Both head coaches compared Friday’s season-opening Seckman vs. Valle Catholic football game to a heavyweight fight.
But according to the Missouri State High School Activities Association, the Jaguars were the only heavyweight on the field in Ste. Genevieve, tagged with their new Class 6 designation. Valle, a Class 1-sized school (2021 enrollment: 104) continues to fight well above its weight in Class 3, thanks to MSHSAA’s complicated competitive-balance formula.
What state administrators can’t measure is the talent at each school. Seckman head coach Nick Baer wryly noted the week before the game that his squad has as many players as Valle has students. But the Jaguars have zero state championships (in any sport, not just football) while Valle has 15 in football, second only to Webb City’s 16.
When the combatants went into the locker room at halftime tied 21-21, it was apparent that class size didn’t matter because both teams are well stocked with superb players. The Jaguars held a two-possession lead at 36-27 in the third quarter, whereupon they learned the two most important requirements for beating the Warriors on their home field.
One, don’t take your foot off the gas pedal.
Two, don’t turn the ball over.
Driving for a seeming lockdown touchdown late in the third quarter, Seckman botched a handoff and the Warriors pounced on the fumble like fresh meat. They quickly scored to close the gap to 36-33 and then rode that surge of momentum to 34 unanswered points in the final period for a 61-36 victory.
“We made too many mistakes to beat a really good football team,” said Baer, who guided the Jaguars to a school-record nine wins a year ago. “And that’s what they are. We’re up by nine points, going in to score, and that’s when we have to protect the football. We have to bury a good football team and we didn’t.
“We knew it was going to be a heavyweight fight. And I love how we responded in the second and third quarter. But we ran out of steam, plain and simple.”
The heat became a factor in the second half when both teams had players cramp up and miss time. Seckman senior quarterback Cole Ruble scorched the Warriors for four touchdowns and 277 yards rushing but couldn’t break free to sustain a drive once the hosts took command.
Valle head coach Judd Naeger kept the boxing analogy going in his post-game analysis.
“I’m so proud of my kids because we had an eight- or nine-count there when they were going in to score, then we got the turnover to turn the tide,” Naeger said. “We finished with more of our players on the field than them. We had a bunch of guys cramping come back. We had a lot of guys playing both ways.”
Not to be outdone by Ruble, Valle senior QB Chase Fallert uncorked five touchdown passes. His first three covered 60, 42 and 77 yards to three different receivers (Rylan Fallert, Bryce Giesler and Sam Drury), two of whom broke wide open on deep sideline routes. That put Valle up 21-7 early in the second quarter.
“We had some experienced guys making mistakes, and it’s something we’re going to have to clean up in practice,” Baer said.
Fallert “is a warrior,” Naeger said. “He’s as good as it gets playing high school football. The guys up front, we had a kid out with a concussion and we had to shuffle some things around and those guys got yards when we needed to.”
Down by two TDs, the Jaguars came to life when Ruble found senior receiver Anthony Westervelt streaking down the sideline well past the Valle coverage for an 81-yard touchdown with 8:24 left in the half. The Jags forced a punt and a little trickery helped them tie the game 21-21 when receiver Eli Wingbermuehle tossed a 13-yard TD pass to Ruble with 1:30 left.
The Warriors went three-and-out on their first series of the second half and Ruble took over, covering 67 yards on four carries, 48 on a touchdown run to make it 28-21. His scoring dash was vintage Ruble, finding a seam and exploding past lunging defenders. He has reached the end zone, usually on a dead sprint, a staggering 54 times since 2020.
“He’s a stud. You can see that before the game,” Naeger said. “He’s everything and more and we knew he was going to get his yards. We had an issue fitting the run right in the second and third quarter and we had some guys out with cramps. All he needs is a sliver and he’s gone.”
On their next possession, the Warriors converted a third-and-15 and fourth-and-goal to score on a 6-yard Chase Fallert-to-Drury connection. However, the Jags blocked the extra-point attempt to hold on to a one-point lead.
On the next play from scrimmage, Ruble rambled for an 80-yard TD and Brady Gossett’s PAT gave Seckman a 36-27 lead. Senior linebacker Hayden Gatterer intercepted Fallert at midfield to set up the Jaguars with a chance to score again. But they fumbled and Valle senior defensive lineman Jacob Calbreath recovered at his own 34-yard line.
Then the onslaught began. Within four minutes, the Jaguars went from being ahead by nine points to trailing by 11. The only positives in that stretch were stuffing a run on a two-point conversion and blocking another PAT. Ruble punted the ball into the backside of his up-back, setting up the Warriors for an easy score when Chase Fallert rushed in from a yard to give Valle a 47-36 lead with 5:13 to play.
