The Eureka football team has said bye to the bye week.
A 9-0 record and top seeding earned the Wildcats a week to rest and refit before the Class 5 District 2 tournament continues Friday with Eureka hosting No. 4 seed Washington (7-3) in the semifinals. The Blue Jays beat No. 5 Parkway West (5-5) 35-25 last week in the opening round. The Wildcats are the defending district champs; they lost in the state quarterfinals last year to Cape Girardeau Central.
Eureka head coach Jake Sumner said the team’s focus last week was simple.
“Stay sharp,” he said. “Continue to get better every practice. The thing about this team is we’ve challenged them to get better and they have all year.”
In their regular-season finale Oct. 25, the Wildcats crushed Pattonville 63-28 and junior running back Trevor Codak had the best game of his career with 321 yards rushing and five touchdowns. Codak’s first TD covered 88 yards.
After Pattonville scored less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Wildcat senior Larry Reed ran back the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to tie a bow around the victory. Not to be overlooked was the work of the defense, which generated an interception, two fumble recoveries and four quarterback sacks. Senior linebacker Jack McMillen led the defense with eight tackles.
“The offensive guys have numbers to stand on,” Sumner said. “Our defense is giving up unbelievable numbers. They’re students of the game and focused.”
While the mammoth offensive line deservedly received its share of attention at the beginning of the season, Sumner pointed out the defensive line has led a unit that posted back-to-back shutouts and allows fewer than 10 points per game. Sophomore Noah McCollum (6-4, 230) and seniors Jaeger Funk (6-3, 250) and Blake Ashby (6-2, 235) spearhead the defensive front that’s logged 27 sacks. McCollum leads the team with eight.
“(Those) three special players have elevated their game and have played with a motor that’s elevated everyone around them,” Sumner said.
Defensive pressure also has produced its share of points. Eureka has scored four safeties this season, including one in each of the first three games against Francis Howell, Marquette and Hazelwood Central. The fourth was in a 36-7 win over Rockwood Summit.
“The cool part of this team, whether it’s special teams putting (opponents) inside their red zone, all those combinations of things have led to those (safeties),” Sumner said.
The Wildcat offense, meanwhile, didn’t lose steam after senior starting quarterback Casey Hobelmann was injured in the 30-15 win over Lafayette. Junior Patrick Hutchcraft stepped in and guided them to 110 points in the next two games.
“We’ve been really pleased with every position group that has progressed and challenged themselves to get better,” Sumner said. “We’ve had some tight games. We’ve scrapped all year. The scores might not reflect that. There’s been some four-quarter battles. Our kids have done a good job.”
The last time Eureka played Washington was in 2011. Blue Jay quarterback Ryan Kassebaum rushed for three touchdowns and passed for another in last week’s win over Parkway West.
“They’re a very well-coached team,” Sumner said. “They’re on a good (six-game) win streak. They’ve been building all season and have some very talented players on both sides. They want to see where they stand.
“We’re proud of our kids and it’s a great group of young men. We’ll have some great moments together again.”
Second-seeded Lafayette (9-1) and No. 3 Summit (8-2) meet in the other district semifinal. In Eureka’s win over Lafayette, Reed had a 79-yard kickoff return and Codak rushed for 236 yards. Lancer QB Jack Behl completed 26 passes for 270 yards and two TDs, but the Lancers were one-dimensional with just 14 yards on the ground.
Eureka is ranked No. 4 in Class 5 by MaxPreps, behind defending state champion Cardinal Ritter (7-1), Carthage (8-1) and Platte County (9-0).
Eureka girls win district cross country title
The Eureka girls cross country team won the Class 5 District 1 meet Saturday at the Osage Center in Cape Girardeau, scoring 66 points to easily outrun St. Joseph’s Academy (100), Kirkwood (100) and Lafayette (105). It’s the first district title for the Wildcats since 2019.
Those four schools and the top 30 individuals advance to the state meet Friday at Gans Creek in Columbia.
Eureka has won 10 state trophies in girls cross country, most recently for third place in Class 4 in 2019, but still seeks its first state championship.
“When the summer started, we saw what we had and this (winning district) was a goal we set quickly,” Eureka girls head coach Darrell Lewis said. “It’s a combination of different things. We had some experience and good freshmen coming in. We had some girls with a good work ethic that got results.”
The five scoring Wildcats fit into the top 24. Marquette senior Maleah Eggers won on the five-kilometer (3.1-mile) course in 18:26.40. Like she has done all year, senior Daphne Bishop was the first Wildcat across the finish line, coming in third in 18:40.80. Bishop placed 36th at state last year and has cut 45 seconds off her state time. The district race was her second-fastest performance this year.
