Herculaneum Blackcats at Crystal City Hornets
The Gridiron Geek’s choice of which games to live-blog over the years could seem confusing, given the Magazine’s tacit “rank” of important kickoffs via their spots in the Friday Night Predictions.
Why, for example, did TGG make such a thing out of chasing Grandview’s 2020 lineup around, through many scrums that turned out lopsided anyway, then abandoning the Birds of Prey for an easy-chair when GHS finally plastered the current I-55 champions from St. Vincent with a TKO? Likewise, your reporter caught rides on chilly, dark Old Town streets to get a bird’s-eye look at the CCHS Hornets this season, but we’re not preparing game-day bits on Crystal City and Herky’s impending tilt any more than we do for Hillsboro vs Festus.
There’s no point. Readers rely on The Geek for a story on Grandview vs Jefferson sometimes, but Friday night’s battle on Bradley’s Farm is going to be all over the place on YouTube, radio, and elsewhere. At long last, a pair of marvelous Tri-City upstart programs are not going to be overlooked by MyMyInfo in favor of a close-up on Potosi vs Dexter.
Ruling the local airwaves on Friday is a great maiden step for the old rivalry’s revival. But this week’s game – or at least the Hornets-Blackcats series as a whole – has the potential to be much more than that.
Herculaneum vs Crystal City is the grandfather of Jefferson County’s cross-town grudges. Landmark events and major celebrities have dotted the CCHS vs HHS ledger of showdowns, beginning in the 1950s when Ronald Boyer and the Blackcats defeated Bill Bradley’s cagers 51-50. Dad had a solid experience edge on the future Senator at the time, but Bradley returned to lead Crystal City hoops to greater heights as a 17 year-old. Then there’s that championship football game from 1964 in which neither side scored a touchdown – supposedly – about which some of the elders in town still argue. In 50+ years hence, 15-or-so citizens have come forward to claim that they did score vs HHS or CCHS in 1964…but “0-0” remains on the books.
AEW’s William Regal* could cut a rasslin’ promo about Herky vs Crystal City – “Sonny, we were fist-fighting over the referees when your so-called legendary football feuds were a twinkle!” – because even the tales of Festus-Hillsboro, Valle-St. Genevieve, and Northwest vs Fox High are generously pre-dated by the 2 cross-town rivals about to kick off.
*Friday Edit: Gosh, is TGG happy that AEW doesn’t frequent Missouri after screwing-up a wrestler’s gimmick like that.
Nor should CCHS ignore Mississippi Magazine’s advice to go ahead and stream the entire Senior Night event free-of-charge from 6 PM to 10 PM. In bad or even iffy weather, a YouTube feed would be a lousy idea, giving too many alumni an excuse to stay home and watch just when the Hornets can use some of that extra gate $. Friday’s weather, though, is going to be so, so perfect that it’s as if Athena herself stepped-in to rescue the 2 war-bands from what could’ve been a real frost-fest. Sunken Place will be packed no matter what, because there couldn’t be nicer skies for a Week 9 game. (The St. Louis Cardinals did not reach the NLCS – that’ll help to fill up 100 yards of bleachers too.)
The best part is that 2022’s game is poised to be extraordinary, not just because Herky and Crystal City are well-matched this fall, but because they’re outstanding teams, and leading “revivals” of their own.
Herky-Crystal City isn’t just back on, it’s relevant. MSHSAA fans are curious to see how the fastest-rising Class 1 team in the region will fare against a 5-3 school from Class 3, an opponent that came within a Blackcat’s whiskers of challenging for the I-55 crown this season. Touchdown-plus forecasts on a margin-of-victory are 100% a fool’s errand, as this contest could turn-out to be tighter than a banjo string. Bayless, the schools’ only common opponent, fared marginally better vs Crystal City than vs Jackson Dearing’s dominant HHS offense. However, the Hornets have a superior W/L mark, in addition to momentum the ‘Cats don’t enjoy after getting upset by Perryville.
CCHS alums would point-out that Crystal City did beat Perryville in another “common opponent” scrum, played on Jamboree Friday under the typical playground scoring rules. That’s absolutely true. The Varsity Hornets obliterated PHS by a score of something like 5-0, a terrific debut for a youthful team in a scenario in which each school’s sloppy lineup usually scores a couple of token times. But that whipping also took place back in August, and Perryville could count as the riverside’s most improved team since then, fighting Herky and JHS for 48:00.
