Now that the higher seeds in the district football tournaments have enjoyed their week off, we can get down to the nitty-gritty of survival of the fittest.
Through 10 weeks of Friday night football coverage, I haven’t been cold yet. That’s going to change soon. I’m hoping for a repeat of last November when Festus High School went to Warrenton High on a Saturday to play in a snowstorm in the Class 4 state semifinals. The Tigers beat the Warriors, there were some snow angels and we all went to Columbia the following week for the state championship game. We don’t know where this year’s snow globe game might be, or who might be playing in it, but that’s what’s going to make the next few weeks so much fun.
For week 11, let’s start with the Class 6 District 1 semifinals in Imperial between visiting Northwest High and Seckman High. Jaguar head coach Nick Baer called it the biggest game ever between the two schools mostly because they’ve never met in districts or the state playoffs before.
These two Suburban Conference (Orange pool) rivals met at Seckman in September, and the Jaguars rolled to a 49-14 victory. Seckman QB Brody Kube threw for four TD passes on his way to setting the school’s single-season record with 18. What’s impressed me about the QB1 play in the county this season is their accuracy. Kube has completed 62 percent of his passes. Lion QB Cohenn Stark has completed 65 percent, and Stark and Kube both have superior TD-to-INT ratios.
Both teams are 7-2 and having nice seasons. I give Seckman the edge simply because they’ve played in the last two district finals, are at home, and I really think they are actually eager to drive to Jackson for that experience. In the other District 1 semifinal, the undefeated Indians (9-0) are lying in wait for a good Oakville (8-2) team that held Northwest to a season-low seven points two weeks ago.
In the Class 4 District 1 semifinals at Festus High, the Tigers (7-2) and Hillsboro (5-5) meet in districts for the first time since 2023 when the Hawks finished a memorable comeback with a 29-28 victory on their way to the state championship game. No offense to North County High (5-5) or Perryville High (7-3) but I think the Hillsboro/Festus winner will not only win the district but has a good shot of a long playoff run. The Hawks and Tigers each beat the Raiders by three TDs in Mississippi Area Football Conference games. Although the Pirates didn’t play the Hawks or Tigers, their strength-of-schedule isn’t as good,
Festus beat Hillsboro 40-14 in their MAFC matchup in September behind 158 yards rushing by Leauntae Williams and 183 yards passing and four TDs by QB Parker Perry, whose passing percentage exceeds Kube’s and Stark’s. Let this sink in: Perry has completed 74 percent of 166 passes for 1,928 yards. He’s thrown for 29 TDs against one pick. One! That’s the most amazing stat of the season, I think.
It’s hard not to lean heavily on Festus beating Hillsboro, winning the district and advancing to the state semifinals if you look at the four possible teams from District 2 the Tigers could play in the quarterfinals. Warrenton (7-3) is still alive but was placed on the other side of the bracket, so any meeting with the Warriors couldn’t take place until the state final in St. Joseph. Unbeaten Kearney High (9-0) lurks at the bottom end of the Festus/Hillsboro side of the bracket as a potential semifinal opponent. If the county is to send a football team to the state final for a third straight year, it’s probably going to have to beat the Bulldogs, who’ve won five state titles, the most recent coming in 2023.
In the 10 football seasons I’ve covered in the county, this is the best Grandview High team I’ve seen. When the Eagles dropped from Class 2 to Class 1 it gave them a better chance at winning the first district championship since the early 1990s. Sure enough, Grandview is 6-3 and the No. 1 seed in District 2 and hosts Louisiana (3-7) on Friday in the semifinals. In the other District 2 semi, Crystal City (3-6) travels to Van-Far (5-4). I know it’s wishful thinking, but if the Eagles and Hornets win and play each other for a district title, the symbolism and irony is pretty significant. Both teams struggled to field enough players to safely and competitively stay at the varsity level – Grandview played a JV season in 2017 and Crystal left the I-55 Conference to play an independent schedule to be more competitive.
On the surface, it looks like St. Pius X (5-5) has muddled along through its season, starting 0-3, then losing two in a row late in the season. But by the time the Lancers host St. Vincent (7-3) in the Class 2 District 1 semifinals Friday, I hope the team that head coach Frank Ray has been describing to me, and the players I’ve been writing about setting school records send the Indians packing back to Perryville. This might be the most entertaining game of week 11. The two teams were bitter rivals in the I-55 and St. Vincent won the last two meetings (2022-2023) before St. Pius was voted out of the conference.
Herculaneum (6-4) and Fox (3-7) have very tough road assignments if they’re to keep their seasons alive. Speaking of former I-55 foes, the Blackcats travel to Ste. Genevieve to play unbeaten Valle Catholic (9-0), winners of 15 state crowns. I find it interesting that the only I-55 game the Warriors ever lost was to Herky, but that was way back in 2012. The best chance the Blackcats have is to feed senior RB Clark Struckhoff and control the ball. Even more curious is the fact that St. Pius just went to Valle and outgained them in yardage and some might say outplayed them in a 14-7 Warrior win. Food for thought.
Fox is at Farmington High (7-2), the top seed in Class 5 District 2. The Warriors are dangerous here if their senior RB DJ Cox breaks off a few long TD runs. Fox is used to playing Class 6 competition so the game is more even than you might think. Still, winning on the Knights field is never easy. Festus needed a last-minute TD pass from Perry to beat visiting Farmington 41-36 Oct. 17.
This promises to be quite a week for the Leader sports department. To go along with district football, the St. Pius X volleyball team is headed to St. Joseph to defend its Class 4 state title. And Friday at Gans Creek in Columbia could be memorable with the Festus and Herculaneum boys and girls and Jefferson boys, not to mention several individual runners, serious state championship candidates.