Jefferson survived injuries to two starting offensive players and a rash of penalties that had both head coaches lamenting the officiating and shut out visiting Herculaneum 42-0 Friday night.
Competition between the two I-55 Conference rivals was intense from the opening moments. There were many stoppages as the officials separated Blackcats (0-3) and Blue Jays (2-1) after the whistle.
Herculaneum head coach Dave Cook didn’t hold back after the game.
“I’ve never complained about officials but this is absolutely the worst crew I’ve seen in my life,” Cook said. “I had a game with them against Cardinal Ritter two years ago and I made a point that I didn’t want them officiating our games anymore. This is really bad.”
Herculaneum running back Austin Huson was ejected from the game and will have to sit out next week’s game against St. Vincent.
“The officials couldn’t tell me what he did,” Cook said. “The official arbitrarily booted a kid.”
After junior running back Andrew Graves gave the Blue Jays a 6-0 lead (the extra point failed) with 9:36 left in the first quarter, the Blackcats went three-and-out and Jefferson started from the Herky 35-yard line.
Three players later junior wide receiver Collin Gosnell was injured along his team’s sideline and remained on his back for several minutes as trainers and medical staff treated his broken leg. Gosnell, who had never played football before this year, was taken by ambulance to St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
“He was blocking and one of their big boys landed right on his leg and it got caught in a bad spot,” Jefferson head coach Alex Rouggly said. “This was his first start with Zack Rarick nursing a hamstring injury. We had some things drawn up to get him the football. He loves to compete and he’s gotten better every week.”
One play after Gosnell left the field, Graves scored on another 6-yard run and this time sophomore kicker Lucas Vaughn drilled the PAT to make it 13-0.
The Blue Jays also lost starting quarterback Brandon Perry to an injury in the first quarter. Perry was replaced by Tommy Moon. Rouggly wasn’t sure of the nature of Perry’s injury, other than it was a knee and he could be back in the lineup next week against St. Pius X.
“(Perry) made a nice cut and he got his knee hit in the wrong spot,” Rouggly said. “I’m so proud of Tommy. He had a couple of early hiccups, but they were keying on Andrew and Tanner Davis and Brice Moran stepped up.”
Davis capped an eight-play drive with a 13-yard TD run with 10:07 left in the first half to give R-7 a 20-0 lead.
On the Blackcats’ next series, it was time for senior linebacker Dakota Jakoubek to assert his authority. Huson ran the ball four straight plays and Jakoubek made every tackle.
“The coach put us in perfect position for me to blitz, read the keys and make tackles,” Jakoubek said. “We just flew around. We knew they were physical and we answered.”
The Blackcats had a chance to score before halftime when they took over at the Blue Jays 47 with 5:18 left in the half. Herky reached the red zone but a few penalties later and the Blackcats found themselves in a third-and-38.
“The officials didn’t lose the game,” Cook said. “We had opportunities to score. If we punch one in at the end of the half we might have fed off of that emotion.”
Moon intercepted Herculaneum quarterback Jason Harden on the Blackcats’ first possession of the second half and the Blue Jays cashed in that turnover when Davis scampered in from 5 yards out to make it 27-0.
Moon then rifled a 35-yard TD pass to Graves down the seam for a 35-0 lead. Graves ended the scoring with a 72-yard TD run. He surpassed 4,000 yards rushing in his career in the first quarter. His four touchdowns on the night give him 13 this season.
“That was a huge throw to Andrew; a great ball,” Rouggly said. “We’ve got to be able to throw the ball and Tommy’s going to get better and better.”
Lions shut down rush, but get burned by unbeaten Ritenour through air
In a matchup featuring three of the top nine rushers in the St. Louis metropolitan area, it was the passing of Ritenour quarterback Mann McGruder that made the difference.
The Huskies entered Friday night’s contest at Northwest High School with a 2-0 record, outscoring their opponents 134-45 on the strength of 364 yards rushing from tailback Demetrius Jackson and 340 yards by McGruder. But with the Lions committed to stopping the run, McGruder went to the air, completing 11-of-17 pass attempts for 179 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Ritenour won 20-0.
“I wasn’t the best thrower last year,” McGruder said. “This was like showing off all the hard work I’ve been doing this offseason.”
Ritenour’s first drive of the game started at its 20-yard line, and after grinding its way to midfield, McGruder dropped back with plenty of time, scrambled to his left and fired up the near sideline. Northwest defensive back Tanner Campbell made a play for the ball but missed on the swipe and Antveon Briees was able to scoot in for a 51-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion was stuffed but Ritenour held a 6-0 lead with 5:16 left in the first quarter.
With under three minutes to play in the first half, Campbell, who is also Northwest’s rugby-style punter, was caught trying to make a play on fourth-and-4 at the Lions 18 as he was stopped for a 1-yard loss, turning the ball over on downs. On the next play, McGruder faked the handoff and fired downfield to Barrion Clemons, who took it in for the score. McGruder then rolled to his left and ran in untouched for the 2-point conversion to give the Huskies a 14-0 lead at halftime.
