Upon further review …
It was a record-breaking weekend for prep football teams in Jefferson County.
In a 53-0 home win over Mehlville High School on Sept. 19, Seckman junior quarterback Brody Kube passed for five touchdowns, a single-game school record. For the season, Kube has completed almost 70 percent (45-of-65) of his passes for 729 yards, 11 TDs and no interceptions.
Gone are the days when the Jaguars were a one-trick pony on offense, although I’d refer to former QB and 2,000-yard rusher Cole Ruble as a stallion. If Seckman is ever going to get past Jackson High School in the Class 6 District 1 tournament, it is going to need to fire with both barrels on offense to keep from backfiring against the Indians for a third straight year.
Imperial’s other kings of the gridiron from Windsor High School hit the road against Clayton on Sept. 19, and the Owls crushed the Greyhounds (who co-op with Brentwood High School), 66-26. Windsor rushed for 642 yards, sending me right to the Missouri State High School Activities Association website to see where that ranked all-time in state history.
According to the state’s governing body for prep sports, Lebanon holds the record for rushing yards in a single game with 715. Windsor’s total had them at fifth. My next step was to post what I found on the Leader Facebook page to give the Owls their due. I did that and took my huskies for our Sunday workout (still four miles in an hour). When I returned, I noticed Windsor AD John Crites had sent me a text with evidence that in 2016 against Cuba, Windsor rushed for 739 yards.
At first, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Brandon Fouts, 433 yards; Kael Ward, 199, and Max Wolcott, 107. Sure enough, those three totals equaled 739 yards. The next thing I did was go to the Leader archives to find further proof of what should be the new state record. Sure enough, in the Oct. 20, 2016 edition, there it was: 739 yards.
Greg Westermeyer was Windsor’s head coach that year. Westermeyer is currently the principal at Windsor Middle School. Here’s what he said nine years ago: “All of the backs ran hard when they had their opportunities. Our line has done a great job. We were taking what our opponent was giving to us. Even when we didn’t do a great job of blocking, they gained yards by breaking tackles.”
Even had I remembered that, I’m not sure if I can say it’s a record because it officially has never been submitted to MSHSAA. Here’s hoping that the situation gets rectified and the 2016 team gets its due.
I asked MSHSAA communication director Andrew Kauffman to explain how the process of being listed in the record book works. Kauffman said for regular season records a current athletic administrator (coach, AD, etc.) from the school must submit the record via their user page at mshsaa.org.
Kauffman continued: “If a coach submits the record, the AD will need to approve it before it will appear on our website. The AD will get an alert on their notification panel when they login to the MSHSAA website. From there, they can approve the new record. If the AD submits the record, another administrator that is listed for the school (not a coach) will need to approve the record. As for championship site records, those go through our office. If you have a specific championship site record, send that over to me with supporting material. We will look to confirm it.”
Someone who remembers that night with a lot more detail is Blane Boss, the head coach at Herculaneum High School. Boss was the offensive coordinator of the Owls in 2016. Keith Woodland, who is Boss’s assistant on the Blackcats, was the offensive line coach for Windsor that year.
“Fouts was a heck of a player that year,” said Boss, who rushed for 508 yards against Hillsboro High School in 2003, which briefly stood as a state record.
“Kael Ward was our QB. We ran a lot of option, and he was a big kid and very good at running it. Those two always took over. We had a pretty darn good offense, but didn’t have the defense to match it. Max Wolcott had good vision and played behind Fouts. We also had a very good tight end, Jake Baker.”
Boss still ranks fifth all-time for rushing yards in a game. Polo’s Gunnar Martin holds the record with 559 yards, set in 2015.
“I always hate being asked about that game because I had two fumbles, too,” Boss said. “One was on me. I fumbled on the goal line. As a player, that’s hard work and love of a game and wanting to be the best you can. Coaching, I have kids that felt the same way and they put in work in the weight room.”
Adam Graves is 13th all-time on the rushing list, having gained 445 yards for Jefferson against St. Vincent in 2015.
The Blue Jays were the other team in the county to score more than 60 points last week. Cuba again was the victim in a 64-16 Jefferson victory.
Overall, it was a good week for the 12 county football teams, who combined were 10-2. St. Pius X got its first win of the season with a 42-0 road shutout over Roosevelt High School. Crystal City High School won for the first time under new head coach Craig Collins with a 42-16 victory over Confluence High School. Running back Ricardo Pastrana had three TDs for the Hornets. And Grandview High School improved to 3-1 under its new head coach Cory Hanger with a rousing 46-38 win in overtime against The Principia, a private school from St. Louis County.
The great part is, there’s still five games to go before districts. You never know what team or player is going to etch their names in the state’s record books. Stay tuned.