“Our plan going in was for her to sit with the leaders and try to run away from them until the last kilometer,” Lewis said. “Overall she had a great race. We would love for her to be in the top five (at state). If you look at the best times of the year, she’s around the top 10.”
Wildcat freshman Madison Schepis placed ninth at the district meet in 19:34. She was followed by sophomore Sofia Hoerchler (11th, 19:35), freshman Claire McKinnon (19th, 19:55), senior Olivia Pearce (24th, 20:13), junior Abigail Smith (26th, 20:15.10) and junior Haley Meek (40th, 21:08.90).
“We’ve done a lot of pack running, but this didn’t play out that way,” Lewis said. “We had a decent gap between our third runner and the rest,” Lewis said.
Lewis said the Osage Center course was similar to the course they compete on at the Stan Nelson Invitational in House Springs.
“Back in the woods they had short, steep hills to knock you out of your rhythm,” he said.
Lewis said the plan this week is to try to stay sharp but rest his runners’ legs as much as possible. The Class 5 girls are the first state race of the day at 9 a.m.
“Watching that (district) race was fun,” Lewis said. “Getting to state is always the goal. We want to come home with a trophy. So many things have to go right.”
On the boys side, St. Louis University High showed how strong a state contender it is, winning the district with a crisp 31 points. The Junior Billikins were third in the state a year ago. Eureka squeaked through as the fourth and final state-qualifying team with 110 points, just behind Kirkwood (84) and Lafayette (103).
Kirkwood senior Graham Stevener, a converted soccer player, won in 15:27. Senior Logan Ghormley, the No. 1 Wildcat all season, was their top finisher again, placing 10th in 16:27.40.
“There were some awfully big performances for Logan to be top 10,” Eureka boys head coach Brad DeMattei said. “To be in the top four (teams) at districts, you have to run well. We wanted to get out fairly aggressively to get in front of the traffic early and hold our positioning. The guys put themselves into competitive positions and fought to hold those spots.”
Eureka junior Joseph Rauls, 55th at state last year, was 17th at district in 16:35.40. A tenth of a second and one place behind him was senior Evan Wilke, followed by junior Jackson Dalton (32nd, 16:57.60), senior Kameron Griggs (33rd, 17:00.30), freshman Tyler Rauls (45th, 17:26.80) and senior Mitchell Barth (51st, 17:40.90).
“Kameron and Jackson had great races for us,” DeMattei said. “(Tyler Rauls) had a fantastic race and beat some No. 5 runners. There weren’t a whole lot of points that separated those.”
The Missouri State High School Activities Association will open the Gans Creek course today (Thursday) so teams can preview it. Eureka already ran there this year at the Gans Creek Classic.
“They’re fairly familiar with the course,” DeMattei said. “A lot of our guys have raced well there in the past.”
Softball season ends at hands of state champions
No school has scuttled the postseason aspirations of Eureka sports teams more than its fierce rival to the north on Hwy. 109 – Lafayette.
It happened again Oct. 19 as the Lancers blanked the Wildcats 10-0 in the Class 5 District 2 semifinals, ending Eureka’s season at 13-13. It’s the Wildcats’ first non-winning campaign in more than 25 years.
Lafayette went on to win the district, advance to the final four and capture the state championship, shutting out Rock Bridge of Columbia 3-0 Nov. 1. Lafayette has nine state crowns in softball, one more than its juggernaut girls volleyball program. Eureka has six state trophies in softball, the most recent for fourth place in 2014, but has yet to win state.
“(Lafayette) is a buzz saw,” Eureka head coach Mark Mosley said. “Our district has always been the second-toughest in the state. A lot of state champions have come from our district. Anytime you have (Lancer pitcher) Abby Carr in the circle, you don’t have to score a ton of runs and be perfect defensively.
“Usually when the season wraps up, I think about what I or the team could have done differently and so I’ve gone through that and am excited about next year, (when) we can make some positive things happen.”
Three Wildcats were named to the Suburban Conference Yellow pool first team: sophomore pitcher Chrystal Hall, junior utility Haley Deakin and senior infielder Lily Delmain.
After a year as understudy to 2024 graduate Kate Proffitt in the circle, Hall emerged as Eureka’s No. 1 pitcher, throwing more than half the team’s innings (97 2/3). She led the Wildcats with nine wins and had an earned run average of 2.37, the lowest in the conference. She averaged almost a strikeout per inning.
“I was proud of how hard she fought all season,” Mosley said. “It’s hard for people to remember she’s a sophomore because she’s taller. She had to shoulder the load as the ace. I really love our chances with her in the circle. She learned a lot from Kate and this year we threw her into the fire and she did a good job of working through adversity.”
