Hillsboro has won 14 straight games against Mississippi Area Football
Conference Red Division opponents since it lost to Festus on Sept. 19, 2014.
Three straight conference titles and a second straight appearance in the Class 4 District 1 championship have set Hillsboro above the rest of the football teams, not just in its league, but also in the county.
For the second straight season, Hillsboro can boast the league’s most valuable player and coach of the year. And it’s the same two people – senior running back Micheal Keller and head coach Lee Freeman.
“Like any card player, I’m good when I’ve got good cards,” Freeman said. “I’ve got some of the best kids and assistant coaches.”
In fact, Hillsboro supplied all of the running backs for this year’s MAFC Red first team as seniors Luke Skaggs and Joe Garner (fullback) also made the cut. Garner, Keller and Skaggs each have unique talents running the ball and Freeman perplexed defenses this year by scattering the carries among them. Given the run-first offense Freeman deploys, it’s not uncommon for the Hawks to have two 1,000 yard rushers. This season, (update stats from Friday’s game).
Keller’s carries (186 in 2016, 159 this season) were down this year and that led to a drop off in rushing yards (2,016-1,522). In his four years on the varsity, Keller rushed for 4,277 yards and scored 75 touchdowns. Keller said before the season he doesn’t plan on playing football in college. However, Freeman said on Friday that Keller would entertain the right offer.
“Micheal’s a product of his talent,” Freeman said. “You can’t hide him. Teams know he’s explosive and athletic. They sit on him a little bit. We’re fortunate to have the other running backs we have to lighten that load.”
Keller plays linebacker and safety on defense and he was selected to the first team at defensive back.
“He’s consistent when it comes to tackling,” Freeman said.
Skaggs rushed for 1,047 yards and scored 12 touchdowns in 2016 and missed the 1,000-yard barrier by two yards (998) this season. Freeman called Skaggs a “throwback” player.
“He’s one of those guys who hits the pile and his feet keep moving,” Freeman said. “He’s been one of those guys who’s really come around because he’s healthy and feeling better. You can’t keep him off the field.”
Garner is a swashbuckling runner who gets down low and uses his shoulder pads to take direct hits on the Hawks’ bread-and-butter run play between the center and guard. While teams key on Keller and Skaggs, Garner moves the chains with his power inside running.
Freeman said Garner came into the season determined because he split time between the varsity and junior varsity last year during football season and then barely missed the cut for the Class 3 state wrestling tournament in February. He pounded out 933 yards and 15 TDs this fall.
“He changed his body composition and there’s not a kid who plays harder than him,” Freeman said. “We’ve changed our offensive philosophy this year to ‘five yards at a time.’ Defenses can’t forget about him back there or he’ll bust one for 25 yards.”
Seniors Zach Bodway and Josef Marschuetz are both two-way first team selections for Hillsboro.
Bodway hasn’t missed a snap in 21 games and was selected as offensive lineman and linebacker. He led the Hawks in tackles (60) this season and helped shore up a rebuilt offensive line. Freeman said he’s got a 3.7 grade-point average and has aspirations to play football in college.
“He’s not the biggest kid (5-10, 190) but he’s athletic enough to play inside linebacker,” Freeman said. “On the (offensive) line, he can get out in front of those running backs and block those linebackers. Inside the box, he works double teams and is quick enough to pick up blitzes.”
Marschuetz is a physical specimen who put an ugly injury two years ago behind him to be all-conference at tight end and defensive end. His long wingspan allows him to knock passes down at the line of scrimmage and he’s been an effective target for quarterback Tyler Isaacson on play-action passes.
“He’s a key component for us to run like we do,” Freeman said. “He can block linebackers and safeties and he does that a lot. He’s got size and physical ability you’re looking for. I think he has collegiate ability. He plays hard for us on both sides of the ball.”
Junior defensive tackle Joe Becker played his best in conference games this year and was named to the first team; he also plays guard on offense.
Senior cornerback Chase Green was lined up against the opposing teams’ best receivers all season and led the Hawks with three interceptions.
“He’s undersized but he has a vertical jump out of this world,” Freeman said. “He can match up with those 6-4 receivers and snatch the ball away from them.”
Uding first team linebacker again
Festus head coach Russ Schmidt has coached a Uding for the last eight years. Senior Logan Uding, whose older brother, Corey, was an all-conference performer for the Tigers, was selected to the first team at linebacker for the second straight season after leading the defense with 85 tackles. Uding was also the Tigers’ leading rusher (613 yards) this season.
In a season of player turmoil for Schmidt, he could always count on Uding’s calm leadership.
“He’s very athletic and kind of a rangy linebacker because he does so many things for us,” Schmidt said. “They’re a great family. The typical thing coaches look for at linebacker, Logan embodies.”
Junior Chase Rystrom earned spots on the first team on both offense and defense. Rystrom anchored the middle of the defensive line and after starting at center as a sophomore, Schmidt moved him to guard on offense this fall.
“We brought a freshman (Judson Holland) up to play center and moved Chase to guard because of his feet and he played very well,” Schmidt said. “He can be explosive and he’ll be in the weight room all offseason.
