Six weeks into the football season and Festus has a new starting quarterback.
Basketball fans at the school already know about Cole Rickermann. As a freshman for the Tigers last winter, he played guard in all 27 of the Tigers’ games and led them with 44 3-point baskets.
Now Rickermann is under center for Festus and led the Tigers to a 27-0 shutout against Windsor on Friday in their last Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division contest. Festus snapped a two-game losing streak to climb to 3-3 and finished 2-2 in the conference.
Rickermann tossed two touchdown passes, including a 10-yarder to sophomore Dalton Yates to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 2:26 left in the first quarter. Austin Coale kicked the extra point. Rickermann’s second TD pass covered 28 yards to Cole Wagner with 1:34 left in the third. For the game, Rickermann completed 11-of-17 passes for 173 yards.
“He had an incredible night for us,” Festus head coach Russ Schmidt said. “He was cool as a cucumber back there. For what we had called, he was fully involved.
“(Rickermann) was hurt all summer and didn’t attend 7-on-7s. He’s come on in practice. His work ethic is just as hard as the rest of the kids. He studies the game.”
Junior Collin Doyel had been the starting QB for Festus, but Schmidt moved Doyel into the backfield. Doyel had 45 yards of total offense and knocked down three passes playing in the defensive backfield.
The Owls have lost four straight games after starting the season 2-0. Quarterback Derek Williams missed his second straight game for Windsor after he injured his ankle in the second half against Park Hills Central on Sept. 20. Windsor head coach Alex DeMatteis confirmed Monday that Williams was out for the season.
Junior Thomas Meczkowski gave the Tigers a 13-0 lead in the first quarter when he returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown. Meczkowski had two interceptions on the night.
Following a scoreless second quarter, fullback Jack Robinson scored on a 1-yard run with 7:37 left in the third. Robinson was one of seven Tigers to carry the ball against Windsor. Injuries have allowed Schmidt to spread the ball around. Senior Justus LaBrayere got his first rushes of the season and led Festus with 45 yards.
“We’re getting thin. This is as bad as I’ve seen injuries since I’ve been head coach,” Schmidt said. “But it was Senior Night and all of them contributed to our success. Kids who haven’t caught passes, caught a pass. Justus never gets the ball and he led us in rushing and at the end of the game he had tears in his eyes.”
Festus has three nonconference games before the Class 4 District 1 playoffs begin. The Tigers wrap up the regular season at Troy Buchanan, a Class 6 school. The Trojans, who beat Festus 39-38 last season, won their first three games and have dropped their last three this season.
“We want to win a homecoming game against Borgia and have a successful night against Pacific,” Schmidt said. “We haven’t played competitive football against Borgia and this is our last shot at them in this cycle. The kids are looking forward to the competition and know what they’ve got to do to be successful. Our losses to De Soto and Hillsboro are monumental. We painted ourselves into a corner and will have to go on the road for a district game.”
Dragons close in on MAFC title
A win at Hillsboro on Friday night clinches a MAFC Red title for De Soto for the first time since the Dragons shared it with Festus in 2010. De Soto won the Class 4 District 2 championship that year and hasn’t won one since.
The Dragons (4-2) beat Fredericktown 39-28 on Friday to win their fourth straight game. De Soto has scored 77 points in the last two weeks and rolled up 277 yards rushing and 206 passing on the arm of senior quarterback Briar Fischer, who tossed touchdown passes to senior Kameren Brooks and juniors Levi Fischer and John Whited.
“One was he made a pass where everybody held their breath but he trusted his arm and threw the ball across the field to (Brooks) who was wide open in the end zone,” De Soto head coach Chris Johnson said. “Kam Brooks found a void in the end zone and made a nice catch. That was a good play by two seniors who’ve worked together quite a bit.”
Brooks produced 105 yards of offense and had an interception. Johnson said Brooks is the backup QB and could even play on the offensive line if needed. Brooks qualified for the Class 3 state wrestling championships at 160 pounds this year and plays baseball.
“Brooks is whatever we need him to be,” Johnson said. “We could throw him in at guard or tackle and he wouldn’t skip a beat. We realized as coaches to let him be him and let him help us win football games.”
Briar Fischer also gained 68 yards rushing the ball. Johnson said he was proud of Fischer’s confidence when he ran the ball.
“Early in the season. I didn’t want to see that so he wouldn’t have to take that pounding,” Johnson said. “As we get closer to the playoffs that should be a part of what we’re able to do.”
Running backs Jacob Kerbler and Dominic Punjani were both injured against Fredericktown and had to leave the game. Kerbler led the Dragons with 85 yards on 12 carries. Kerbler was running the ball in the second half when he injured his ankle. Johnson said his return is unknown, as is Punjani’s who was tackled in the fourth quarter by a horse collar and also sustained a hit to the head. Johnson isn’t sure about Punjani’s availability but he doesn’t have a concussion.
Senior defensive lineman Landon Porter recovered a fumble and junior linebacker Will Rector had two sacks and eight tackles. Rector played on the JV last year and after the first two weeks of the season Johnson thought about replacing him in the starting lineup.
“Because he looked like a JV player trying to play varsity,” Johnson said. “I challenged him by upping the competition and told him he had to start producing. He had a great game against Windsor and was our defensive MVP against North County. Every week he gets more confidence in himself. We needed Will to grow up quickly and he answered the call.”
The Hawks (2-4, 2-1) fell 42-36 to North County in Bonne Terre on Friday. De Soto beat Hillsboro 14-8 last year, breaking a decade-old losing streak. Johnson said the impact of that win was felt throughout the offseason for his team.
Seniors lead way to Seckman win at home against Oakville
Seckman football head coach Nic Baer said senior Miles McPheeters is a “doozy.”
McPheeters, a three-year starter, sure played like one in all three phases in Friday night’s 35-13 win against Oakville in Imperial.
He opened the game’s scoring by blocking a punt by the Tigers and returning it 10 yards for a touchdown. Leading 14-6 going into the third quarter, McPheeters gave the Jaguars a cushion after he caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Joe Stuckmeyer.
Seckman broke a two-game skid to improve to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the Suburban West National Division. Senior running back Luke Salsman had a career night with 215 yards rushing on 17 carries and TD runs of 72 and 20 yards. Playing in the secondary, Salsman had two interceptions and returned one of them for a 50-yard score in the fourth quarter.
Stuckmeyer completed 4-of-7 passes for 62 yards. On his TD pass to McPheeters, Stuckmeyer put the ball in a place only his receiver could get it.
“He made a couple of his best throws of the season,” Baer said.
The Jaguars offensive line opened the holes for 267 yards on the ground. Jacob Seidel, Alex Scott and Colton Critchlow were key in paving the way for Seckman’s backfield.
“(Seidel) is taking over the field like we’re looking for him to do,” Baer said.
Kaleb Niebuhr led Seckman with seven tackles and forced a fumble that Seidel recovered.
The Jaguars are at McCluer on Saturday before teeing it up to play C-6 rival Fox in Arnold on Oct. 18. The two rivals had their best teams in years in 2018 and the Warriors (4-2) trounced Seckman 49-0 in Imperial.
“Last week was the start to the second half of our season and we’ve got a lot of meaningful football to play,” Baer said.