The changes in this week’s Jefferson County Power Poll are easy to explain in a way. The heightened quality of football below the Meramec River is weeding out the less-prepared teams in favor of consistent winners. You don’t get as many weeks off from serious competition as there used to be, the St. Vincent Indians’ schedule of 2025 notwithstanding.
On the flip side, Week 9’s Power Poll is very difficult to come up with! You couldn’t invent a more confusing set of outcomes from Weeks 6-8 if you tried. Grandview whipping Herky and Jefferson in succession, then falling to a St. Vincent team that was socked in the mouth by Herky. St. Pius X crushing several teams that it labored against in 2024, only to lose in “Vashon meets CBC” style to St. Pius X of Kansas City in the first half, then mysteriously erase the Turbo Clock against a majority lineup of Class 5 veterans. Fox’s having a superior game against Parkway North than it had against Lindbergh’s losing enterprise. Northwest still showing more vigor than Seckman late in the regular season, but an undeniable 49-14 win for the Jags still calling shotgun in the Power Poll. What’s more, an anxious survival-test awaits Northwest before the Lions get their big rematch.
Oh, and then there’s the Grand Finale of October surprises, and we don’t mean Hillary Clinton’s computer. The DeSoto Dragons defeated the Hillsboro Hawks in what appeared to be a seminal, watershed win this month, only to trudge away from Week 8’s scrum after losing to Potosi by more than four touchdowns, a stunning upset loss by any measure.
It’s time for some good old “body of work” touting. Following eight weeks of hard-nosed pigskin, it’s easier to identify each team’s high ceiling-of-performance, and its absolute worst straits that could arise in the upcoming District playoffs. Somewhere in between is each team’s likely power meter in November … and that’s where the Power Poll will peg them.
As Roger Barrentine used to say on JCTV, “but first …”
Notes on the Power Poll’s Reigning Big Shots
The Geek has advice for the Festus Tigers this week. One reason that the Farmington win was so critical is that it’s a ray of sunshine during a time of year in which the Tigers’ crazy new scheduling makes at least every other contest into a “character building” experience, or in other words, a lopsided defeat. No matter how good we think the Black & Gold has been for three seasons running, they’re probably not prepared to beat Jackson, a legit contender for 2025’s Class 6 championship, boasting a far more consistent defense than DeSmet’s … with all due respect to the reigning Varsity Spartans. The chief goal should be to emerge from Week 9’s tilt healthy and without utter embarrassment. A potential way to accompish that is to platoon a larger starting lineup instead of tiring-out the same wide receivers and defensive backs all night, and stack a defense with the best available athletes. Class 4’s Tigers must produce big plays on defense to make any noise against Jackson, and to avoid the kind of 56-7 loss Farmington took on the chin from its coach’s old team. Instead of David Russell as the Iron Man, go easy with his offense, then fire him up for 24:00 of hell-for-leather defense. It might lead to an INT that gets the Injuns’ attention.
An exhausted TGG felt so bad for screwing up Kamden Yates’ season narrative last Saturday that he’s been working on an apology to the young man, his family, and his coaches for an erroneous blurb that wasn’t removed before some padawans on the team saw it. (We also beg the pardon of the R-6 Booster Club for not devouring every scrap of their weekly Media Guides – which they call “programs” but they’re too amazingly good and too well-written to be programs – which could have cleared up the matter in advance.) Don’t be surprised if the Tigers’ two top tailbacks wind up splitting touches evenly in a rematch with Hillsboro, or in the Class 4 quarterfinals if R-6 returns to the Big Bracket. But if coaches want to keep Yates from plunging up the middle too much, too soon to prevent a recurrence of his injury from summer, why not allocate #3 some lighter-contact snaps via package duty in the defensive backfield, where he has 41 tackles from 2024 but none this season, against Jackson? Yates outran DeSmet 2024’s elite starting lineup on home-run carries last October. He could keep pace with at least one of Jackson’s most dangerous speedsters, while scratching A.J. Ofodile’s newfound itch for Iron Men in the open field. Meanwhile, consider putting the other fast kids on Platoon units (guess we’re calling for a “21-man” lineup) to load up the defense for maximum fresh legs and mayhem. The potential of Antonio Pinkston sacking Jackson’s QB Drew Parsons is tied to whether the Tigers can cover opposing WRs as well as they did in last Friday’s second half.
The Northwest Lions are off the Cupcake Train before the Seckman Jaguars can disembark from it. In fact, Northwest’s clash with Oakville this Friday might sneak up and give Cedar Hill the weekend’s best Mississippi Magazine game again. Oakville’s two entertaining bouts with Northwest from late last season were a harbinger for both teams, not simply one. Drew Spratt and the Northwest Lions have become one of the most potent, consistent scoring teams anywhere on the Meremac, but that doesn’t mean the Lions are set to destroy the Tigers like they outclassed Webster Groves, Parkway South, and rival Fox after going 0-3 against those teams in 2024. Oakville is having a watershed of its own if SoCo’s squirrely-est program of the past can just keep it up, producing a statement win over Ritenour one week after nearly stunning the Seckman Jaguars in midseason.
