ commitment resulted in a great defensive performance.”
It was the third shutout of the season for the Tigers, who’ve allowed a touchdown or less in seven of 11 games. An interception by Trey Lacey and fumble recovery by DaShawn Bridgett helped keep the visitors bottled up all night.
“Perryville ran the ball well all year, but they’re also not one-dimensional – they beat people all season with their passing game,” Ofodile said. “They’re probably one of the biggest teams we’ve seen.”
With the defense dominating, the Festus offense supplied the points, led by Lacey, who scored two touchdowns and ran for 116 yards on three carries. Leauntae Williams ran eight times for 47 yards as the Tigers accumulated 262 yards of total offense. Quarterback Essien Smith completed two of four pass attempts for 40 yards and a touchdown.
The secondary of Lacey, Jeremy Davis-Mayes, Jackson Frank, Kam Yates and Avery Edwards blanketed the Pirates in man-to-man coverage while defensive lineman Isaiah Desmarais recorded two sacks and Noah Moss contributed a third.
Ofodile said he never questioned how his players would respond to a healthy dose of criticism.
“I was more worried about the discipline piece of it,” he said. “We’ve got a good group. Any time discipline is necessary, the only authority you have over the kids is if they give you that authority. Our kids are bought-in and trust the coaches. They’re brought up well, beyond football, so many of these kids will be successful people.”
Three different Gateway quarterbacks have thrown for more than 1,000 combined yards and five players have run for 100 yards or more, led by Anthony Rayner’s 813 yards on 100 carries, and 12 touchdowns.
Ofodile has known Gateway head coach Jason Dulick since their college playing days in the 1990s. After Dulick graduated from St. Louis University High, he played for the University of Illinois.
The Tiger coach scoffed at the notion the Jaguars are undefeated because they’ve beaten only one team with a winning record – Class 1 District 1 finalist Crystal City (6-5).
“They’re an excellent football team,” Ofodile said. “(Dulick) has got those kids playing at a really high level. They are big and physical. They haven’t given up more than 14 points in a game. It’s a challenge to score against them.”
Despite not having played on a Saturday this season, Ofodile waved aside any distractions that might present.
“It’s outside our normal routine, but that won’t be too much of a distraction.”