Crystal City won its first game in over two years on Friday.
Whatever good feelings the Hornets’ fans, players and coaches felt last weekend will be short-lived, though.
That’s because Crystal City has to make the long drive to Hayti on Friday to play in the first round of the Class 1 District 1 playoffs.
In its current format for prep football playoffs, the Missouri State High School Activities Association doesn’t do anybody any favors by sending a wobbly 1-8 team to get crushed by an undefeated powerhouse.
All Crystal City head coach Dan Fox can try to do is and prepare his team for the onslaught in the Bootheel after the Hornets won their first game of the season on Friday with a 27-20 victory against winless Grandview (0-9).
“I don’t know any 1-8 upsets that have happened in a long time,” Fox said. “Typically those games are 49- or more- to nothing. But we’ll build on this game. I want my kids to know what it’s like to be a winning program. Facing a team like Hayti will expose them to that. On the backside of that, can we stay healthy? I don’t want kids getting hurt. Basketball season’s coming around the corner and most of our kids play other sports. I want to make sure they can continue to help Crystal City athletics.”
Fox’s concerns about injuries in what on paper looks to be a one-sided affair has merit. Football isn’t a sport where you can “take it easy” on an opponent. Players get injured trying to do that.
Just what are the Hornets facing? Well, the Indians beat Charleston 70-8 on Aug. 31. The Blue Jays (8-1) are a Class 2 school and the No. 1 seed in District 1. The closest any team has gotten to beating the Indians was Caruthersville, which lost 32-6.
Fox had to move two of his best athletes from the offensive line to the backfield to generate offense this year.
“Hayti will be the best opponent we’ve seen all year,” Fox said. “They beat up on a Caruthersville team that beat Valle (Catholic) this season. The numbers aren’t in our favor, but our kids are going to fight and learn from the game and it will provide them motivation to get in the weight room in the offseason.”
All of the weight training in the world can’t diffuse this bomb of a playoff system, though.
Grandview is one season removed from competing on the junior varsity and, for its first-round foe, it’s drawn Lutheran North, which has won five state championships in its rich history.
Jefferson was the top seed in Class 2 District 1 until Friday, when Charleston beat Herculaneum 52-6. One of the criteria for district seeding is point differential. Winning by more than 13 points lifted Charleston (also the Blue Jays) over Jefferson after the Blue Jays beat St. Vincent 21-20 on Friday. The Indians could have beaten Jefferson but failed on the two-point conversion after their last touchdown.
Three teams from Jefferson County – De Soto, Festus and Hillsboro – are part of Class 4 District 1. The Hawks have played in the district championship the last two seasons and won it last year. The only change to the district this year was the most significant. Perryville was replaced by West Plains, which at 9-0 is the top seed.
Hillsboro (4-5) hasn’t been the same after losing a boatload of talent the past two years, but the Hawks beat Farmington – their first-round opponent – 36-34 earlier this year on Hayden Voyles’ fourth-quarter touchdown.
The most intriguing matchup on Friday is between De Soto and Festus. The Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division rivals will play in the Tigers’ newly remodeled stadium in what should be a very entertaining game. Head coaches Russ Schmidt (Festus) and Chris Johnson (De Soto) know each other well and Johnson is pining to break a losing streak to the Tigers that goes back two decades.
In the first meeting on Sept. 21, Festus beat De Soto 28-18. The Tigers gashed the Dragons’ formidable defensive front seven for more than 400 yards on the ground, while De Soto could only manage 18 rushing yards.
So how did the Dragons stay close? One of the best matchups this week will be De Soto senior wide receiver Clayton Snudden going up against Festus senior defensive back Jaylan Watson. Both players were just selected to the all-MAFC Red first team at their positions.
Snudden doesn’t have blazing speed, but he’s quarterback Briar Fischer’s favorite target and has caught a team-high 53 passes for 902 yards and seven touchdowns. Fischer’s having a great season too, completing 54 percent of his passes for 1,953 yards and 16 TDs.
Watson is just 5-5, but he has coverage skills most players lack at his level. At the coaches’ meeting to select the all-conference teams, Johnson said he voted for Watson to be on the first team based on his performance against Snudden.
“They have five or six explosive kids who can score from anywhere if you miss a tackle,” Johnson said. “We have to match their physical play up front. This is a chance to end that stupid streak. What a way to end that to beat them at Festus. If we play the way we can and don’t make mistakes, we think we can play as well as anybody.”
One of the things Johnson did this year to improve his team’s viability for districts was to drop DuBourg from the schedule and add Mehlville. The Cavaliers are a Class 4 team with a 3-6 record, while the Panthers are 7-2 and the No. 1 seed in their Class 5 district.
“As a program we want to be at the top of our district and host playoff games,” Johnson said. “You can’t do that by scheduling lesser opponents. We’re picking up Poplar Bluff next year. You see a lot of Class 4 schools trying to pick up higher classes. I’m relatively comfortable with (the current format).”
The other county matchup in the district playoffs is Seckman at Fox on Nov. 2 in the Class 5 District 1 tournament. The Warriors (No. 2) and Jaguars (No. 3) received byes this week in the five-team district, where unbeaten Jackson (9-0) is the top seed.
Fox (8-1) closed out the season with a 49-0 win over Seckman (6-3) and a 49-7 victory over Northwest (5-4) to capture its third straight Suburban West Conference National Division title.