The coaches in the Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division made the correct (and obvious) decision in selecting Hillsboro senior Austin Romaine as the league’s most valuable player.
He’s just one of those athletes you watch, and say to yourself, “Yeah, he’s the best player on the field. He’s what a football player looks like.”
Division I collegiate football players coming out of the MAFC Red are rare, but Romaine qualifies. He’s committed to play at Kansas State University next year. The Wildcats improved to 9-3 Saturday and are ranked 13th in the latest Associated Press national rankings. Romaine hopes to compete for a spot at linebacker.
What set Romaine apart from North County senior running back Jobe Smith, the other player in the conference with a shot at MVP?
It was a hard decision. Both were first-team linebackers. Romaine registered 117 tackles, seven sacks and two fumble recoveries. Smith had far fewer tackles, but he recovered a fumble and had five interceptions, one for a touchdown. Romaine is a fierce tackler with the speed to range from sideline to sideline, stuffing ballcarriers in their tracks and sometimes separating them from the ball. Smith has superb catchup speed and a nose for the ball as well.
Separating the two as running backs seems impossible because both were first-team quality. Smith rushed for 1,666 yards and 26 touchdowns, while Romaine averaged 12.3 yards per carry and led the Hawks with 1,171 yards on the ground. He finished with 3,289 career rushing yards.
In head-to-head meetings between Hillsboro and North County the past two years, the Hawks were 2-1. The Raiders’ one win gave them a district title, launching them to the state semifinals in 2021. Both players performed at their best when playing each other.
“(Romaine’s) ability on both sides of the ball was a difference-maker,” said Hillsboro head coach Bill Sucharski, who led the Hawks to a record of 10-2 and was named the conference coach of the year. “Austin was just as talented on offense as he was on defense. Credit him for the work he’s put in to be a really good football player.
“I’m really happy for him and he’s left a legacy in our program as a great player. We wish we could have gone on (in the playoffs) but we’re excited for the career he’s had.”
Hillsboro beat Farmington and Festus to win the Class 4 District 1 title, the first for Romaine. With a hawk circling over the stadium, seemingly a good omen, Hillsboro led host St. Mary’s 20-14 at halftime of the state quarterfinals. Leader photographer Ron Rigdon snapped a photo of the raptor.
By the time the Dragons ran off with a 55-34 victory, I was scanning the horizon for a fire-breathing lizard. The Hawks self-destructed with second-half turnovers. St. Mary’s followed the same formula again Saturday, trailing early before overcoming Smithville 37-23 in the semifinals. The Dragons will face St. Dominic of St. Charles County Friday in the all-Catholic Class 4 championship game at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The Dragons won the Class 3 title last year; this is the Crusaders’ first trip to a state final.
Another St. Charles County team also is vying for state glory – Francis Howell in Class 5. If the Vikings (13-0) knock off Fort Osage (11-2) on Friday in Columbia, it will be their first-ever state championship and only the third ever won by a St. Charles County school (St. Charles High in 1982 and Lutheran-St. Charles last year).
Back to Hillsboro. The Hawks had multiple valuable players, but to me, Romaine and fellow senior Jaxin Patterson were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, weight-room junkies and four-year varsity starters leading their team to 28 victories in 44 games. It’s unlikely the Hawks have such consistent excellence in the last two years if one of them is removed from the equation.
You can’t use stats to separate that pair from Smith, either. Patterson’s rushing totals dipped from 1,449 yards in 2021 to 1,081 this year, but his yards-per-carry increased (7.9 to 8.3) and he finished with 5,141 for his career. Smith ran 184 times, more than nine yards per clip, and was even more productive last year, amassing 1,928 yards on 192 carries, almost exactly 10 yards per attempt.
It’s hard for anyone to match Romaine on the defensive side, but Patterson had 62 tackles, 16 for a loss. Patterson and Hillsboro junior Payton Brown were first-team all-conference linebackers.
The Hawks, winners of the last two MAFC Red titles, not surprisingly had the most first-team players (eight) on both sides of the ball. Seniors Alex Medina (line) and Harrison Voyles (back) made the first-team defense, and juniors Wyatt Yaeger and Barrett Silhavy were named to the first-team offensive line. Senior Blake Larson, the top kick-returner for the Hawks, scored touchdowns on a punt and kickoff return and was a first-team special teams selection.
“It’s a team that elevated our program and set the mark for future players to replicate,” Sucharski said. “Our goal every year is to compete for a conference and district championship. Once you win district, it’s down to eight teams and if you play well, you give yourselves a shot.”