Out are the Valle Catholic Warriors, perennial conference champions, who seek equilibrium after getting shoved up from the state’s Class 1 to Class 3. In are the Perryville Pirates, a Class 4 school looking for a friendlier competitive position. Five of the original I-55 schools – Grandview, Herculaneum, Jefferson, St. Pius X and St. Vincent – voted unanimously to add Perryville to the conference starting in 2022-2023.
Valle, a school in Ste. Genevieve, did not vote because it is leaving the conference after winning eight consecutive league championships (2013 through 2020) and going 50-1 in conference games. The Warriors are moving to the Mississippi Area Football Conference White Division with Park Hills Central, Fredericktown, Ste. Genevieve and Potosi – and trading places with Perryville.
The MAFC Red Division is the large-schools component of that league and has De Soto, Festus, Hillsboro, North County and Windsor, all Class 4 schools.
“We decided with getting bumped up to Class 3 it was the best move for us and the conference as well,” said Valle head coach Judd Naeger, the architect of the Warriors’ last five Class 1 state champions, including three undefeated teams. “Perryville should be a good switch for everybody.”
Success in Class 1 finally caught up with Valle after the Missouri State High School Activities Association added past playoff success in determining what class private schools would compete in. The Warriors are tied with Webb City for the most state championships in Missouri prep football with 15. Since the advent of the I-55 in 2012, Valle won Class 1 titles in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2019. But this year the Warriors were moved up to Class 3 District 2. Valle was 9-0 going into the district semifinals, but lost to St. Mary’s 55-22.
“My two biggest gripes have been (that) nobody at (MSHSAA) gave me an answer about why we bypassed Class 2,” Naeger said. “In our mind it didn’t make sense. Ultimately, if it’s about competitive balance, which is the argument the state and schools that voted made, then it should have been across the board for the private schools as well. It’s hard for us to find Class 4 and 5 schools to play us because they have nothing to gain (under the playoff points system). From our perspective there are some things that don’t make sense.”
St. Vincent is a Class 1 school while Grandview, Jefferson and St. Pius X are Class 2 schools. So unlike previous years, as a Class 3 school Valle couldn’t earn extra district points for playing I-55 teams. That hurt them at seeding time last fall when they got the No. 2 district seed behind Kennett, which loaded up its schedule with larger schools like Cape Girardeau Central (Class 4), Sikeston (Class 4) and Poplar Bluff (Class 5).
MSHSAA uses a six-year window to measure playoff success among private schools. If Valle doesn’t win a district title in the next few years, there’s a good chance it will fall back to Class 2. That means not adding more state titles – which is not what Naeger wants.
“The kids are working on changing to meet the new standard,” he said. “When the six years go away, we’ll see where we fall. If we stay in Class 3, that means we’re winning.”
Perryville straddles I-55 less than a half-hour’s drive south of Ste. Genevieve. The Pirates already are a member of the Jefferson County Activities Association, which includes many of the state-sanctioned non-football sports. So there’s already a familiarity there between the activities directors and programs. On the gridiron in 2020, Perryville competed in Class 4 District 1. The Pirates beat Herculaneum in their final game of the season before forfeiting their first-round district game against Hillsboro because of
COVID-19 concerns.
Perryville’s arrival in the I-55 Conference will further connect twin brothers Justin Dreyer, the Perryville AD, and Jason Dreyer, who holds the same position at Jefferson.
“We thought it was a good fit for us competitively,” Justin said. “We’ve struggled as a (football) program with one winning season since 1999. We thought joining the I-55 Conference would get us games that are more competitive for us.”
Perryville, St. Pius and St. Vincent are the three schools in the I-55 who also play boys soccer in the fall. That annually drains a few dozen athletes away from the football programs. Since starting boys soccer 11 years ago, the Pirates have won a Class 2 state championship (2014) and were state runners-up in 2015.
“We do have a good soccer team. We had about 35 kids go out for soccer last year,” Justin said.