Crystal’s relatively small size up-front makes the Hornets a feast-or-famine team at every turn. Against a Bayless defense with several 300-pound linemen, CCHS’s 2022 offense often ran for 9 yards, lost 5 yards on the next play, then went for 20+ yards after that, followed-in-turn with another mishap. There’s not much brute-force for the Hornets to fall back on when QB Cyle Schaumburg’s reads don’t work properly. On the defensive side, Herculaneum’s ample size, experience, and play-making efficiency won’t allow Crystal City to force 3-and-outs at its newly-accustomed rate. The Crystal City Hornet defense has faced tailbacks who’re as good as Mike Maloney, but not with Maloney’s OL.
Herky’s potential Achilles Heel (in case we don’t have enough Ancient Greece references already) on Friday is that Blane Boss’ coaching staff could figure their superior beef, depth, and special teams will allow Jackson Dearing’s offense to pound their way to a win, as in last year’s Class 3 District quarter-final against little Roosevelt High. But the up-and-coming defense at CCHS is way too fast, slippery, and aggressive for a game-plan of running and field-position to carry the night, and what’s worse, it could take Dearing out of rhythm as a pocket passer. Unspeakably bad things happen to HHS when that occurs.
Will the Blackcats be knocking on the door quite often? Yes, especially if Crystal City fields a half-hearted punt team and treats 4th downs like Horse & Saddle Prep once again. But we can also expect Herky’s offensive turns to be full of episodes, like LB Nolan Eisenbeis shooting through HHS’s blockers to put the Felines in 2nd-down-and-15.
Can the swift Hornets score 4+ touchdowns, working on a long gridiron? Maybe they won’t have to. Due to Crystal City’s underrated gift for manufacturing tackles-for-loss, Dearing will have to air the pigskin out at some point, or else Herky will be worried about its own punting.
CCHS has not faced a QB with nearly as strong of a passing arm as Herculaneum’s key man, but at the same time, the senior signal-caller wasn’t playing against as fast of a secondary when he tossed 3 interceptions over to St. Pius…and the QB’s 2:00 offense fell short on the 4th quarter’s critical drive to lose 22-20 to Perryville coming in. If the Pirates can go from an embarrassing Jamboree Week to shutting-down the Herculaneum Blackcats months later, then Camden Mayes and the Hornets’ DBs can overcome a lack of training vs Dearing’s bullets.
All told, the Herky-Crystal City scrum could come right down to the angle we thought it might as of halfway through the ’22 season. Dearing fires it downfield to Lucas Bahr – is it complete for a long catch-6? Or are the host-cheerleaders squealing instead as Mayes grabs it for an INT?
The answer may lie only in the mystical fall air of Friday night. But TGG isn’t gonna get out of this one without making a prediction! Besides, there’s another factor it’s easy to forget about – Crystal City takes the field as the far-fresher team after a blow-out win and an opposing forfeit in Weeks 7-8. PREDICTION: HORNETS 22, BLACKCATS 21
Poplar Bluff Mules at Hillsboro Hawks
Talk about your no-lose scenarios on Senior Night. The Hillsboro Hawks might be coming off their only loss of the season to-date, but there aren’t many scenarios – win or lose – that the Blue & White could discover on Friday that wouldn’t lead to a set of positives for HHS in November.
For instance, suppose that Hillsboro manages a low-key victory over the newly defense-minded Varsity Mules. That’ll serve as a good reminder to Preston Brown’s offense that nothing’s going to come easy from here-on out, while bringing the Hawks to a proud 8-1 going into the playoffs.
Or, maybe PBHS holds on to its unlikely win streak, and the 4-4 Mules deal Hillsboro its 2nd-straight defeat in a sloppy game. That outcome would be followed by a round of skeptical media-coverage as reporters assumed Leon Hall was about to take another nose-dive in late autumn. (TGG can’t emphasize enough that a slough of prep-football “news” comes from people who do not follow High School teams all that closely.) You know what? That would be excellent for Hillsboro too, presuming that the Blue & White kids can also escape a ceremonial Week 9 bout without injury. HHS has always had an extra edge on the gridiron when the Hawks have big, fat chips on their shoulders. Having the 2022 team at 90% health is blessing enough following last year’s casualty-ward let down at season’s end. Now imagine Jaxin Patterson’s team A) healthy, B) playing good defense, C) still a #1 District seed, and D) STARK RAVING MAD at bulletin-board material that’s raining like midterm exams for an entire fortnight prior to Week 11.
The only bummer on the scoreboard would be a 51-45 shoot-out type of game that went either way. Hillsboro does not want to risk a landmark injury for the sake of running 14+ total possessions in the scrum.
But that’s also why Poplar Bluff is a lucky opponent right now. Class 5’s Mules haven’t scored more than 5 TDs on anyone, not even the porous defenses of Cape Girardeau Central and Sikeston, yet still rescued their campaign with great defensive performances in a 4-0 late-season run. Poplar Bluff can’t be the “51” or the “45” in an exhausting, costly duel that means nothing in the standings, because the Mules aren’t running that kind of a playbook – for once – in 2022. PBHS could upset a careless #1 seed 21-14 this year, but not like in the old days.
