How SBLive’s Top 25 Missouri high school football teams fared in Week 13: Five Top-10 teams need comebacks, including top-ranked CBC

Here’s how the Top 25 Missouri high school football teams fared in Week 13 action – the first round of the state playoffs.

By Chris Geinosky

Here’s how the Top 25 Missouri high school football teams fared in Week 13 action — the first round of the state playoffs. Class 6 teams are playing in the state semifinals while Class 1 through Class 5 start with the quarterfinals.

1. Christian Brothers College (12-1) beat No. 4 Lee’s Summit North 28-21

Down 21-7 with three minutes left in the third quarter, the Cadets scored 21 unanswered points down the stretch to pull out the comeback victory. Christian Brothers actually scored three touchdowns in less than seven minutes to completely turn the game around. Gavin Conley’s 34-yard touchdown reception started the comeback, and then quarterback Patrick Heitert scored the game-tying touchdown and game-winner on a pair of 2-yard runs. Heitert, who passed for 269 yards, rushed for three scores in all, scoring on a 1-yard keeper in the second quarter.

2. Jackson (12-0) beat No. 19 Rockwood Summit 49-14

For the first time this season, Jackson trailed in a football game as Rockwood Summit scored the first 14 points of the night. However, the Indians completely took over the game from there scoring the game’s final 49 points. Quarterback Cameron Marchi had a night to remember completing 17-of-23 passes for an eye-popping 513 yards to go along with a career-high six touchdown passes, three of them to Isaiah Davis (six catches for 245 yards) and two to Kannen Turley (five receptions for 214 yards).

3. Liberty North (11-1) beat No. 14 Troy Buchanan 35-21

After surrendering an 80-yard touchdown drive on the game’s initial possession, the Eagles went on to score 28 unanswered points and cruise to the program’s first-ever state semifinal victory. Sam Van Dyne connected on 16-of-21 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns. Justis Braden hauled in a season-high eight catches for 89 yards. Cayden Arzola carried 27 times for 105 hard-earned yards and two scores. Blake Craig booted a pair of field goals in the first half that helped stake the Eagles to a 21-7 lead at half. 

4. Lee’s Summit North (11-2) lost to No. 1 Christian Brothers College 28-21

The Broncos were 15 minutes away from knocking off the No. 1 team in the state as they led 21-7. However, Christian Brothers College came storming back with three unanswered touchdowns to pull out the victory. Tanner Howes scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter – on a 14-yard pass from Tre Baker and on a 38-yard run – to turn a 7-6 halftime deficit into the two-touchdown lead. Seth Simpson booted two field goals in the first half.

5. Smithville (11-0) beat Lincoln College Prep 29-14

Trailing 14-7, the Warriors took the lead for good late in the first half when Caleb Donnell scored the first of his two rushing touchdowns on a short plunge, and then Jack Alexander hauled in a two-point conversion after a bad snap on the PAT attempt. Quarterback Andrew Hedgecorth threw for a touchdown and rushed for one. The Smithville defense forced two critical red zone turnovers in the first half and did not surrender a point after halftime.

6. Holt (12-0) beat Chaminade College Prep 31-28

Playing from behind most of the night, the Indians answered every time, capped by a wild sequence at the end of the game where they scored 11 points in the final 98 seconds to pull out the victory. Holt tied the score at 28 with 1:38 left in the game after a Kyle Wuebbeling 11-yard touchdown run and two-point pass by Cooper Brown. The Indians had one final possession, and Brayden Burthardt connected on a 29-yard game-winning field goal with 1.7 left.

7. MICDS (12-0) beat St. Dominic 22-20

For the second time this season and the fourth time in the past two, the Rams defeated St. Dominic, although this one was much closer than the other three (by 16 and 36 points last year and by a 47-13 margin a month ago). MICDS quarterback Reagan Andrew accounted for all three touchdowns, passing for two and rushing for one, but his two-point conversion run in the second quarter might have been the biggest play of the game. St. Dominic was forced to go for two after a fourth-quarter touchdown, but the Rams defense picked off the pass.

8. De Smet Jesuit (8-3) season complete

9. Hannibal (12-0) beat No. 10 West Plains 35-26

The Pirates’ high-flying offense scored a season-low 35 points, but it was enough to claim their biggest win of the season to-date. Hannibal grabbed its first lead of the night, 21-20, late in the first half and never trailed again. Courtland Watson, who set the program’s single-season passing yards record in the game, connected with Aneyas Williams for four touchdown passes, the last one a 77-yarder that sealed the win. Williams also had a six-yard touchdown run.

