Nov 29, 2010
Prepcasts had the pleasure of covering all seven state championship football games from the Edward Jones Dome last weekend. Some of our thoughts as we munch on turkey day snacks and reminisce.
How about the Class 1 game? Yes...we're starting with a terrific 22-21 game. Valle Catholic's only loss was in mid-season to the Westran Hornets. These two evenly matched teams were very anxious for the rematch. Valle suffered a severe blow when star Luke Uding left the game early due to injury. The teams went back and forth and finally into OT. After the Hornets scored, Valle scored AND went for two and the win. The short pass worked and Valle wins the State championship. Talk about "stepping up", Alex Stoll accounted for 416 of the 419 total Warrior yards! Is that unbelievable or what? I'm wondering what would the talk be if that pass had fallen incomplete? Hope these very talented Class 1 teams are on the schedule for each other again next year!
I've always thought that the extremely talented teams in lower classifications could play at higher classes. Thank YOU Penney High for making my point! After beating Valle Catholic last year in Class 1, Penney steps up to Class 2 goes 14-0 and pulls away from a speedy, good Maplewood team 34-13. The final score, as often happens, is misleading. This was a tight ballgame until late in the game when Penney blew it open. Now I'm not proposing that all State Champions "move up" a class each year but maybe..... at least, it'd be fun to think about doing.
The "stunner" was in class 5. Webster Groves had steamrolled past all opponents in 2010. WG was the defending Class 5 Champions. They had speed and athletes to burn. Lee Summit West had tough, tight wins in quarters and semis. So....common sense pointed towards the Statesman. Well...my Dad said that I never had any common sense anyway and Lee Summit West didn't go for it. The Titans were the first team capable of blocking the WG pass rush. Given time, Luke Nott picked apart the secondary for huge chunks of yardage at a time. A missed field goal by WG seemed to change the momentum in the 2nd quarter. The Titans scored fast and furiously to break it open during that 2nd quarter and coasted to a 44-21 state title.
Class 6 was like a heavyweight championship bout. Two impenetrable defenses, strong special teams, opportunistic and occasionally explosive offenses locking horns. Hazelwood Central was the 2-time defending champion. They got on the board first using a long pass to set up the score. Rockhurst moved the ball on four long 2nd quarter drives but the half ended with them on the 1 yard line and zero points on the board. You had to wonder if they had missed their chance? The Hawklets scored 10 third quarter points and hung on as Central mounted a last gasp drive that stalled with only seconds remaining. 10-7 Rock! What a great game! Who says that the score has to be 55-51 (thank you OU & OK State) to be exciting? Hitting was ferocious on both sides. Each team had brilliant coaches on the sidelines. Tony Severino, long time Rockhurst Coach is already in the HOF. Rich Nixon has received many coaching accolades in his 3 year tenure and with a longer term at the helm will surely find his name next to Severino's some day.
Big Rallies are always exciting. Ya just don't expect 13-0 teams to blow big leads. But...they were playing another 13-0 team. And...I suppose, you don't expect a 13-0 team to be behind 17-0 ?Anyway, when John Burroughs jumped out to a 17-0 lead against Richmond in Class 3 action, many probably thought it was curtains for the Spartans. Not so ....Richmond crawled back into the game then marched down the field on the game-winning drive that ended with only a few seconds left and Richmond on top 21-20.
Easily the most impressive team was the Webb City Cardinals. The Cardinal machine rolled on all cylinders- they never punted, turned over the ball or seemingly did anything wrong as they dismantled Warrenton 56-7. The Cards were up 49-zip at half and demonstrated good sportsmanship in providing playing time for all. Meanwhile, congrats to the Warriors who have made incredible progress in the last 3 years. It wasn't that long ago that Warrenton was one of the doormats of the GAC.
It's been a great football year. Prepcasts covered 85 football games. Heck...if you miss it- go back and listen to your favorite game. Or... we start basketball and hockey action this week on www.prepcasts.com
