How SBLive’s Top 25 Missouri high school football teams fared in Week 14: MICDS outlasts Smithville in Class 4 semifinal; Holt holds off Fort Osage

How the Top 25 Missouri high school football teams fared in Week 14 action

By Chris Geinosky

Here’s how the Top 25 Missouri high school football teams fared in Week 14 action. It is state championship week in Class 6 and state semifinal week for Class 1 through Class 5.

1. Christian Brothers College (13-1) beat No. 3 Liberty North 48-21

In dominant fashion, the Cadets proved they are Missouri’s best high school football team this year. Christian Brothers scored the first 14 points of the game and never trailed in the MSHSAA Class 6 Show-Me Bowl. The CBC defense forced six turnovers, none bigger than a 55-yard pick-six by Justus Johnson that gave his team a 21-7 advantage midway through the second quarter. On the first play of the second half, Michael Teason’s 37-yard scoop-and-score made it 38-7. Quarterback Patrick Heitert passed for 96 yards and tossed two touchdowns to Ayden Robinson-Wayne and Dakotah Mayo and rushed for another 82 yards. Jeremiah Love rushed for 127 yards and two scores, highlighted by a 62-yard touchdown for the first points of the game.

2. Jackson (12-1) lost to No. 11 Webb City 35-21

The state’s longest win streak is over. Winners of 26 games in a row, the Indians looked primed to reach the state championship game for the third consecutive season. However, it came to a crashing halt in the Class 5 semifinals at one of the toughest places to play in the state – Webb City. Jackson dug itself a huge hole, falling behind 28-6 at halftime and by 29 points in the third quarter before putting up a couple late scores to close the gap. The Indians’ could have inched closer, but they turned the ball over on downs in Webb City territory on their final two possessions. Quarterback Cameron Marchi ran for one touchdown and threw one to Isaiah Davis as the Indians scored well below their 48-points-per-game average.

3. Liberty North (11-2) lost to No. 1 Christian Brothers College 48-21

Turnovers. One word can sum up the Eagles’ loss in the state title game. Liberty North committed six of them on the day (three interceptions and three fumbles), which nearly matched the team’s total (seven) in the first 12 games of the season. Those turnovers led to 31 points for Christian Brothers. Aside from the offensive miscues, Liberty North nearly matched CBC across the board on the final stats. Cayden Arzola rushed 24 times for 150 yards and a touchdown, but his fumble on the first play of the second half cost his team seven points. Quarterback Sam Van Dyne had a rough day, completing only 5-of-19 passes for 105 yards, one touchdown to Freddie Lavan and three interceptions and also losing a pair of fumbles.

4. Lee’s Summit North (11-2) season complete

5. Smithville (12-0) beat No. 7 MICDS 40-36

Down by 16 in the fourth quarter, the Warriors pulled off a crazy comeback victory, scoring 20 unanswered points in the game’s final eight minutes to earn a berth in the Class 4 State Championship Game. Sam Calvert played the role of hero by catching two touchdown passes from Andrew Hedgecorth – a 6-yarder to make it 36-26 with 8:04 to go and the 35-yard game winner on 4th-and-7 with 1:11 left. Calvert also grabbed a game-clinching interception when MICDS attempted a last-minute drive.

6. Holt (13-0) beat No. 25 Fort Osage 31-14

In an East vs. West battle of Indians, Holt led from start to finish to punch its ticket to the state championship game for the first time in program history. The St. Louis-area Indians scored the first 14 points of the game, highlighted by a blocked punt that was recovered for a touchdown, and led 17-7 at halftime. A 95-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Owen Merrell staked Holt to a 24-14 lead with 7:46 left in the game. Running back Kyle Wuebbeling scored twice, a 12-yarder to open the scoring and a 68-yarder to close it out.

7. MICDS (12-1) lost to No. 5 Smithville 40-36

No team had scored more than 14 points against the Smithville defense all season – until the Rams put 36 on the board in the first three quarters of the Class 4 semifinal. But the last quarter was a different story. MICDS punted on three straight drives (the offense’s only punts of the day), which opened the door for the Warriors’ wild rally. Reagan Andrew did his part early by accounting for five touchdowns, three on short scoring runs (1, 2 and 1 yards) and passing for two others.

