October is the true beginning of the fall prep sports season.
It’s where district seedings start to firm up, times on the cross country courses start dropping like the temperature, and the first state champions of the school year – girls golf on Oct. 20-21 – are crowned.
Although it seems summer-like outside right now, I noticed covering Friday night football that once the sun sets, the temperature drops fast. Luckily, I brought my heavy Missouri sweatshirt to block the cold, and the action on the gridiron at Eureka High School for its game against Kirkwood High School provided that unique feeling you get when two large-school powerhouses collide. For three hours I’m plugged in on the sideline acting as a conduit to Leader readers through our social media. I wait all week for that feeling.
Speaking of blocking, before we get into all of these Jefferson County football players that are among the leaders in several categories in the St. Louis area, we can’t dismiss the importance of the offensive line play. Windsor High School ran for 642 yards two weeks ago. St. Pius X running back Cody Shaver leads the STL with 925 yards rushing. Northwest quarterback Cohenn Stark (863 yards) and Windsor RB Logan Wilson (772) should get to 1,000 yards soon. Everytime I ask these guys about their success, each of them credits their O-line. Shaver, Stark and Wilson are in the top six in the STL in rushing.
What Stark has provided Northwest in just more than two years of playing football, wrestling and throwing in track and field is nothing short of amazing. He’s a one-man publicity machine of positivity for the school district. His family is directly tied to the community in business and their history of athletic achievement at Northwest. When the Lions trailed at Webster Groves High School two weeks ago, Stark scored two touchdowns in the final 2:00 in a 42-35 victory. Playing a Parkway South team last week that the Lions had lost to 28-27 a year ago, the Stark-led offense crushed the Patriots with 49 points in the first half. Stark accounted for five TDs (two rushing touchdowns, three passing) and has zeroed in on wide receiver Omarion Frazier to give the Lions one of the most dangerous over-the-top deep threats around. Stark and Frazier hooked up for TD passes of 78 and 48 yards in the second quarter against South. This year, Frazier has 399 reception yards and averages 21 yards per catch.
A junior, Shaver is one of those two-way starters at RB and linebacker that every team desires. He leads the Lancers with 39 total tackles and five sacks. Think about what players like Shaver endure being tackled and making tackles all night. I think about the metal ball inside a pinball machine when it comes to the collisions playing those two positions requires. Sometimes it reminds me of the traffic chaos on I-270 in STL.
“Cody Shaver is going to be one of our leaders because of how vocal he is; he plays with a lot of intensity and emotion, which will help fire up his teammates on both sides of the ball,” St. Pius X head coach Frank Ray said before the season.
Wilson also plays the dual role of leading rusher and tackler at Windsor. During training camp, Wilson said, “I want to get better on the defensive side. I want to put my defense in the best spot possible.” Ten of Wilson’s team-leading 44 tackles are for a loss.
Now that we’ve covered the top rushers, let’s not forget about the top QB play in the county. In his first year as a starter, Festus junior Parker Perry leads the STL in passer rating (174.7). As a fun comparison, Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson currently leads the NFL in passer rating (130.5). The stats for undefeated Festus (5-0) after its 40-14 win against Hillsboro weren’t available at deadline, but through the first four weeks, Perry had completed 84 percent of 69 passes for 832 yards and 12 TDs. Perry had not thrown an interception in the first four games.
The Tigers have a secure hold on the No. 1 seed in Class 4 District 1 and have already beaten three conference and county rivals – Hillsboro,
De Soto, Windsor – handily. The winner of District 1 plays the District 2 winner, and without naming the teams in that district, Festus has a strong chance of winning in the quarterfinals.
“Parker is a really talented young man, a natural thrower, really smart, great processor,” Ofodile said before the season. “He can do anything you ask him to do in the position. He can push the ball down the field.”
There are other deep-threat combinations in the county. Two weeks ago, Seckman QB Brody Kube set the school record with five TD passes in a game. Kube’s three main targets, Kylar Huckfeldt, Cameron Benson and Nick Weidler are averaging between 14.5 and 17.8 yards per catch. Kube has completed 65 percent of 80 passes and has 11 TDs with no picks. St. Pius QB Evan Eckrich has had some rough moments of learning the position on the job – he threw six interceptions against Fort Zumwalt East – but there’s no denying his connection with WR Harrison Ray is growing every week. Ray is averaging a Mel Gray-like 20 yards per catch and the two sophomores should only become more potent over the next 2 1/2 years. Harrison is Frank’s son.
If you’re among the leaders in kickoff return average, that could mean your team is giving up a lot of kickoffs. And unless that’s to start a game or second half, that might not be the best thing. Fox (1-4) has dropped four games in a row, albeit the defeats to Seckman, Ritenour and Rockwood Summit high schools could have easily been reversed. Warrior senior DJ Cox is second in the STL in kickoff return average (27.5 yards). He had a season-high four returns for 94 yards against Summit in a 20-14 loss.
On defense, Fox junior linebacker Ryan Joggerst is second in the STL in tackles (72) and has two sacks and two interceptions.
Buckle up. In no time, we’ll be bundled up to attend games by month’s end and by Halloween we’ll have completed the first round of districts.