Eight weeks down, one to go before the district tournaments begin around the state.
Football teams will try to squeeze out one more win to better position themselves for the district playoffs. The Missouri State High School Activities Association seeds teams in Classes 1-6 based on wins and losses, playing up or down a class, strength of schedule and plus-minus outcomes of each game played.
The complicated formula rewards teams for winning by at least 13 points and encourages coaches to strengthen their schedules.
After eight weeks, Jefferson is the only team in the county seeded first in its district. The Blue Jays are one of three teams in Class 2 District 1 with a 7-1 record. Jefferson is the No. 1 seed with 48.14 points. Charleston (7-1, 47.61) and St. Pius X (7-1, 44.34) are the next two seeds. Jefferson beat the Lancers 20-6 on Sept. 14.
Seemingly, all that stands in the Blue Jays’ way of earning the top seed is a win at home against I-55 Conference rival St. Vincent (3-5).
“This is where being a track coach comes in handy because you’re always breaking down numbers,” Jefferson head coach Alex Rouggly said. Rouggly coaches the school’s boys and girls track teams. “If we win by eight or more points, according to my calculations, we’ll have the No. 1 seed locked.”
In the Blue Jays’ 56-6 home win against Chaffee on Friday, senior running back Andrew Graves moved closer to etching his name in the state record books with five touchdowns. Graves has rushed for more than 5,000 yards in his illustrious career and has 105 career touchdowns.
If he scores four more TDs, Graves will move into fourth place ahead of Patrick Cashmore (St. Pius X Kansas City) and Lee Flood (Marionville). Penney’s Kellen Overstreet holds the state mark with 168.
Graves touched the ball seven times against the Red Devils and gained 130 yards. He completed a 29-yard pass to Dylan Schnitzler out of the wildcat formation. Graves has scored a TD in just about every way a person can.
Tommy Moon replaced Brandon Perry at quarterback when the Blue Jays played Valle Catholic on Sept. 28. Perry hurt his knee in pregame walkthroughs, but he’s improved enough to split time with Moon, who began the scoring against Chaffee with a 38-yard touchdown run.
“We’re going to a two-QB system now,” Rouggly said. “Brandon is darn near close to normal and he’s getting more confident on his knee. They’ve both accepted their roles.”
Not only do the Blue Jays lead the I-55 Conference in scoring with 44.8 points per game, but their defense is No. 1 too, allowing a mere eight points per contest. Against the Red Devils, linebacker Daniel McWhorter led Jefferson with 15 total tackles and defensive back Erik Eisenbeis intercepted two passes. Linebacker Dawson Jakoubek had 10 total tackles. Defensive lineman Steve Stephens recovered a fumble.
“We’ve put (Eisenbeis) on the other team’s best receiver all year and he shut down (Chaffee’s) stud wide receiver,” Rouggly said. “We’ve come a long way on the defensive side of the ball.”
Lancers host Valle for share of conference title
St. Pius X won its fourth straight game with a 46-8 victory at Crystal City in an I-55 Conference game on Friday.
With a win over visiting Valle Catholic on Friday, the Lancers would be tied with the Warriors at 5-1 in the conference. If Jefferson beats St. Vincent, the three teams would split the I-55 title. Valle has won the conference crown outright five straight years.
Seven St. Pius ball carriers combined to gain 295 yards on the ground against the winless Hornets (0-8). Senior Dustin Burch gained a team-high 129 yards on seven rushes. Burch had touchdown runs of 4 and 27 yards.
Josh Ruble scored the game’s first TD on a 50-yard pass from quarterback Dre Townsend. After Burch’s first score, all-purpose back Jalen Thornton hauled in a 26-yard scoring strike from Townsend, who connected with Thornton for an 88-yard bomb later in the first half. Thornton caught four passes for 144 yards.
Co-quarterback Carson Fischer threw a 27-yard TD to tight end Riley Naeger as the Lancers led Crystal 40-0 at the break. Jarrett Kort completed the St. Pius scoring with a 5-yard run in the third.