Speaking of bad takes at Mississippi Magazine, Oakville’s sudden rise has the potential to screw up our “preordained” Northwest-Seckman rematch plans for Week 11. Oakville has garnered more MSHSAA points than TGG anticipated due to going 6-2 against a schedule comparable to the Jaguars’ and Lions’. It was that upset win over powerful Ritenour that did it – now the Tigers can finish second in the District with a seventh victory. Oakville High is essentially tied with Seckman with a handful fewer points than Northwest. OHS may still qualify as low as fourth with a loss Friday combined with another Seckman blowout in Week 9, but we’re not nearly as sure of that scenario as we were two weekends ago.
The blog still expects Cohenn Stark and the Varsity Lions to beat Oakville – they did it last year and they’re 10x improved this year – but if they don’t pull it off, the whole plan for a District Semifinal revenge game could go down the tubes. If that’s not pressure, The Gridiron Geek doesn’t know what is.
Congratulations to QB Brody Kube of the Seckman Jaguars for becoming the school’s third quarterback to throw for 1000 yards in a season. Kube is kind of like some of The Geek’s favorite NFL quarterbacks this season – everyone is crowing about his offense but the key is the defense. If the Seckman defense stiffens up over the next few weeks, the pressure comes off an offense that’s better at being patient than at keeping up with hot-shot attacks led by Stark or Parsons. If that doesn’t happen, no litany of long TDs will save the day.
Week 9’s Jefferson County Power Poll
#1 – Festus Tigers
Ceiling: The stratosphere. Festus accounted for its worst weakness of 2025 by getting David Russell’s defensive backfield in shape to cover – FINALLY – for most of a full game against a fast, frantic effort from the 6-2 Farmington Black Knights of Class 5. DeSmet’s wild shootout loss to Cardinal Ritter in Week 8 kind of makes it look like CBC caught the defending Class 6 champs at a fortunate time, and that the Festus offense’s TDs at DeSmet were as noteworthy as FHS’s points scored against 2024’s championship Spartans.
Floor: If the Tigers get as cocky and undisciplined in Week 11 as they were in 2024’s District Semifinals, they’ll be hitting the floor for sure. Or at least the turf.
#2 – Seckman Jaguars
Ceiling: Shaking up teams as good as Parkway West and Pattonville, and beating Northwest-2025 by five touchdowns for that matter.
Floor: Giving Hazelwood West its first opening-half touchdown since the KPLR days.
#3 – Northwest Lions
Ceiling: Turning the tables on Fox High School.
Floor: Looking like only the JV got on a bus to The Valley.
#4 – Hillsboro Hawks
Ceiling: A first-half deadlock with last year’s Show-Me Bowl bridesmaid Festus Tigers.
Floor: Two Turbo Clock losses and the debacle with DeSoto.
#5 – Fox Warriors
Ceiling: Week 2 …
Floor: Did the Fox Warriors’ flaws get better enough to rank three spots better this week than last? Nope, but St. Pius, DeSoto, and Grandview each lost by lopsided scores, while Fox’s defense proved it could still play ball by holding Parkway North’s excellent 7-1 team to a modest evening. Somebody will have to prove they’re better than our Class 5 outfit.
#6 (T) – St. Pius Lancers
Ceiling: Going toe-to-toe with the 7-1 Knob Noster Panthers of Class 3.
Floor: Surrendering 35 points on an egg-timer last Friday.
#6 (T) – DeSoto Dragons
Ceiling: The hurrah vs Hillsboro
Floor: Potosi Pain (Honorable Mention: Mauled by Midgets)
#8 (T) – Herculaneum Blackcats
Ceiling: Scoring a “Boise State” touchdown to stun Perryville in Week 8’s win. The door is open for Dunklin to finish this year ranked in the JCPP’s top half.
Floor: The loss to Jefferson that now looks like it should’ve been a substantial victory.
#8 (T) – Grandview Eagles
Ceiling: Starting out 4-1 in the Quad County Conference. Almost whipping three Class 4 opponents in a row.
Floor: Grandview and Herculaneum have not had “low floors” in 2025. Set aside Grandview’s disaster on the road in Week 8, and each football school has been remarkably consistent this season. It helps make The Geek more excited about Herky’s bid in the District playoffs, and Grandview potential bid in the st… the st… eh, we won’t jinx it.
#10 – Jefferson Blue Jays
Ceiling: Beating the Herculaneum Blackcats looks wonderful. No, really, as of this year, that’s become a thing!
Floor: Given the events of the last three weeks, we might be sitting on it.
#11 – Windsor Owls
Ceiling: Setting a program record at Clayton
Floor: Becoming a broken record in October
#12 – Crystal City Hornets
Ceiling: Crystal City’s offense against Scotland County 🙂
Floor: Crystal City’s defense against Scotland County 🙁