Grandview High School rolled up 372 yards on the ground behind an offensive line led by senior guards Tucker Rhinehart and Ethan Smith. They also pass protected for senior QB Brendan Martin, who had ample time to complete 11-of-17 passes for 185 yards and two TDs in a 56-21 romp against visiting Cuba on Sept. 12.
Grandview improved to 2-1 and leads the Quad County Conference at 2-0, while the Wildcats fell to 0-3, 0-1.
“Once again it starts up front,” said first-year Grandview head coach Cory Hanger. “Our OL is doing a great job. They’re extremely coachable guys. Our word of last week was sacrifice and nobody embodies that more than our OL. We had one tackle for a loss and no sacks and that goes to show how great our OL was. I have to give our WRs credit, too. Last year we struggled getting the ball outside and we knew having (senior RB) Isaac Walker teams would load up the box. Cuba brought pressure in the front five and we got the ball outside and did great blocking.”
When senior Wyatt Keim went down with an injury at the jamboree last month, junior Brock Poole was inserted into the wing spot on offense. Against the Wildcats, Poole rushed 11 times for a team-high 125 yards. He also caught 4 Martin passes for 70 yards and combined for 3 TDs (2 rush, 1 pass).
Martin compounded his passing figures with 12 carries for 88 yards and 2 TDs. Sophomore Christian Vollner (7-62, TD rush; 3-40, TD receive) and senior teammate Jackson Delaughter each had an interception. Senior LB Blake led the Eagles with 13 tackles.
Grandview hosts Principia High School (1-1) on Friday at 7 p.m. The Eagles ground out 411 yards in a 46-23 win over the Panthers last year.
“They run an empty backfield the entire time and pass every play,” Hanger said. “It’s going to be a good test. Our DBs have a lot of potential and this is a good game to show it.”
Jags run roughshod over Lions in Suburban pool play
Northwest High School wanted to prove to Seckman High School that it had gained ground in the intra-conference and county football rivalry.
But the Jaguars were out to show the frisky Lions that they were still king of the hill among the county’s largest schools.
Seckman (2-1 overall, 1-0 in Orange pool play) pulled away with three touchdowns in the third quarter of a 49-14 victory in Imperial on Sept. 12. Last year, the Jaguars beat their Suburban Conference Orange pool rivals 41-7 in Cedar Hill.
Known for a power running attack since head coach Nick Baer took over in 2019, the Jaguars are as apt to throw the ball these days with junior quarterback Brody Kube’s strong arm. In a sign of the change, Seckman passed for more yards (195) than it ran for (130), and junior wide receiver Nick Weidler is fast becoming Kube’s favorite target.
“It was good to get back to what we do and execute on offense,” said Baer, who after losing his first two games to the Lions (2-1, 1-1) in his first two years as Seckman’s head coach has now won five in a row. “That looks a little different this year. We talked about getting the ball in space to our athletes. When they’re getting the ball in their hands, they’re creating something out of nothing. Our young O-line is starting to come together and now we’re making plays in the run game.”
Weidler and Kube connected for a 19-yard TD with 5:07 left in the first quarter and senior kicker Ben Bajric’s extra point gave the Jags a 7-0 lead. Less than a minute later, senior running back Mason Fowler scored on a 6-yard TD run and Bajric tacked on the PAT for a 14-0 lead. With 9:27 left in the first half, Kube completed a 28-yard TD pass to Weidler and Bajric made it 21-0. Weidler caught five passes for 65 yards and senior teammate Cam Benson hauled in two for 45 yards.
“Nick is a special athlete with lots of length,” Baer said. “Cam Benson plays football, basketball and baseball. They have opportunities to take a 5-yard hitch and turn them into TDs.”
Reeling on the road, Northwest turned to junior QB Cohenn Stark, who broke free for a 70-yard TD run with 8:27 left in the half. Sophomore kicker Cayden Richard cut the deficit to 21-7 with the PAT. Richard has made 18 of 19 PATs this season. It was Stark’s third TD run of 70 or more yards and he leads Northwest with 9.
“They got us into a formation with an eligible receiver on one side and that gave Cohenn the sliver he needed,” Baer said. “He’s a good athlete. He’s got tree trunks for legs and a motor that never stops.”