10. West Plains (10-2) lost to No. 9 Hannibal 35-26

After averaging more than 50 points per game over the team’s previous five games, the Zizzers mustered only half that total. West Plains actually scored 20 points (on a touchdown run from Connor Lair and two touchdown passes by Dagen Kenslow) by early in the second quarter but hit pay dirt only once more the rest of the night. The Zizzers trailed 28-26 in the third quarter, but they missed the two-point conversion and later had a field goal blocked.

11. St. Mary’s (St. Louis) (10-1) beat Park Hills Central 44-7

Despite having the ball for only six of the 24 minutes in the first half, the Dragons out-gained Central, 284-188, while averaging over 10 yards per play and led 31-0 at halftime. Star receiver Kevin Coleman scored all four touchdowns for St. Mary’s in the first half. Quarterback Caron Spann threw for 176 yards and four touchdowns in the game, and most of it went to Coleman. Central’s lone score of the game came on a defensive pick-six, preventing the shuout.

12. Carthage (10-1) season complete

13. Lamar (11-0) beat Ava 35-14

Ava, the only “local area team” to defeat Lamar in the past decade, kept the game close for a half and trailed only 21-14 at the intermission. However, after the break it was all Tigers as the defense pitched a second-half shutout highlighted by a blocked field goal that helped prevent any thoughts of a comeback. Joel Beshore’s touchdown pass to Austin Wilkerson that capped a 97-yard drive in the third quarter provided the cushion the Tigers needed to secure another trip to the state semifinals.

14. Troy Buchanan (10-3) lost to No. 3 Liberty North 35-21

Coming off the program’s first district title in 30 years since 1991, the Trojans could not carry the momentum into their first-ever state semifinal appearance. Aside from a game-opening TD drive capped by a Nick Bova 36-yard run and a pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives when they were down by 21 points on both occasions, the Trojans never crossed midfield. Quarterback Charos Sutton passed for 188 yards and one touchdown and ran for a team-high 65 yards and a score as well, but almost all of it came on three drives.

15. Lebanon (10-2) lost to No. 20 Webb City 35-13

For the second time in as many years, the Yellowjackets suffered a season-ending loss to perennial powerhouse Webb City. Trailing only 14-13 at halftime, Lebanon had no answers for the Cardinals in the second half. The Jackets’ only touchdown of the game came on a Cade Muscia 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Quinton Doughty connected on a pair of field goals to close the gap at the intermission, but Lebanon never scored again.

16. Park Hill South (11-1) season complete

17. Francis Howell (10-2) season complete

18. Joplin (10-2) season complete

19. Rockwood Summit (11-1) lost No. 2 Jackson 49-14

The Falcons’ defense had surrendered only 44 points in the first 11 games of the season, but not even they could slow down juggernaut Jackson, which has now won 26 consecutive games over the past two years and 31 straight at home over the past five seasons. Rockwood Summit looked to have those streaks in danger, opening the game with a 14-0 lead in the first quarter after two touchdown passes from Mason Brown to Drew Krobath.

20. Webb City (9-3) beat No. 15 Lebanon 35-13

By completely dominating the second half with 21-unanswered points, the Cardinals went on to punch their ticket to the state semifinals for the fifth consecutive season and the 13th time in the last 14 years. Cohl Vaden passed for 158 yards and one touchdown and also rushed for a team-high 55 yards. Dante Washington hauled in four catches for 91 yards, highlighted by a 29-yard score. Dupree Jackson rushed for a pair of touchdowns.

21. Raymore-Peculiar (8-3) season complete

22. Nixa (8-3) season complete

23. Valle Catholic (10-1) season complete

24. Helias Catholic (9-2) season complete

25. St. Pius X (Kansas City) (11-1) beat Pleasant Hill 42-13

The Warriors, who moved up to Class 3 this year, rolled to a sixth-straight victory since a mid-season loss to out-of-state St. James Academy (Kan.). Jack Mosh tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Jayshawn Ross to open the scoring, and Robbie Sharp rushed for a pair of scores as St. Pius X led 35-7 at the half. Sharp put the game away when he returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown.