The Eureka football team had a score to settle in their home opener, and the Wildcats knew just how to handle it.
In last year’s game at Marquette, the Mustangs scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to stun Eureka 28-14. This year’s Wildcat squad, especially the seniors, didn’t forget how it felt to see Marquette loudly celebrate with their fans.
Sept. 6 was the rematch at Eureka and the Wildcats buried their Rockwood rival 37-14 to improve to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Suburban Conference Yellow pool. The Mustangs fell to 1-1 and 0-1.
Eureka wasted no time setting the tone, scoring in the first two minutes on a 44-yard run by junior Trevor Codak, Craig Ringe kicking the extra point. The hosts followed it up just over a minute later with a strong defensive stand that resulted in a safety, their second in two games, for a 9-0 lead.
And the Wildcats weren’t done with the first quarter. Another two and a half minutes elapsed and Codak hauled in a 10-yard pass from senior quarterback Casey Hobelmann to make it 16-0 going into the second quarter.
Three minutes into that period, on fourth-and-one at their own 47-yard line, Marquette elected not to punt and instead run for the first down. Eureka senior linebacker Jack McMillen crashed through the line to stop the play cold and force a turnover on downs.
The Wildcats then marched half the field to set up a one-yard touchdown dash by Hobelmann at the six-minute mark and widen the advantage to 23-0 going into halftime.
“The guys were executing nicely,” Eureka head coach Jake Sumner said.
The third quarter brought more of the same. Eureka received the kickoff and in the next 2:30, Hobelmann connected with junior Levi Fieser for a 37-yard touchdown. Ringe booted his fourth PAT and the score was 30-0.
Sumner started inserting his reserves and Marquette responded with a five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Caden Throneberry to Cam Kossmann and a five-yard scoring run by Devin Hollins, both in the third quarter.
But the final period belonged to the Wildcats. With eight minutes left in the game, junior Cade Gustafson scampered 16 yards for the Wildcats’ fifth and final touchdown. The defense, meanwhile, bottled up the Mustangs down the stretch.
“We came out and did things early on the way we needed to,” Sumner said. “Obviously, (I’m) proud over all of the way they did it.”
So far, Codak has proven last year’s late-season success was not a fluke. He sliced and diced the Mustangs for 161 yards on 18 carries, averaging almost nine yards per run. On the season, he’s already rushed for 300 yards, putting him in the top 10 in the St. Louis area.
Eureka’s massive offensive line, led by 6-8 Mizzou-bound tackle Jack Lange, is opening the holes for Codak and fending off the pass rush when Hobelmann airs it out.
“(Codak’s) got a good group in front of him that helps him do what he’s doing,” Sumner said. “He got some good, hard yards tonight.”
Hobelmann completed 10 of 14 passes for 122 yards and the two touchdowns, with no interceptions.
“The team had a great win, so I had a great win,” Hobelmann said. “All of it is the same to me.”
In Eureka’s season-opener Aug. 29, the Wildcats put away host Francis Howell 26-7. Codak had TD runs of four and six yards, Larry Reed caught a 49-yard scoring pass from Hobelmann and Ringe kicked a 30-yard field goal and converted all three of his extra-point tries.
Eureka stays home for Week 3, facing conference opponent Hazelwood Central (1-1, 0-1). Last year, the Wildcats pulled out a 21-19 road victory over the Hawks.
Wildcats blank Webster Groves for second time
What a difference one team meeting can make.
That’s what the Eureka field hockey players are telling themselves after a remarkable early-season turnaround. The Wildcats stumbled out of the gate, losing 7-0 to Mary Institute Country Day School Sept. 4 and 1-0 to Parkway West two days later. After that game, the players and coaches called a meeting to hit the reset button.
Whatever was said and felt worked; Eureka pulled a U-turn with three consecutive shutout victories, twice over Webster Groves (3-0 and 2-0) and 2-0 over Edwardsville (Ill.).