After Stark’s dash, Seckman didn’t stop scoring until it put the game away with the next four TDs. Benson and Kube completed the first-half scoring with a 27-yard scoring strike. Three Jags scored in the third quarter: junior RB Chance Ruble, 6-yard run; Benson, 18-yard pass from Kube; Fowler, 1-yard run. Bajric was good on the four PATs.
“We wanted to make an emphasis coming out at half with the extra possession,” Baer said, “where the perfect scenario is to score, stop them and score again.”
Stark’s 7-yard TD pass to junior WR Kaleb Belcher completed the scoring.
Seckman’s defense was led by junior DB Jackson Rutledge, who had 5 total tackles and an interception; senior LB Victor Fite, who recovered a fumble; and senior LB Dylan Lappe, who led the team with 9 total tackles. Lappe tackled Stark who was trying to punt after a botched snap, and that gave the Jags the ball inside the 10. They converted the short field into a TD.
Since both teams are in Class 6 District 1, there’s the possibility of a rematch between Seckman and Northwest. But after this year, a new scheduling cycle begins, meaning they won’t meet in the regular season because the Jags are being moved up two pools to the Red. The Lions will remain in the Orange.
“It is disappointing that we don’t play Northwest,” Baer said. “They’re the only other Class 6 Jefferson County school and I hope we get that right in the future.”
Seckman hosts Mehlville (1-2, 1-1) in its next pool game Friday, while Northwest is at Webster Groves (2-1) which leads the Orange at 2-0.
“Mehlville has a lot of good athletes and it comes down to us containing the big play and not letting receivers behind us,” Baer said.
Hawks pick up tough road win
After a scoreless first quarter in which it had one offensive series, Hillsboro (2-1) scored 21 points in a span of 2:05 in the second against host Washington High School. The winless Blue Jays (0-3) scored the next nine points, but the die was cast and the Hawks rode out a 27-16 victory Sept. 12.
Senior Joseph Jordan began the scoring with a 2-yard run and senior Caleb Arnold’s PAT made it 7-0 with 6:45 left in the first half. Senior QB Braxton Chazelle figured in the next two Hawk TDs, throwing a 30-yard TD pass to WR Auston Ross with 4:13 to go and scoring on an 8-yard keeper at 2:40.
Washington kicked a field goal with a second to go in the half and scored a TD on a short run for the only points in the third. But Jordan scored his second rushing TD with 5:43 to go in the game. Arnold’s PAT missed and the Hawks led 27-10. The Blue Jays scored a TD by Carter Hill with about a minute to play. Hill led his team with 156 yards on 20 carries.
Washington (0-3) started 2024 1-3, but upset Eureka High School in the Class 5 District 2 semifinals. The Wildcats were the No. 1 seed and 9-0 going into that game. The week prior to falling to Hillsboro, Washington fell 26-7 to Warrenton, a Class 4 semifinalist last year. Hillsboro’s top rival in the Mississippi Area Football Conference, Festus, beat the Warriors in the semifinals.
“We told the kids not to be fooled by their record,” Hillsboro head coach Bill Sucharski said of the Blue Jays. “They got hot later last year. Our kids fought through that and saw some gaps.”
Sucharski called Washington a heavy power running team that wants to bleed the clock.
“They bring in six or seven linemen. They’re not going to lose yards,” Sucharski said. “They’re going to get first downs and you have to get them behind the sticks on first and second down.”
This is Chazelle’s first full season as the starter under center.
“Braxton did a good job in our option game and he made some big throws,” Sucharski said. “In the fourth quarter, we needed to run clock and he gave Trey Zimmerly the ability to catch the ball on third-and-8 and he gained 30 yards.”
Hillsboro opens its MAFC schedule in Bonne Terre against North County High School on Friday at 7 p.m. The Raiders (1-2, 1-0) beat De Soto 14-13 in a conference game last week.
“They did some things against De Soto they hadn’t done in their previous two games,” Sucharski said. “They’re finding their legs offensively. They’ve played three good opponents.”
Raiders return kickoff for TD, PAT winning point
North County extended its winning streak against De Soto to nine games with a 14-13 road win in the Dragons’ new lair Sept. 12.