Deakin perfectly fit the utility role, playing in the outfield, catching and bolstering the lineup as the designated player. At the plate, she was among the team leaders in batting average (.373), doubles (eight) and runs batted in (13).
“She floated up to the varsity last year for some innings,” Mosley said. “She did such a great job, by the end of the season we were comfortable letting her call games. She was a key for us in the middle of the lineup.”
Delmain started at second base and was the team’s leading hitter with a .500 average in 100 plate appearances. She stroked 15 extra base hits, including 11 doubles, and led the team with 19 RBIs.
“Lily’s biggest attribute was her bat,” Mosley said. “She fanned (only) four times. She had an incredible season in the batter’s box. We had to determine what the team needed and she did such a great job leading the offense. Our biggest challenge was to figure out who to bat in front of her so she had runners on.”
All three of Eureka’s all-conference second-team players could return in 2025 – juniors Gracie Mazzola and Addison Schneider and sophomore Kaylee Niles.
Mazzola is one of the best defensive shortstops in the St. Louis area. She and Delmain barricaded the middle infield, allowing Hall to pitch to contact. Mazzola hit .342 and had eight extra base hits.
Schneider’s highlights at the plate included two doubles against Columbia Hickman and a three-for-three day against Rolla in the Wildcats’ 12-0 first-round district win. Niles hit .359 with eight doubles, four triples and 12 stolen bases.
Senior Heidi Daffron received the team’s sportsmanship award. She was a two-year starter in the outfield and ranked among the team leaders with seven doubles and 16 RBIs.
CBC has upper hand this time
Chrisitan Brothers College and Eureka have become well acquainted on the soccer field the last three years.
Each of the four games in that span were decided by one goal. The Wildcats took the first two by the same score of 1-0, but the Cadets evened the budding rivalry at 2-2 with a pair of 2-1 decisions this season. The latter came Nov. 2 in the Class 4 District 2 tournament at Chaminade College Prep in Creve Coeur as the No. 2-seeded Cadets eliminated the No. 7 Wildcats, ending their season at 5-12-1. That’s the fewest wins for Eureka since 2020, when the Wildcats finished 5-9.
CBC improved to 13-11 and faces third-seed Lafayette (12-8) in the semifinals Saturday. Top-seeded De Smet (17-3-1) meets the host Red Devils (10-9-4), the fourth seed, in the other semifinal.
In the district meeting, Eureka led CBC 1-0 at halftime on a goal by Charlie Zoeller, assisted by Matthew Speruzza. Adam Nicoletti tied the game seven minutes into the second half and Nolan Burcke scored the game-winning goal with 40 seconds left in the first overtime. Eureka goalie Ryan Rose made eight saves. It was his final match as a Wildcat, along with the team’s other seniors: Logan Basler, Luke Bennett, Andrew Facenda, Jackson Forth, Kyle Rehg, Lucas Valenti and Owen Winslett.
In its six-game losing streak at the end of the season, Eureka scored only three goals. Rose kept the Wildcats in games with his steady play, finishing with five shutouts, a 1.57 goals-against average and 74 saves. Junior Landon Flaherty saw spot duty in goal as Rose’s backup.
Rehg, a forward and four-year starter, led the team with 14 points on six goals and two assists. He tallied 25 goals in his career, including two three-goal hat tricks.
The high point of the Wildcat season was winning back-to-back 1-0 shutouts in Suburban Conference Yellow pool games against Kirkwood and Lafayette in September.
Girls volleyball falls in final
Lafayette ended the Eureka girls volleyball season Oct. 29, beating the Wildcats 25-12, 25-7, 26-28, 25-13 in the Class 5 District 2 championship at Lafayette. Eureka, seeded second, finished the season 22-15.
The Lancers (30-5) were the district top seed and after sweeping Jackson (33-7) in three sets in the quarterfinals Nov. 2, played Liberty (28-6) on Wednesday in the semifinals in Cape Girardeau, after the Leader deadline. Lafayette is going after its third straight state title and ninth overall. Eureka’s only appearance in the final four was in 2018 when the Wildcats won the Class 4 state crown.
Eureka began this season with a four-set loss to St. Pius X of Festus, which made the Class 4 final four. The Wildcats reached the finals in tournaments in Oakville and Ozark. Against another private school power, St. Dominic from O’Fallon, Eureka won in four sets.
Senior outside hitter Jenna Cubbage capped a stellar career with a team-high 14 kills in the loss to Lafayette. In her four years of varsity play, the Wichita State recruit recorded more than 1,000 kills, including 500 this season.
In Eureka’s 6-2 offense, junior setter Audrey Hackney had a team-high 476 assists.
Eureka’s other seniors were libero Harper Highfill, a Southeast Missouri State recruit, and setter Reece Williams.