Eureka senior Ralph Gianino V basked in the excitement of Senior Night and the football team’s 8-0 record.
“This season has been awesome,” said Gianino, who at 6-3 and 220 pounds can play multiple positions on both sides of the ball. “As a team, we’ve been playing great and our record shows that. Last week (against Lafayette) was the win that everyone wanted. We handled our business, stayed focused, stayed locked in and got a big win.”
On Oct. 18, Eureka (4-0 Suburban Conference Yellow pool) took control of McCluer (2-6, 1-3 Suburban Conference Green Pool) early, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter of a 47-2 romp.
The Comets received the opening kickoff and promptly fumbled the ball. Wildcat junior Preston Wibbenmeyer recovered it on the six-yard line. Eight seconds later, junior quarterback Patrick Hutchcraft connected with Blake Ashby for a five-yard touchdown. Patrick Bradley booted the PAT for a 7-0 lead.
The Comets went three-and-out on their next possession. At the 8:38 mark of the first quarter, running back Trevor Codak scampered 25 yards into the end zone for his 14th touchdown of the season, keeping him among the top 20 scorers in the St. Louis area. Bradley tacked on his second of five PATs and it was 14-0.
With one second on the clock in the first quarter, Hutchcraft scrambled 10 yards for the Wildcats’ third touchdown of the night. At that point Eureka head coach Jake Sumner started substituting for the senior starters.
“You can’t say enough positive things about them,” Sumner said. “We’ve watched them grow up over the last four years. These guys have done everything that’s been asked of them. They’ve learned from those before them. We have a legacy around here about one group passing (tradition) down and this group is doing that.”
Eureka scored three more TDs in the second quarter, the first on a trick play. Hutchcraft, filling in for injured starting QB Casey Hobelmann, received a shotgun snap and tossed the ball back to senior Larry Reed, who launched it 43 yards to junior Craig Ringe. Bradley missed the point after.
The second score of the quarter came on a 19-yard pass from Hutchcraft to Ringe, and the Wildcats went for a two-point conversion but fell short. The third TD was an eight-yard run by junior Cade Gustafson followed by a successful Bradley PAT. Eureka had 40 points on the board and for the first time this season, triggered a running clock for the second half.
Eureka has notched five safeties this season but gave up their first of the fall when McCluer put up two points on a botched Wildcat snap.
The Comets had 135 yards of offense in the second half but never found the end zone. Eureka sophomore Brandon Webb bulldozed his way to pay turf on a 15-yard run in the fourth quarter for the final points of the night.
Sumner said he was proud of the way the seniors handled the lopsided contest. “In a game like this, they continued to lead (us), even when things got out of hand.”
With the earlier victory over Lafayette, Eureka all but wrapped up the Yellow pool championship and has a solid grasp on the top seed in Class 5 District 2 going into the final week of the regular season.
Wildcats win ‘Battle of 109’
Eureka and Lafayette haven’t met this late in the football season, both with undefeated records, in more than two decades.
So when the Wildcats visited the Lancers Oct. 11 in the ‘Battle of 109,’ the stadium buzzed with anticipation and excitement. But as Wildcat head coach Jacob Sumner expected, Eureka’s business-as-usual approach produced a 30-15 victory, keeping the team’s record spotless at 7-0.
“That’s the best part about these guys – we challenge them each week to get better,” Sumner said. “This game had so many things attached to it, but they just came out and did exactly what they needed to do.”
The Wildcats stormed downfield on their opening drive on methodical runs by junior running back Trevor Codak and senior quarterback Casey Hobelmann.
With the ball on the Lancers’ 23-yard line, Hobelmann’s pass attempt to Levi Fieser in the end zone was intercepted by Jeremy Williams, who botched a touchback attempt, resulting in a Eureka safety and a 2-0 lead. It was the Wildcats’ fifth safety of the season.
Senior Larry Reed received the free kick at his own 17 and returned it to the Lafayette four-yard line. On first and goal, Hobelmann connected with wide-open senior tight end Jack McMillen for a touchdown pass with 7:13 left in the first quarter. Kicker Craig Ringe’s extra point made it 9-0.
With eight minutes left in the second quarter, Codak bulldozed 29 yards for a touchdown, Ringe kicked the extra point and it was 16-0.
Junior Cade Gustafson scored Eureka’s third touchdown with 2:14 left in the first half and the Wildcats led 23-0 at halftime. Codak scored the final Eureka TD of the night with just over two minutes left in the game to seal the victory. He finished with 236 yards on 33 carries, an average of more than seven yards per carry.
“Offensive ball control has been our style all year,” Sumner said. “The way that we had great plays on critical downs, the way that we were able to control the game, and the way that those guys stepped up in those moments was neat to see.”