The De Soto Board of Education approved $1.7 million in improvements to JC Culwell Stadium, including a grandstand, lights and a scoreboard. The project was completed before the school year began, but De Soto played its first two games on the road.
After being outscored 97-16 against Farmington and Chatham Glenwood (Ill.) in their first two games, the Raiders (1-2) beat the Dragons (1-2) in the Mississippi Area Football Conference opener for both teams.
De Soto’s last win against North County from Bonne Terre was 17-16 in 2019. Both teams have been in Class 4 District 1 during that time and the Raiders are 3-0 in district meetings.
Seconds after De Soto sophomore quarterback Cannon Kisner gave his team a 13-7 lead on a 45-yard touchdown run with 4:43 left in the game, NC junior Jesse Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff for a TD to tie the game. The Dragons had failed in their two-point attempt after Kisner scored, but junior Cole Mullins, a 2024 Missouri Football Coaches Association third-team all-state selection, kicked the decisive extra point.
“It was a breakdown in coverage,” De Soto head coach Russ Schmidt said. “We were looking to kick the ball into the 20- to 30-yard area (along the sideline) and it appeared our kids ran by the ball, instead of breaking down.”
Kisner, a first-year starter at QB, is already showing signs he can be one of the best in the MAFC and county. Kisner is a blend of speed, elusiveness and he broke several tackles in the open field.
“We knew it was going to work,” Kisner said of his second TD run of the night. “We drew it up at halftime. We saw what they were doing. I saw it, took it, easy touchdown.”
“We’ve really become a good staff at making halftime adjustments,” Schmidt said. “That was one of the plays tied to the ebb and flow of the game.”
The ground games for both teams were effective, but the passing of Kisner and Raider junior Braydee McClure was scattershot.
There was still plenty of time for Kisner to break off a third TD run after the sudden change in the lead, but he was intercepted by junior linebacker Noah Lashley at midfield with 1:32 to play. NC ran out the clock.
“It was a bad decision by me. I’ll move on,” Kisner said. “We’re going to be good. We’re playing Festus next week. That’s all I’m worried about.”
Schmidt understands there will be growing pains with a young QB.
“Cannon is a very grounded young man and if there’s a kid who will learn from his mistakes and burn up the film, it’s him,” Schmidt said. “This was one of those losses where in my first year, the kids would just quit. I don’t see that happening. But it’s a mindset where we have to put this game behind us and prepare for next week.”
That’s back at Culwell Stadium against undefeated Festus (3-0), which has walloped Rolla, Francis Howell Central and Windsor by a combined score of 121-35. The Tigers are the defending MAFC and District 1 champions, Class 4 finalists last season and opened their conference season by pounding Windsor 56-14 Sept. 12.
The Dragons closed the gap considerably against the Raiders when compared to last year’s two losses. Festus beat De Soto 56-6 in 2024 and holds a seven-game winning streak in the series.
The Dragons pushed into NC territory on their first series of the game thanks to converting two fourth downs. But on fourth-and-5 from the 8-yard line, De Soto opted for a field-goal attempt and junior Josh Golightly missed from 25 yards. Later in the first, the Raider punt protection broke down, forcing Mullins to scramble for the first-down marker before falling short. The Dragons took over at the NC 25, but junior linebacker Jaxon Scherffius sacked Kisner for a big loss to stymie the drive as the first quarter ended scoreless.
With 9 minutes left in the first half, the Raiders turned the ball over on downs at the De Soto 32. Kisner broke across midfield with a run, but then threw an interception to senior DB Jamal Robinson. The Raiders converted the turnover into 7 points after Scherffius converted a fourth-down run and Lashley scored from 15 yards out with 1:20 left in the half. Mullins made the PAT.
“It’s on me. My guys ran the right routes, perfect speed,” Kisner said. “I just overthrew them a little. We’ll fix it and move on.”
De Soto’s defense forced a turnover on downs on the first Raider drive of the second half, and this time Kisner broke free for a 55-yard TD run, and along with Golightly’s PAT, tied the game 7-7 with 6:44 left in the third.
The Dragons kept the momentum going when NC fumbled the next kickoff and junior Peyson Casey recovered. But the Raiders got the ball back at their 20 when Johnson recovered a Dragon fumble.
NC hosts Hillsboro (2-1) on Friday in the Hawks conference opener.