Blane Boss, Perryville’s head football coach since 2017, has an 18-21 record there. He lives in Festus and makes the commute down I-55 every school day. Local fans will recall that the Windsor 2004 graduate gained 2,325 yards his senior year as an Owl running back. He’s married to Erin Boss, the girls volleyball head coach at Hillsboro.
The Pirates’ biggest rival, only a mile across town, is St. Vincent. Now that the two schools are in the same conference in football as well as the other sports, it only heightens the importance of each meeting on the gridiron. The Indians beat Perryville 21-7 last season, their third straight win over the Pirates.
“Being this close, you get to know their players and what they like to do,” Boss said. “Before COVID, when we played St. Vincent, it’s an overflow crowd. It’s similar to Valle (playing against) Ste. Genevieve. (The Indians) have been tough on us the past couple of years.”
Jefferson just completed the most successful football season in school history. The Blue Jays captivated the county by advancing to the Class 2 semifinals at Lamar, where they lost 42-7 to the eventual state champions (Lamar’s eighth title). During the regular season, Jefferson emerged from two weeks of coronavirus quarantine to face Valle and lose 47-13, an almost identical score from the year before.
Alex Rouggly has always enthusiastically met the challenge of playing the Warriors in his six years as Jefferson’s head coach.
“They made us better as a program,” Rouggly said. “I don’t know if there’s a close game they’ve played within our conference. At some point you’ve got to ask if this is benefiting everybody.”
Based on the last few seasons, with Valle gone, Jefferson and St. Pius look to challenge for the league title. Crystal City dropped out of the conference after the 2019 season to rebuild its program and become more competitive. Bayless, a south St. Louis County school, joined the I-55 in 2020 but didn’t play because of COVID concerns.
“In my opinion this (past season) is as good as the football’s been in our conference,” Rouggly said. “It’s a testament to the solid coaching staffs.
“I completely understand why Valle was looking for other options outside of our conference. They’re a Class 3 team now and they lost a higher (district) seed because of strength of schedule.”
Dave Dallas has been coaching football for almost four decades. He took over Grandview’s struggling program in 2017 and started a resurrection. After a JV-only season in 2017, an 0-10 varsity campaign in 2018 and two wins in 2019, Grandview had its first winning season in decades with a record of 5-4 last fall.
Dallas said he isn’t retiring anytime soon, but when he does he’ll be satisfied that the Eagles are in much better shape than when he found them.
“We want to pour a foundation so when it’s time for me to step away the success continues,” Dallas said. “You’re only as good as the athletes you have. But if you’re consistent in the way to do things, that’s what we’re looking for.”
Because of COVID concerns the Eagles didn’t play Valle last season. Dallas is an admirer of the Warriors’ tradition of success.
“Valle has had a great run and done a great job,” he said. “Now that they’re (in) Class 3, it doesn’t benefit them or our league to continue that relationship. It’s more beneficial to play larger classes. We have a respect for Valle and you want to line up and play them. Their success against the (rest of the conference) was never a deterrent.”
Last fall was a tough third season for Cody Hunter as Herculaneum’s head coach. The Blackcats were shut down for two weeks after being ordered to quarantine and finished the season 1-6. Valle beat them 67-12, the second season in a row the Warriors scored at least 60 points against Herky. Hunter isn’t one to back down from the challenge of playing a superior opponent, but he said the change in the conference will be good for all teams.
“With Valle going up two classes, they need to find better competition outside of our conference,” Hunter said. “With Valle out of there and them (historically) owning the conference, it gives other schools a chance to shake it up. Perryville is a good move all the way around. This creates good rivalries for all schools involved.”
Another change of conference affiliation was denied back in November when the superintendents of the 11 JCAA schools turned thumbs down on a bid by Northwest to join the large-schools side of the league. Northwest participates in the St. Louis Suburban Association, as do Fox and Seckman.