They took different paths to get there, but the Fox and Seckman football teams improved to 3-0 after winning at home on Thursday night.
The Warriors fell behind Rockwood Summit 13-0 in the first quarter, but Fox quarterback Gavin McGinness plunged over the goal line for a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:43 left for a 22-19 victory in the nonconference game in Arnold.
McGinness scored on another 1-yard run in the second quarter and carried the ball 20 times for 180 yards. Cole Elwood scored Fox’s other touchdown in the first quarter on an 8-yard run. Elwood intercepted two of Summit QB Tanner Nara’s passes, giving him three this season. Elwood picked off nine passes in 2017.
The Warriors travel to Mehlville (1-1) on Sept. 14.
Seckman scored on its opening possession against University City when Dylan Hawk rumbled for a 26-yard touchdown run with 9:52 left in the first. The Lions led briefly in the first quarter, but the Jaguars rolled the rest of the way to a 50-16 victory in Imperial that was played under the mercy rule in the fourth quarter.
"I’m happy for our kids, our community and our school and now we have to get ready for Northwest," Seckman head coach Doug Baker said. "Being 3-0 means we need to be 1-0 next week. That’s the base of our goal pyramid."
Hawk’s was one of three 26-yard scoring runs for Seckman; Jacob Reynolds and Joe Stuckmeyer had the other two.
Drew Campbell had a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Jaguars, who also scored on special teams when Jacob Thomas blocked Darion Reed’s punt and Miles McPheeters recovered it in the end zone with 7:14 to play before halftime. Reynolds scored a TD on the last play of the first half and the Jaguars led U. City 29-7 at the break.
Stuckmeyer replaced starting QB Seth Lounsbury in the third quarter after Lounsbury was shaken up near the Lions’ goal line on the Jaguars’ previous scoring drive. Baker said after the game Lounsbury’s health wasn’t a concern.
The Jaguars are at Northwest on Sept. 14 for a Suburban West Conference National game. The Lions (2-0) are seeking to stay undefeated when they host Riverview Gardens on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game had been originally scheduled at Riverview, but the Rams have a grass field and several inches of rain were forecast this weekend.
Here are the rest of the football games being played by county teams this weekend: (Thursday) Principia 14, Crystal City 7; (Friday) De Soto (1-1) at Windsor (0-2); North County (1-1) at Festus (1-1); Grandview (0-2) at St. Pius X (2-0); Jefferson (2-0) at Herculaneum (1-1); Farmington (2-0) at Hillsboro (1-1).