Four games into its run to the Class 4 state championship game last year, Festus High School was 4-0 and outscored its opponents by an average of 39.75-10.
The Tigers lost eight starters on defense, their starting quarterback and many other key players to graduation.
Despite the turnover, four games into 2025 and there’s been negligible difference as Festus is 4-0 again after shutting out De Soto High School 33-0 on Sept. 19 at JC Culwell Stadium. Through four games, the Tigers are winning at a clip of 38.5-8.7, so the defense has actually improved by more than a point.
“We felt like after graduating a ton of people on defense that maybe we’d have to be better on offense to offset that,” Festus head coach AJ Ofodile said. “But our defense has played to the same level. Offensively, we’ve thrown the ball a little more, but we’ve been pretty consistent through four games. So there really hasn’t been a drop off and that’s exciting. Credit the character of the kids in the program. They knew what the task was, replacing some big-name kids, by becoming better themselves.”
The Tigers are 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Mississippi Area Football Conference, which they won last year. De Soto held Festus to 13 points at halftime and physically were more of a match against the Tigers than they’ve been in years. Festus upped its win streak against its MAFC neighbors to nine, including district meetings. The Dragons last beat the Tigers in 2019.
“The first half showed we weren’t backing down and we were going to play at a high level against a quality opponent,” De Soto head coach Russ Schmidt said.
One of the key pieces Festus lost on defense was leading tackler Mason Schirmer, although his brother, Aiden, a sophomore, has filled in nicely at middle linebacker.
“They’re a fundamentally sound team,” Schmidt said. “Mason Schirmer’s not there in the middle, the big hammer they’ve had the last couple of years, but they have kids that run all over the field and make plays.”
As Essien Smith’s backup, junior QB Parker Perry was able to get into several games for Festus last season because the Tigers often played with a large lead. Perry had Ofodile’s confidence last year and that’s only grown since he took over under center this season.
Perry capped a drive with a 13-yard TD run with 5:49 left in the third quarter for a 19-0 lead. Perry’s pass on the two-point conversion fell incomplete.
“We locked back in at halftime and came back firing,” Perry said. “The O-line played hard every single play.”
“We were nowhere near as efficient as we’ve been on offense,” Ofodile said. “Part of that credit is how (De Soto) played. We needed that (TD) drive big-time to give us a little breathing room. Nothing about this game was easy. We made some timely big plays in the second half to get out of here with a win.”
Since Ofodile arrived in 2020, Festus has always made its tight end more than just a glorified blocker. Ofodile played TE at the University of Missouri and the NFL. Junior TE Braydon Wilkes caught a 69-yard TD pass from Perry with 13 seconds left in the third quarter, then caught the two-point conversion pass for a 27-0 lead.
“It was a stick route that turned into a post,” Perry said.
“Parker is always going to defer credit or isn’t going to praise himself too much,” Ofodile said. “Even in a game tonight where we didn’t play the greatest, he was our steadying force, like Cole Rickermann was, where you could always count on him to be cerebral and make plays and not get rattled. You’ve got to have that in your quarterback because other guys feed off of it.”
De Soto turned the ball over on downs on its first series in the fourth quarter. Junior RB Kamden Yates finished the scoring with a 3-yard TD run with 3:04 left.
Both teams have had to replace a starting offensive lineman. Dragon junior Levi Huck switched from RB to OL after the starter transferred to Grandview. Tiger senior Karter Reece is out with an injury.
“We didn’t lose a step. We became a better team,” Schmidt said. “Levi Huck is one of the most selfless people I’ve been around in my coaching career.”
Ofodile, who replaced Schmidt as head coach at Festus, won his eighth straight against the Dragons.
“This was a game as a program we felt like we could take positive steps, a game that would be really tough at their place,” Ofodile said. “We figured they’d really be hyped up and they played us tough, were physical and bottled us up a little offensively so we weren’t all that explosive. From an assignment and technique standpoint, we took a step back.”
Schmidt said by decreasing the amount of time Festus had the ball, it increased De Soto’s chances.
“In the grand scheme of things, when you’re playing an opponent like (Festus) you’re trying to mitigate the clock,” Schmidt said. “You’re trying to control the scoreboard and games. That next step is to become better football students.”
Festus hosts Hillsboro (3-1, 1-0) on Friday in a key MAFC game. The Hawks played in the Class 4 final in 2023.
“They’re always coached well. They’re always going to be physical,” Ofodile said. “You look at how they played against North County, a couple of good football programs.”
De Soto is at Windsor High School (3-1, 0-1) in another MAFC matchup. The Owls rushed for 642 yards in a 66-26 win over Clayton on Sept. 19. It was the fifth most rushing yards in a single game in state history.