“We ask our linemen to not make a lot of tackles because they’re creating space for our linebackers. He did a good job of that this year. He made big progress for us. So he took on blockers and commanded double teams to allow our linebackers to run sideline to sideline.”
Senior Chase Cole’s importance to the Tigers this year went way beyond his talents on the gridiron. When Schmidt needed a quarterback to replace Austin Coales (who was suspended for three games due to disciplinary issues) the day before the Tigers played Hillsboro, he tapped Cole, who played quarterback, wide receiver, defensive back, punter and kicker this year.
Keller might be the MVP of the conference, but the Tigers would have been nowhere without Cole, who’s on the first team as kicker and receiver. Cole made 30 PATs and two field goals this season. He averaged 21.7 yards on his 14 receptions.
“If it’s third-and-8, he’s going to run 10 yards to make sure he gets the first down,” Schmidt said. “He’s a smart player. Chase finds the open spot in the defense and sits there and doesn’t draw attention to himself. He’s got a great double move and he creates separation from his opponent because he’s so fundamentally sound out of his break.
“We did onside kicks on purpose and we recovered two that put us in position to win. I asked him against Vashon, ‘Can you ricochet the ball off the guy in the front row?’ and he said, ‘Consider it done.’ The things he does in practice are mind-boggling.”
DeMarco was tackling machine
De Soto junior inside linebacker Dominic DeMarco made twice as many tackles (122) as he did last year and he was elevated from the all-conference second to first team this season. DeMarco was the captain of the Dragons’ defense and head coach Chris Johnson called him the “heart and soul” of the unit.
“He knew the checks and what defenses to get us in and out of,” Johnson said. “To play good defense, you need a player like him. If he played well, the team did too. Our scheme worked as long as Dom was freed up and able to run. I’m very proud of the maturity and leadership he showed. He plays with an unbelievable motor.”
Sophomore Wyatt Moser had 11 tackles for a loss and was so disruptive that Johnson started noticing that De Soto’s opponents were game-planning for him.
“We were pleasantly surprised with him, not knowing what he’d give us as a sophomore,” Johnson said. “He was double- and triple-teamed in most games. Teams started game-planning around him because he was becoming a dominant force in the middle. It’s exciting because he’s just 15 years old.”
Kickers generally aren’t known for being fast, but senior Mayson DeRousse isn’t your typical kicker. DeRousse was part of De Soto’s 4x100 relay team that finished third in Class 4 last spring. He was a unanimous choice as first-team kicker in the league last season, but made the first team at defensive back in 2017. His kicking this season earned him honorable mention.
“We don’t play a lot of teams that throw the ball looking for matchups, but we put him on their best player,” Johnson said. “He understands what it’s like to make plays on Friday nights. If he does get out of position, he has high-level speed. His ability to cover ground quickly makes him hard to beat back there.”
Senior Jordan Northcutt anchored De Soto’s offensive line, which was mostly populated by sophomores. Northcutt played guard and center and Johnson said his maturity and approach to the sport were different this year.
“He understood what he could do, and now he thought about the guys around him and tried to make them better,” Johnson said. “He was the only offensive lineman who’d taken a varsity snap for us the year before. He challenged the younger guys if he thought he needed to. He never skipped a beat, regardless where we lined him up.”
With a receiving corps last season that had Caleb Keim, Lamont Allen and Jordan Anderson, Clayton Snudden was almost an afterthought when the Dragons threw the ball. Snudden, a junior and captain of the offense, caught 13 passes for 113 yards last season, but with Keim, Allen and Anderson gone, he was the team’s go-to receiver this year and he came through with 29 receptions for 485 yards and five TDs.
“I feel bad because there were more opportunities for Clayton to make an impact, but we had different quarterbacks and a young offensive line that kept us from getting plays for him in the passing game,” Johnson said. “When we did protect well enough for him to get downfield and make a play, he made it. His understanding and IQ level of football are tremendous.”
Two Owls selected to first team
The life of a defensive tackle is often lived in obscurity. Taking on double teams to allow other defenders to make a tackle defines the success or failure of the position. Senior Jacob Vaughn (6-1, 230) was selected to the first team at defensive tackle after taking on double teams in most games.
“His motor never stops and he was one of our more consistent defensive players,” Windsor head coach Alex DeMatteis said. “We run a three front and that invites a lot of double-team opportunities.”
Windsor allowed 446 points, so senior Ethan Reisel had plenty of opportunities to return kickoffs. Reisel is a fullback who had never returned kicks before this season, but he had 37 returns for 794 yards and scored two touchdowns – a 73-yard return against Lift for Life and an 80-yarder against Festus.
“He had several returns that could have gone the distance,” DeMatteis said. “He had a long one against Perryville, but he got dropped inside the 10. What’s cool is he wasn’t tasked at doing this before. We were looking for a guy to hit the wedge. He did a fantastic job with that.
“He’s got some speed but got the touchdowns by letting things set up and hitting the wedge hard. That’s not an easy task because it can be chaotic around the wedge.”