Drury intercepted Ruble, giving the Warriors another short field at the Jaguar 25, and one play later Giesler scored. Senior lineman Tim Okenfuss capped the game’s scoring when he ran back a fumble from 20 yards with 2:17 left.
Not to be overshadowed in a 97-point game was the critical field-position advantage Valle got from junior kicker Isaac Basler, who repeatedly boomed kickoffs through the end zone for touchbacks, making the Seckman offense start at its own 20. Valle consistently worked with shorter fields than Seckman did.
“Not many can get the ball as deep as him and I think he’s got a future,” Naeger said. “If that’s what he decides to do, I think he can play on Saturdays.”
Blackcats maul Owls
Herculaneum fans got to ring the victory bell long and hard after the host Blackcats throttled Windsor 42-6 on Aug. 26. It was the second year in a row the nonconference county opponents met to kick off the season.
Herculaneum unleashed a potent air assault as quarterback Jackson Dearing and receiver Lucas Bahr connected for seven completions covering 223 yards, and four touchdowns, including a pair of 67-yard scoring strikes in the first half. Bahr, the starting quarterback to open 2021, led the Blackcats with 55 yards rushing and looked like the dual threat that head coach Blane Boss said he was capable of being. Bahr and Dearing ran for the other two Herky TDs.
Fox wins opener
Dylan Stevens made the most of his debut at quarterback for Fox on Friday as the host Warriors defeated Mehlville 26-7 in Arnold.
The senior scored twice, the second TD capping a 96-yard, 18-play drive. Kevin Nguyen also had a touchdown run for the Warriors, and Cameron Underwood found pay dirt on an explosive kickoff return.
The game was scoreless in the first quarter when Nguyen busted out for a 45-yard touchdown with 56 seconds left. With Diego Lorenzo’s point-after conversion, Fox had a 7-0 advantage. The Panthers responded with their only scoring drive of the night after Colby Bizelli recovered a Warrior fumble near midfield. Jovan Randle ran six yards for the touchdown, followed by Solomon Galbrath’s extra point, with 6:50 left before halftime.
Any momentum for the Panthers evaporated in 15 seconds. Underwood took the ensuing kickoff and 87 yards later the speedy sophomore was in the end zone. Lorenzo’s PAT attempt was blocked to leave Fox’s lead at 13-7.
“In the huddle before the kickoff, I told the guys to just pick up their blocks, and either me or the other return guy was taking it home,” Underwood said. “Once I got the kick, I just got loose and took off.”
Underwood flashed his speed a year ago, making the all-Suburban Conference Red pool at defensive back as a freshman.
“Cameron is a very gifted athlete,” Fox head coach Brent Tinker said. “He’s probably as driven as any kid we’ve had in our program in a long time. (He’s) another kid I’m proud of, who I like to call a work in progress.”
Underwood struck again just before halftime, returning a punt 20 yards to the Panther 30. After Stevens ran for seven yards, he aired the ball out to junior Kyle Gast, who took it to the 1-yard line. Stevens finished the short drive on a quarterback sneak with 3:33 left to go, putting Fox up 20-7.
Fox ate up the clock with a long third-quarter drive, with Nguyen, Ayden Smith and Dom Murray churning for yardage the whole way. On fourth down, Stevens connected with Gast for 15 yards and a first down at the Mehlville 22. Smith nearly scored from there, reaching the 1, and Stevens finished off the drive with another quarterback sneak at the 3:34 mark to make it 26-7. The point-after attempt was blocked and neither team scored in the fourth quarter.
“The key to the victory was clearly our defense,” Stevens said, trying to deflect the attention from his play. “They played outstanding and gave us a chance to win the game. But I put in a lot of work to get in this role, working really hard in practice.”
It’s the first victory for the Warriors over their northern rivals since 2019. The teams did not meet in 2020.
“We’ve got some stuff to work on,” Tinker said. “I’m super-proud of Dylan, though, because he wants to be challenged, and he’s ready. The maturity he’s already showing is unbelievable.
“That drive was huge, because we wanted to make plays, and kill time. And we were able to do that without getting in our own way.”
Nguyen led the ground game for Fox, gaining 94 yards on 10 carries, while Murray, Smith and Stevens added a combined 99 yards. Stevens completed three of five passes for 51 yards, with Gast making the three catches. Mehlville had no completions in seven attempts and Galbrath led the Panthers with 50 yards rushing.
Fox goes on the road Friday to take on Lafayette, which lost its opener to Marquette 21-14.
Other county scores: Crystal City 43, Chaffee, 0; De Soto 42, Bishop DuBourg 12; Ste. Genevieve 50, Festus 35; Hillsboro 49, Sikeston 14; Fredericktown 6, Jefferson 3; Brentwood 26, St. Pius X 16