Solid opposing ‘D and a methodical visiting ‘O could make Senior Night feel B-oring and even a little anxious. But a slow-paced rival is JUST what the doctor ordered for a Hillsboro squad in hardcore prep-mode. Bill Sucharski would be secretly pleased with a dull 24-3 victory. PREDICTION: HAWKS 31, POPLAR BLUFF 13
Festus Tigers at Jackson Indians
Festus has only a single happy side of Hillsboro’s bargain in Week 9. Jackson’s swoon plus alma mater’s streak of confident execution makes an upset actually possible in the match-up given a less delicate vibe. But head coach A.J. Ofodile must know in his heart that a 5th win on Friday would only come following a lot of drama, emotion, and maybe roster-wide bruises that the Tigers cannot afford as a hopeful playoff team.
The good news, though, is that FHS coaches can probably ride-out Week 9’s scrum with the 1st-string offense for 4 quarters without much risk, even as the same staff takes it easy on a developing defensive roster. Ofodile’s lineup choices in the regular season have already “proofed” the Tigers against fielding an incomplete unit in Week 10, given that 2 out of 3 marquee RBs have gone unused in the backfield while the streamers flying overhead that say “PUT ESSIEN SMITH AT RUNNING BACK WHEN HE ISN’T THE QUARTERBACK” remain illegible to the well-read skipper, at least on an October evening.
We’ll see how many TDs the newly-disciplined boys can muster-up against 2020’s Class 5 champs. Hillsboro scored twice on Cardinal Ritter, Festus scored only 2 meaningful times vs Valle U, and we remember what happened to Seckman’s offense vs the Warriors. Midmeadow Lane’s “500” team has an opportunity to surpass all 3 performances vs Jackson’s comparable defense on Friday, just by scoring on 3 turns out of a dozen against the Injuns, while avoiding any self-destructive episodes which can get a roster’s dobbers down in advance of Week 10. PREDICTION: JACKSON 49, TIGERS 21
Perryville Pirates at St. Pius Lancers
There was some stupendous SPX news on Jim Powers’ YouTube interview this week, as Powers believes that St. Pius could find itself healthier at skill positions by the time Week 11 rolls around, including at quarterback! The corresponding bad news for Perryville is that the Lancers remember Jamboree Friday…and think that their offense has proven more consistent in ’22 than Herculaneum’s or Jefferson’s, the pair of I-55 contenders who’ve had all kinds of issues trying to defeat PHS in October. PREDICTION: LANCERS 27, PERRYVILLE 14
Windsor Owls at Cuba Wildcats
PREDICTION: ALBINO BIRDS 48, CIGARS 0
Orchard Farm Eagles at DeSoto Dragons
Padawans, if The Gridiron Geek wasn’t reporting it to you, then he wouldn’t believe it. But the ’22 DeSoto Dragons – after all is said and done – have a real shot to bookend the season with a pair of Ws. PREDICTION: ORCHARD FARM 29, DRAGONS 16
Chaffee Red Devils at Grandview Eagles
Chaffee, at 2-6, has progressed to beating visiting underdogs that it’s supposed to beat. On the road, the Red Devils have only a couple of respectable outings on record so far. PREDICTION: EAGLES 26, RED DEVILS 10, RONALDO 54 SHOTS OFF-TARGET, 1 SAVED SHOT
St. Vincent Indians at Jefferson Blue Jays
The final of Week 9 that’s most likely to resemble a baseball score, as the St. Vincent Indians might be able to do everything but stop Jefferson’s reenergized attack. 3-yards-and-dust isn’t always a coach’s “game plan,” sometimes it’s just how a match-up works out. PREDICTION: ST. VINCENT 12, JEFFERSON 9
Fox Warriors at Ladue Rams
The 5-3 Ladue Rams are having a weird “Detroit Lions” type of year, scoring ample TDs while giving-up lots of yardage, and even a winning drive to underdog Oakville in midseason. Except that it’s Ladue, so of course they’re not losing quite as often as Motor City on the gridiron. PREDICTION: LADUE 34, WARRIORS 19
Mehlville Panthers at Northwest Lions
TGG misreported last week’s Northwest game, in which the Lions actually scored twice in a 27-13 defeat to modest Webster Groves. But the Panthers shut-out the Statesmen 29-0 very recently. PREDICTION: MEHLVILLE 37, NORTHWEST 7
Webster Groves Statesmen at Seckman Jaguars
No, the 7-1 Jags aren’t playing least-important scrum of Week 9. But it might just be the most lopsided one. PREDICTION: JAGUARS 63, WEBSTER GROVES 0