“We had a rough game against Parkway West and we talked through a lot of corrections,” Wildcat head coach Melissa Menchella said. “We talked about ways to do things differently. Then during the doubleheader (Webster and Edwardsville Sept. 7) the girls took that to heart and really applied that on the field.”
In the first half of the second meeting with Webster Sept. 9, the Wildcats stayed on offense and drew several penalty corner shots. Nothing came from those chances, but the pressure finally paid off when Eureka scored two goals 48 seconds apart in the second quarter.
Senior forward Meghan Walker made it 1-0 with 2:08 left in the half (field hockey plays four 15-minute quarters), and after the restart at midfield, the Wildcats stickhandled and passed in front of the Webster goal before Anna Mowry tapped the ball past goalie Riley Fitzgerald for a 2-0 lead at halftime.
“Meghan had a really nice cross and I tipped it in,” Mowry said. “We know how their defense works; it’s really good. So we wanted to swarm the ball and put a lot of numbers on there, and it worked out with a lot of give-and-goes.”
“We were able to maintain the ball on the 50 and the attacking end,” Menchella said. “The press we set up was really good getting possession back, get the ball in front of the cage and finish them.”
Junior goalkeeper Colby Durbin has started Eureka’s matches with junior Sara Keebler coming in for the second halves of games, so the pair shared the three shutout wins.
Mowry said the last three games are easy to explain.
“(It’s) our amazing goalies and defense,” Mowry said. “Colby does a lot of work in the offseason, so she’s really strong in the cage, and our defense works really well together sending numbers to the ball.”
Junior forward Zoe Weston had an assist against Webster and scored one of the two tallies against Edwardsville, with senior forward Mahela Brunworth firing in the other. Senior forward Gillian Lochmann recorded an assist for her first point of the season.
In the first win over the Statesmen, Mowry, Weston and junior defender Addison Proffitt each knocked in a goal.
Victoria Noble recorded a hat trick for MICDS (4-1) against Eureka and has seven goals this season. The Wildcats have never made it past the state quarterfinals in field hockey, but their new banner for winning the lacrosse state championship in June hangs near their field. Some of the players from that team are also on the field hockey squad and Menchella coaches both teams.
“MICDS is a final-four worthy team; most of the private schools are,” Menchella said. “I told the girls to watch and learn from them. We have a lot of returners from last year, which is great. We were young last year, and I think those juniors are craving a better season by stepping up the speed of play.”
The Wildcats were 4-11 in 2023 and can match that win total with their next victory. They have an opportunity today (Sept. 12) at Lutheran South (1-1).
“The past three games, I did (about) 12 lineup combinations in each quarter, and I threw the girls all over the field,” Menchella said. “(Now) we have a better idea of the starting lineup.
“It’s encouraging to see a lot of them come back. They’re here to work hard and play for Eureka, which we’re all really proud of. The goal is to make the program better every year.”
Girls volleyball opens season with loss at St. Pius X
With Division I college talent staring at each other across the net, nonconference opponents Eureka and St. Pius X met Sept. 3 for the third straight year. But this was the Lancers’ first time hosting and they took down the Wildcats in four sets (25-20, 18-25, 25-17, 25-20), their first-ever triumph over the purple-and-gold powerhouse from the top end of the Suburban Conference.
With an enrollment of 1,209, Class 5 Eureka dwarfs Pius (233), which finished second in the state in Class 4 last year. After many years competing in Classes 2-3 in volleyball, the Lancers were moved up to Class 4 in 2020 under the competitive-balance formula of the Missouri State High School Activities Association.
The Wildcats are rebuilding after losing 14 starters to graduation in the last two years. Meanwhile, St. Pius returned most of its starters from the team that was swept by Incarnate Word Academy in three sets in the 2023 state final.
“Eureka is a very strong team,” said St. Pius 6-4 middle blocker Bennett
Raterman, who led the Lancers with 15 kills and three blocks. “They have strong assets, but we went out and controlled what we needed to take that first set.”