Northwest’s defense stood strong through the third quarter, giving the Lions a chance to get back into the game. After Northwest’s Jonathan Huskey blocked a punt to give his team the ball near midfield, the Lions drove into the red zone, and on a fourth-and- 7 play, Campbell took a pitch on an end around and raced inside the 5 but lost the handle and Ritenour took over at its 3.
That set up the Huskies’ best drive of the game, as they went the distance in 11 plays, with McGruder scoring from 1-yard out to make it 20-0.
“They are one of the most explosive offenses in the St. Louis area. They were averaging 450 yards a game on the ground, 68 points,” said Northwest coach Corey Toenjes. “So we knew the challenge at hand, and we challenged the kids. We had a game plan we were confident in, and they knew it. We just had to see if they had the fight in them, and they did tonight.”
Eureka’s defense, Haskins shine in win over Pattonville
Eureka’s defense kept Pattonville and its Division I quarterback prospect off the scoreboard as the Wildcats’ offense and Division I running back prospect slowly revved up Friday night.
Eureka senior Hassan Haskins led the home team’s offensive charge with three touchdowns in a 31-7 victory over Pattonville and Western Michigan commit Kaleb Elby, the Pirates’ senior quarterback.
Pattonville (1-2) tested Eureka (3-0) early driving to the Wildcats’ 2-yard line late in the first quarter, but the defense pushed the Pirates back to the 8, where the visitors turned the ball over on downs.
“They came out with some momentum and drove on us,” Eureka senior linebacker Kade Seymour said. “They brought it down there, but we just buckled down. We knew if we played team defense and rallied to the ball, we would be fine.”
Eureka was able to take a 10-0 lead into halftime thanks to a 40-yard field goal from senior Tom Burke with 10:35 left in the second quarter and an 8-yard touchdown run by sophomore receiver Jhalon Asher-Sanders with 4:18 left in the opening half.
But Pattonville opened the second half with an eight-play, 80-yard drive capped with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Elby to senior receiver Larry Washington.
That’s when Haskins took over, breaking off a 43-yard run on the next play and finishing a five-play, 80-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown run for a 17-7 lead with 8:34 left in the third.
He added a touchdown run of 2 yards with 33.9 seconds left in the third quarter and capped the scoring with a 31-yard touchdown reception.
“It gave my team a lot of energy,” Haskins said of his 215 rushing yards, 42 receiving yards and three touchdowns. “We did our job and scored.”
Elby finished with 329 passing yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Dragons shut out winless Owls
After a scoreless opening 12 minutes, host De Soto exploded for 28 points in the second quarter to take command and cruised to a 35-0 victory over Windsor Friday night in a Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division football game.
De Soto head coach Chris Johnson could not say enough about his offensive line after the game.
“We sustained blocks,” he said. “Against Perryville (a loss in Week 1) we were a shoestring away from breaking some runs – if we’d only sustained our blocks.”
Windsor head coach Alex DeMatteis could only tip his cap to the Dragons.
“De Soto did a good job,” DeMatteis said.
Junior quarterback Camron Krodinger’s 8-yard touchdown burst with 8:45 on the clock in the second broke the ice. He followed that gallop by running up the gut for the two-point conversion to give the Dragons an 8-0 lead.
The rest of De Soto’s second-quarter scores were: Krodinger’s short pass turned into a 64-yard touchdown gallop by junior wide receiver Dominic DeMarco at 5:59 (the 2-point conversion good on Krodinger pass to junior wide receiver Clayton Snudden); junior running back Cole Watson punched in a 3-yard touchdown run at 2:17 (the kick failed); and Krodinger charging through the Owl defense on a 2-yard touchdown run with eight seconds left before halftime (the kick failed).
De Soto scored its final points with 6:47 left in the third quarter when senior running back JaDan Brown scored on a 3-yard run (senior Mayson DeRousse kick good).
Brown led the Dragon rushing attack with 72 yards on 13 carries. Krodinger gained 32 yards on nine carries and connected on three of his six passes for 126 yards. He had one touchdown pass and one interception.
“JaDan Brown ran the ball hard,” Johnson said. “(Senior lineman) Jordan Northcutt inside – he did a good job at a couple of positions. Krodinger made some good throws. He is very athletic.”
Johnson said while he sees his squad moving in the right direction, he wants his players to keep pushing for more.
“We’re a long way away,” he said. “We’re getting there. We’re seeing positives, staying with our blocks.”
Other county football scores: Summit 37, Fox 36; Principia 42, Crystal City 7; Hillsboro 52, Ste. Genevieve 21; McCluer 30, Seckman 14; North County 42, Festus 14; Lexington 46, St. Pius X 12