Midway through the third quarter, on a fourth-and-inches, Hobelmann handed off to Codak and followed him into the scrum for the “tush push.” But when the pile cleared, Hobelmann hobbled to the sideline and didn’t return. Junior Patrick Hutchcraft entered the game and took control of the offense.
With time winding down in the third quarter and the Wildcats up 23-7, Eureka moved close to the red zone. But Hutchcraft was unable to connect with any of his receivers, and they turned the ball over on downs to start the fourth quarter.
It took the Lancers less than two minutes to get back on the board, with Jack Behl hitting Brady Micek for a 39-yard TD. Patrick Boyette caught Behl’s pass for a two-point conversion, drawing Lafayette to within one score at 23-15. The Wildcats struggled to stop Behl’s passing in the second half.
For the next eight minutes, except for a 29-yard pass from Hutchcraft to senior Ralph Gianino, Eureka ran the ball with the workhorse Codak and chewed up the clock. Codak wasn’t taking sole credit for his work.
“Without the big offensive line, I wouldn’t be getting the big gaps to run through, so the line was definitely part of that (drive),” he said.
The 80-yard trek culminated in a seven-yard TD run by Codak with 2:03 to play. The Wildcat defense took it from there in the final two minutes, determined to muzzle an offense that had put up an average of 41 points per game.
Codak led all rushers with 236 yards rushing, and is now averaging more rushing yards per game (139.7) than the defense has allowed opponents (125.7).
“The game plan is the game plan,” Sumner said. “This group always shows up. The way they play for one another is a thing of beauty.”
Eureka now sits atop the Suburban Conference Yellow Pool at 4-0, with a championship in sight. The Wildcats hosted nonconference foe McCluer Oct. 18 and stuffed the Comets 47-2 on Senior Night to move to 8-0. Hutchcraft again filled in for Hobelmann and completed 10 of 14 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns.
Eureka currently has a 6.64-point lead over Lafayette for the top seed in Class 5 District 2 and wraps up the regular season with a conference game at Pattonville (2-6, 1-3) Oct. 25.
Eureka volleyball to begin district tournament
The Eureka girls volleyball team concluded the regular season with a tough, five-set loss to visiting Jackson Oct. 17 and entered this week’s Class 5 District 2 tournament as the No.2 seed.
The Wildcats (20-14 overall, 2-2 in the Suburban Conference Yellow pool) faced No. 7 Parkway South (15-10-1) on Wednesday, after the Leader deadline. The winner plays either Marquette (19-13, 2-2 in Yellow), the No. 3 seed, or sixth-seeded Rolla (13-15-1) in the semifinals Saturday at Lafayette. The Lancers (26-5) are the top seed.
Eureka beat visiting Lindbergh (10-10) 25-20, 25-20, 25-16 in the Dig Pink game Oct. 10. All proceeds from the game went to the Side Out Foundation, a non-profit that funds research for metastatic breast cancer.
The night before, Eureka beat Marquette 17-25, 25-22, 25-12, 25-15. Head coach Jodie Fowler credited the team’s serving for the win.
“A lot of the teams we are playing are bigger than us size-wise, so we have to do the things we do well, like serving and serve-receiving,” Fowler said. “(Against Marquette) our serving was on-point. It gives the team across the net a difficult ball to pass.”
Junior Audrey Hackney put up more than a quarter of the team’s 50 service points with 16, six of them on aces. She also tallied 15 assists. Senior Jenna Cubbage, who ranks among the area’s leaders in kills, logged 49 attacks and 16 kills. Cubbage went over 1,000 kills for her career this month.
Fowler said the team is gelling at the right time and learning to play unselfishly.
“This group is super-competitive on the floor,” she said. “But we talk a lot about being a supporting member on the team. Because some days you’re going to get all the kills, and some days you may not even have the ball set to you. So we’re just finding what works best for us.”
In the Lindbergh match, the Flyers took an 8-4 lead in the first set and the teams traded points until Eureka shaved the deficit to one point and then went on a five-point run and a 20-16 lead. Lindbergh put up four more points before the Wildcats closed out the set 25-20.
The second set was similar, with Eureka falling behind 7-3. However, a strong six-point run put them ahead by two on the way to another 25-20 set win.
The third set was tied 4-4 before the Wildcats took command to wrap up the win 25-16.
Fowler said she knew Lindbergh was a big team, so her plan was to beat size with speed.
“I think that’s the biggest team in St. Louis; the majority of the team is so tall,” she said. “You can’t combat tall with not-that-tall, you have to be faster. But kudos to (Lindbergh), they had a plan, too. They wanted to make sure they stopped our bigger hitters, and they did. So some of the other kids had to step up and they did that.”
Hackney had two service points and 16 assists, with Fowler holding her up as an example of unselfish play that wins matches.
“Every time Audrey steps on the floor, she will go the extra way for everybody on her team. She wants to perform well for her teammates, and that’s all you can ask for. She’s been working hard to release from defense and get back to the net fast, and she did that tonight better than she ever has.”
Hackney said she’s been focusing on playing defense first.
“It’s been something I’ve struggled with, especially in club (Rockwood Thunder), and then coming to high school,” she said. “So I’ve really worked on staying in base with this defense and picking up the hitter. I’m most proud of picking up those tips in the middle tonight, because that’s very challenging.”
The Wildcats competed in the Ozark Grand Slam tournament Oct 11-12 and faced some of the top competition in the state, finishing 3-2. Eureka defeated Springfield Central (25-6, 25-13), Jefferson City (25-15, 25-19) and Logan-Rogersville (25-23, 25-21). The losses were to host Ozark (23-25, 23-25) and Liberty of Kansas City (18-25, 22-25).
Girls cross country makes splash in pool meet
It didn’t matter what color the pool was, the Eureka girls cross country team painted them all purple and gold at the Suburban Conference cross country championships Saturday.
Among the three pools (Yellow, Red and Green in order of competitive strength) that competed on the 3.1-mile (five kilometer) course at McNair Park in St. Charles, the Wildcats were in the Red and won it with 34 points. Lafayette was second with 56. And with the scores from all three pools compiled – there was one varsity boys race and one girls race, the results separated after – Eureka came out on top with 63, with the Lancers a distant second with 110.
As usual, senior Daphne Bishop ran in front of the Eureka pack, but two teammates behind her ran big season-best times by more than 30 seconds. Bishop won the Red race in 18:44.35, while freshman Madison Schepis was third in 19:30.05 and sophomore Sofia Hoerchler came in fifth in 19:35.29.
“Sofia missed her PR by two seconds,” Eureka girls head coach Darrell Lewis said. “Being it was a conference championship, I gave them a little rest and they’re both competitors, and when the stakes are higher, they can step up their game.
“Daphne ran really well. That was her second-best time ever. She said her legs felt heavy, so I feel confident with what she can do with better legs. Her (training) mileage is a little higher. She’s by far been our most consistent trainer.”
Parkway Central sophomore Gabriel Moresi won the girls overall title in 18:41.87, with Bishop second.
“(Bishop) had a gap and started to feel some fatigue toward the end and Gabriel slowly reeled her in with 200 meters to go,” Lewis said. “Daphne went out fast because we know (the) state (meet) will. We tried to simulate things we will see at state.”
Freshman Claire McKinnon (11th, 20:06.19) and junior Abigail Smith (14th, 20:26.13) were the other Wildcat scoring runners. Earlier this fall McKinnon ran 19:59.9 at Gans Creek in Columbia, site of the state championships Nov. 8-9.
The Eureka boys were third in the Red pool Saturday with 72 points. Webster Groves (36) and Lafayette (54) were the top two squads.
Lafayette freshman Ezekiel Hagen won the Red with a time of 15:43.02. Senior Logan Ghormley paced the Wildcats, finishing eighth in 16:29.46, followed by Evan Wilke (11th, 16:39.13), Mitchell Barth (14th, 16:55.63), Joe Rauls (16th, 16:59.40) and Jackson Dalton (23rd, 17:12.85).
Both Eureka squads competed at Northwest’s “Last Chance” meet in House Springs on Wednesday, after the Leader deadline, as a warmup for the Class 5 District 1 meet at the Osage Center in Cape Girardeau Nov. 2.
Softball season ends
Seeded fourth, the Eureka softball team (13-13) was shut out 10-0 in five innings under the mercy rule by top-seeded Lafayette (27-5) in the Class 5 District 2 semifinals Oct. 19 at Parkway South.
The Lancers beat the Wildcats three times this season and won the district crown 8-2 over Parkway South (17-12) on Monday.
In the first round Oct. 17, Eureka shut out No. 5 Rolla (12-19) 12-0 behind nine strikeouts and one hit allowed by pitcher Chrystal Hall. Haley Deakin had two doubles and three runs batted in and Addison Schneider added three hits in the 12-hit attack.
Before district play, Eureka won three of four games, including a 2-0 shutout of visiting Marquette Oct. 10. Hall struck out four and threw a complete-game five-hitter. Heidi Daffron tripled, drew a walk and scored a run and Deakin had two hits.
In a 5-1 win over Red pool champion Northwest (20-10) Oct. 8, Hall fanned seven in another complete-game performance and Kayleigh Niles and Schneider each collected two hits.