She added that her team benefited from opening the season Aug. 30-31 with a second-place finish in the MICDS Brace for Impact Tournament, winning four of five matches. They lost in the A Division final to Mater Dei (Breese, Ill.) 15-25, 25-14, 19-25. The Knights are the defending IHSA Class 2A state champions.
“(Playing in the tournament) helped us iron out those little things that we need to work on like connection, serve-receive, defense, making sure those all run smoothly,” Raterman said.
Eureka head coach Jodie Fowler said she wasn’t surprised by the outcome against St. Pius, given her team’s evolving lineup.
“We played a little bit nervous,” Fowler said. “This is mostly a new team with a lot of new faces, they just haven’t gotten up to speed. Then we realized we had 13 unforced errors (in the first set) and they only won by five. That’s cool, we can totally work with that. The second set looked more crisp. The third set, I don’t even know what team that was.”
With setter Elena Ruble feeding assists to Raterman in the middle and Hannah Leftridge on the pin, Lancer head coach Shannon Leftridge (Hannah’s mom) liked what she saw – mostly.
“We started out really strong in the first set, getting the ball to Bennett,” the coach said. “She did her thing, hitting the quick set. Our defense struggled a little bit. Jodie’s a really good coach. They figured out our defense and were hitting shots where we weren’t. We had a hard time adjusting.
“Everything was just a little off tonight. A tweak off for us is still a good level, but coming off playing (in the tournament) at our top level, I can say it all day long, but our girls are hard on themselves.”
Ruble generated 14 assists in the first set against Eureka and finished with 39 on the night. She is closing in on 2,000 assists for her career.
The Wildcats led throughout the second set as the Lancers hit several shots out of bounds and Eureka senior Jenna Cubbage (committed to Wichita State University) found plenty of holes in the defense to pound kills.
“She had some very good shots and was hard to stop,” Raterman said. “We had to adjust our defense to stop her shots.”
“She’s a great player,” Fowler said.
Raterman, who’s made an early commitment to Florida State University, served up two aces and St. Pius charged out 6-1 in the third set. Lancer points by sophomore outside hitter Kate Sherry and Hannah Leftridge (a North Carolina State recruit) made it 12-7, and two aces by Pius senior Peyton Meyers put the Lancers up 22-13. Eureka’s senior setter, Reece Williams, returned the favor with a pair of aces, but Raterman served on set point for the win.
The fourth set was 10-9 Lancers when the hosts started to pull away after block-kills by Raterman and Leftridge. Kills by senior outside hitter Anne Makowski and Ruble put them up 20-13 and Leftridge’s kill ended the match.
“They got off to a super-fast start and we played catchup,” Fowler said. “If we don’t do that, I don’t know if we win, but it’s a different game. We have a lot of inexperience.”
The next night, the Wildcats lost 25-22, 25-18, 25-20 at Cor Jesu Academy, another Class 5 school. The Chargers were moved to District 1 while Eureka remains in District 2.
“They moved Cor Jesu out of District 2, which is cool,” Fowler said. “District 2 last year was a joke. When we got done, I was like, ‘Dude, (Lafayette) just won state!’ It’s crazy putting all of those teams in the same district. It’s awful again.”
Opening the season with a rugged tournament like the one at MICDS is just the kind of test the elder Leftridge likes to put her team through. The field encompassed 23 teams, including seven from Illinois, playing in five pools.
“It was great seeing teams we don’t normally play,” Leftridge said. “We got a sneak peek at Nerinx Hall, who we play later this season. It was good to play those Illinois powerhouses.”
One night after beating Eureka, St. Pius improved to 7-1 with a straight-set win at Lutheran South (25-8, 25-12, 25-23).
With their state title run in Class 4 last year, Incarnate Word has been moved up to Class 5. Count Raterman among those who wish they had stayed where they were.
“I really enjoyed going head-to-head with them,” she said. “They’re a very good team and they gave us a lot of solid competition. I think they’ll do very well in Class 5. We had an opportunity against them last year but couldn’t pull through. I think we could this year.”