The Geek has warned for years about the “blind spot” in MSHSAA coverage that occurs whenever Regional Radio fails to cover a team from Arnold, Imperial, or elsewhere on the Meramec River, but STL media outlets only cover what kickoffs happen above the north bank. That’s a pity for a program like Fox, which nearly took down Missouri’s #1 ranked team in the 2020 state playoffs, even though the Seckman Jaguars avoided playing “invisible” pigskin in 2022-23 thanks to the undeniable exploits of one Mr. Cole Ruble.
In 2023, as the English say, the lamb has finally bitten the butcher. MyMoInfo has suspended its Training Camp preview videos, posting almost a random smattering of coaches’ interviews with the teams that inspire not-so-secret cheering on Friday night broadcasts, Seckman, Fox, and Northwest not included. Prep Sports STL has passed on previewing all but 3 Jefferson County campaigns for this season, but we can’t blame the blog’s friend Jim Powers for that, because Prep Sports STL is just getting started as of the summer. We ask the JCL to do its absolute finest work nailing down the particulars – you’re all SHS, FHS, and Cedar Hill have got!
Tomorrow’s Jefferson County Leader preview will be just about the only opportunity for the area’s Suburban League teams to reveal themselves to the public prior to kickoff, replete with coach’s quotes and all that. If Mississippi Magazine were to wait for the JCL’s Thursday edition, then base our large-schools copy on that, it would be cheating of a sort…and force folks to read over the same tidbits twice.
So it’s worth trying to guess exactly what Warriors, Jaguars, and Lions (Oh my!) bring to the table in ’23. We could start with the obvious topic, how the Seckman Jaguars are faring without their ace quarterback of the last 3 seasons. But the Arnold kids showed in 2020 that Fox has the highest ceiling of performance until proven otherwise, elevating the Warriors to a yearly lede as a team to watch.
Option-running teams rise and fall with QBs just like Spread Offense teams do, and only those without experience in looking at an option team’s stats would think that Cameron Underwood’s poor TD-to-INT ratio from 2022 makes him a bad choice behind center for the Warriors this year. Underwood’s devilish carries against tough defenses as an underclass QB and A-back showed that he’s the dual-threat to potentially help make Fox High’s offense start clicking like it should again.
Arnold loses a ton of seniors from the Class of 2023, but gains a stronger contribution from a numerous crew of sophomores-becoming-juniors. Leading tackler Jamieson Winfrey returns for his senior campaign, and never fear, though another “Pisoni” graduated, sophomore Zac Pisoni keeps the flame alive.
Northwest’s 2022 season has probably made Cedar Hill’s coaches step back, regroup, and try to see how many teams the Varsity Lions can look lively against this year. We have posted recently about the Elevator Team syndrome that strikes a rebuilding High School team sometime, but when you’re on a hellish losing streak, all opponents on the schedule are really the same. Some are more vulnerable than others, sure, but 2023 is about the Lions finding a style.
Northwest-CH dresses out close to 30 upperclassmen this autumn, a factor that has to help Cedar Hill win the line of scrimmage a little more often. Senior blockers Ryan Pigg and Andrew Buckner each weigh-in at around 300 pounds, but there does not appear to be a great deal of depth in the trenches for a school that possibly will be looking at Class 6 berths for the foreseeable future. The Varsity Lions’ wide receiving corps and defensive backfield, on the bright side, is stocked with extremely tall players such as a corps like Festus High School’s “Lollipop Guild” would love to borrow a man from every so often. According to STLToday’s outdated but potentially still-valid roster info, Northwest’s gang of more than 10 basketball-sized head toppers is headlined (get it?) by the 6’7″ and 215-pound Stefan Higgins and 6’3″ “Rollerball” Rocko Rowley.
Cedar Hill’s best chance to seal at least one convincing W should be Webster Groves in Week 8, much the way it was last season. But we’ve got a hunch that Week 6 rival Oakville’s underdog run up the rankings is due for a roadblock.
Finally, the Seckman Jaguars surprised just about everyone with a terrific outing in preseason, threatening to steal the show against recent State and District championship brands at the Festus Jamboree. SHS played even-handed football against the improved Varsity Tigers front-7 and the vaunted Farmington option game. The Jaguars even scored against Jackson early in the proceedings, a development that stunned Live Stream STL announcers who were focused elsewhere during the 2-at-a-time schmozz at Midmeadow Lane.
To TGG’s eye, Nick Baer’s program has simply doubled down on its unique identity, erasing any notion that Seckman would “adjust” to a less old-school Ivy League system of offense now that Ruble is racing around for SEMO instead. The Jaguars appear to be lining-up even closer together on the offensive line (“close splits” in coaching terms) and using even more Double Tights, often feinting up the middle before exploding to the edge with a successful sweep play. Seckman High doesn’t possess a QB who can run like a deer anymore, but the offense is getting to the point of attack very quickly as a unit. Team speed and quickness-of-execution trumps pure track-times for an aggressive running team. If Seckman keeps executing with great functional speed, then its ’23 offense will be potent.
Do the Seckman Jaguars also really open-up with 5 straight home games this season? The schedule sure makes it look that way. It’s not as if the Jags play a series of 4 straight away-games in the regular season after that. They’re just getting a 6-and-3, perhaps as a friendly make-up of sorts from MSHSAA.
If you want to see Seckman’s crazy offense in person, well, you know right where to find it. Let’s hope the media can find Arnold and Imperial’s gridirons too.