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

9. Hannibal (13-0) beat North County 42-26

After a slow start in the Class 4 semifinals, the Pirates’ offense came alive – thanks to the efforts of running back Aneyas Williams. One of the most explosive players in the state, Williams racked up five touchdowns for Hannibal, two on rushes and three on pass receptions. His 32-yard TD run gave the Pirates their first lead of the game, 21-14, midway through the second quarter, and he busted loose for a 53-yard score on a screen pass to make it 28-14. North County chipped away to close within 28-26 late in the third quarter, but Williams answered with two more scores, the last one coming on a 70-yard run to close out the game with under three minutes to go.

10. St. Mary’s (St. Louis) (11-1) beat Mexico 62-16

Baseball players can hit for the cycle. Apparently, Kevin Coleman wanted to prove he could do it on the football field. Coleman, the Dragons’ stud receiver, scored four touchdowns on four different types of electric plays – 44-yard run, 48-yard punt return, 73-pass reception and 89-yard kickoff return – in the Class 3 semifinals. Jamal Roberts carried for 170 yards and scored a pair of rushing touchdowns, highlighted by a 93-yard burst on the first offensive play of the game for St. Mary’s. Chase Hendricks hauled in two touchdown receptions as well. The Dragons outgained Mexico 386-45 in the first half, opening a 48-0 lead.

11. Webb City (10-3) beat No. 2 Jackson 35-21

Considered big underdogs by most against the reigning Class 5 state champions, the Cardinals pulled off the biggest playoff shocker of the weekend. Webb City asserted itself from the start, scoring on its first four possessions of the game to open a stunning 28-6 lead by halftime. After the Cardinals scored on their opening possession of the second half, Jackson trailed 35-6. Webb City piled up 392 yards of total offense, 264 on the ground 

12. Carthage (10-1) season complete

13. Lamar (13-0) beat Richmond 21-20

A fast start carried the Tigers back to yet another state championship game. Lamar scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the game to open a 13-0 lead. Trace Willhite busted a 72-yard run on the first play of the game to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Austin Wilkerson. Quarterback Joel Beshore also started the day with a few big runs and scored on a 1-yard keeper on the next drive. Beshore tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Wilkerson for a 21-13 lead at the half. Richmond scored the final points of the game in the third quarter, but Lamar blocked the extra point, which turned out to be the game-winning play.

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

15. Troy Buchanan (10-3) season complete

16. West Plains (10-2) season complete

17. Francis Howell (10-2) season complete

18. Joplin (10-2) season complete

19. Rockwood Summit (11-1) season complete

20. Lebanon (10-2) season complete

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

22. Nixa (8-3) season complete

23. Valle Catholic (10-1) season complete

24. St. Pius X (Kansas City) (12-1) beat Cardinal Ritter 21-20

Cardinal Ritter’s Cinderella run finally came to an end in the Class 3 semifinals against battle-tested St. Pius. A team that went 3-6 in the regular season before four consecutive postseason victories, the Lions led 20-14 late in the fourth quarter. However, Jack Mosh tossed a game-winning, 10-yard touchdown pass to Aidan Coons with 2:07 left in the game. Joey Wilson connected on all three of his extra point attempts, which proved to be the difference as Ritter converted only 1-of-3 two-point conversion attempts. Mosh threw another touchdown pass to Robbie Sharp and also rushed for a score.

25. Fort Osage (11-2) lost to No. 6 Holt 31-14

Making its fifth appearance in a state semifinal round since 2009, Fort Osage failed to advance to the state finals for the first time. The Kansas City-based Indians fell behind early as a blocked punt and strip sack led to 10 Holt points in the first half. Fort Osage trimmed the deficit to 17-14 in the third quarter after a 24-yard touchdown pass from Greg Menne to Christen Penamon and had a chance to take the lead early in the final stanza but fumbled at the goal line on 1st-and-goal from the 2.