The Tigers had more bite than the Bulldogs as Festus rushed for more than 300 yards and shredded Sikeston 61-14 Friday in the quarterfinals of the Class 4 District 1 tournament.
The home win for the Tigers, the No. 3 seed, came on the heels of a 52-0 loss to Jackson and evened their season record at 5-5. Next up is a district semifinal contest at No. 2 North County (8-2) Friday.
“One week in high school football doesn’t correlate into the next because each team is so different,” Festus head coach A.J. Ofodile said. “The last two weeks doesn’t factor into who we’re playing next. We ran the ball well (against Sikeston). We made one big play in the pass game. We had four guys over 70 yards rushing.”
Sophomore Essien Smith and junior Jeremiah Cunningham continue to rotate at quarterback. Ofodile said he doesn’t see that changing, even next season, although he admits it’s too early to tell who might be a starter in 2023.
“Essien was a bright spot against Jackson,” Ofodile said. “Jeremiah has done well in both departments (rushing and passing). I have no clue if we’ll continue to rotate them next year. It depends if we have the same situation. Both deserve to play.
“People make too much about it because they watch the NFL and college. Our quarterback is our primary ball carrier.”
The Festus defense extracted four Bulldog turnovers on an interception by senior linebacker Carter Cupp and three fumble recoveries. Sophomore linebacker Mason Schirmer had two of the Tigers’ four sacks and junior safety Eli Rogers recorded five tackles.
“Our defense came out and made some big plays against their passing game,” Ofodile said. “We bottled up their run game and pressured them when they tried to throw.”
When Festus met North County for their Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division game on Sept. 30, the Tigers led 20-15 at halftime. But the Raider defense pitched a second-half shutout and all-state running back Jobe Smith scored on two touchdown runs in the fourth quarter for a 30-20 North County win. Smith has rushed for 1,524 yards and scored 23 TDs this season.
“We had a good game plan and executed and made some big plays early on,” Ofodile said about the first meeting. (Senior wide receiver Arhmad Branch) made a spectacular catch in double coverage to score. They made good adjustments at halftime. We hurt ourselves with penalties on offense in the second half.
“Our defense is going to have to slow down Jobe a little. You won’t completely stop him, so you try to keep him from running wild. Their tight end presents matchup problems, so getting him covered is huge. They have a lot of good players on defense.
“It comes down to getting them blocked up. Their D-line is disciplined and active and made plays.”
In the other District 1 semifinal Friday, top-seeded Hillsboro (8-1) hosts No. 4 Farmington (4-6). The Knights flattened No. 5 Perryville (3-7) 49-0 in their first-round game.
Hillsboro enjoyed a bye as the top seed and is seeking to return to the district final, a game they lost to North County in 2021.
Lancers get QB back
The return of junior quarterback James Smith from an injury helped give host St. Pius X (8-2) the firepower it needed to overwhelm Grandview 39-6 in the Class 1 District 2 quarterfinals on Friday.
Smith, who had missed 4 1/2 games after being injured in an I-55 Conference game against Herculaneum, had one of the best nights for a QB in the St. Louis area, completing 14 of 29 passes for 306 yards and four touchdowns against the fifth-seeded Eagles (3-7). St. Pius is the No. 4 seed in the district and shut out Grandview 35-0 in their I-55 meeting in September.
“We probably could have done some other things offensively, but we wanted to get him a lot of reps,” St. Pius head coach Dan Oliver said of Smith, who was backed up during his absence by sophomore Brennan Ervin.
Although Smith returned, the Lancers had as many as 10 players miss practice last week with illnesses. They all came back as well, and Oliver chose to spread the load on offense, with six players rushing and six catching passes from Smith. Senior Dabrein Moss led St. Pius with 95 yards rushing on 10 carries, and also snagged two interceptions on defense.
Coaches are usually nervous about playing the same team twice in one season. Crystal City (8-2) saw its best campaign in many years come to a tough end with a 28-24 loss to Louisiana (4-6) in another Class 1 District 2 game Friday. The third-seeded Hornets beat the Bulldogs (No. 6) 40-20 in Week 2. Louisiana plays No. 2 Brentwood (9-1) in a District 2 semifinal.
“Crystal played Louisiana twice and it didn’t work out for them,” Oliver said. “We were up and ready to go. Getting James back was a big shot in the arm. Another factor was we had a lot of guys sick and missing and you never know how that affects a team.”
The Lancers led the Eagles 21-6 going into the fourth and shut out Grandview in the final stanza while Smith fired scoring passes to seniors Matt Miriani and Eli Frimml and senior Drew Merseal kicked a 22-yard field goal.
After getting a first-round bye, No. 1 Duchesne (5-4) hosts St. Pius on Friday in the other District 2 semifinal. The Pioneers have played Jefferson and Grandview in the district tournament the last two seasons. This year Duchesne has played one of the toughest schedules in the St. Louis area, with its four losses coming against powerhouses Cardinal Ritter (9-0), Lift for Life (7-3), MICDS (9-1) and St. Mary’s (7-2).
“They’re quality athletes and they’ve played a really big schedule but have played some teams that weren’t so good, either,” Oliver said. “They are a quality opponent. They’re going to be a handful. We played good teams, too, and we’ll see how it goes.
“The whole thing is going to be a good challenge. They’ve got some great backs and a linebacker who plays running back (and is) really talented. They have some linemen that present problems for most teams. It will be a little bit of a chess match.”
Herky moves on without top wide receiver
Missing injured senior wide receiver Lucas Bahr, who has caught 52 passes for 974 yards and 12 touchdowns, Herculaneum called on bruising ball carrier Mike Moloney to lead the Blackcats to a 28-24 comeback victory Friday over Bayless in the first round of Class 3 District 2.
Senior quarterback Jackson Dearing (1,841 yards passing and 18 TDs) and Bahr have sizzled all season, but No. 3 seed Herculaneum (6-4) had to change tactics against sixth-seeded Bayless (2-8).
Moloney stepped in with a career-high 258 yards on 36 carries and scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull the Blackcats out of danger against the visiting Bronchos.
“(Moloney) wasn’t ready for his senior season to be over, and he put the team on his back and did the rest,” said Herculaneum head coach Blane Boss, who has secured a winning campaign in his second season. “The line stayed on their blocks and got some movement up front. That’s the best they played all year.”
Bayless running back Mark Patton led his team with 108 yards rushing. His second touchdown gave the Bronchos a 16-14 lead in the fourth quarter.
“Offensively, they had a good game plan to feed Patton,” Boss said. “He’s one of the top two or three backs we’ve seen all year. They tried to control the block and keep (our offense) off the field. We didn’t need to throw as much, the way Mike was running the ball. We missed a (TD) pass where our guy could have walked into the end zone.”
Herculaneum travels to play No. 2 University City (5-5) on Saturday at 1 p.m. The winner most likely will face one of the top teams in the state in any class. Top-seeded Cardinal Ritter (9-0) had a bye last week and plays Roosevelt/Carnahan (No. 5 at 3-6) in the other semifinal. Ritter dealt Class 4 Hillsboro (8-1) its only loss this season.
The Blackcats faced a similar situation a year ago when they lost to St. Mary’s in districts. The Dragons went on to win the state championship.
“I’m sure the kids have thought about it,” Boss said about the potential matchup with Ritter. “The (Class 3) state championship probably goes through our district like it did last year against St. Mary’s. If we’re fortunate to get there, we’ll have our hands full for sure. What’s the use of getting to a district championship if you don’t give yourself a chance?”