Welcome to 2025’s edition of Jefferson County All-Star Team selections by Mississippi Magazine!
The Festus Tigers lead this year’s awards, which should not surprise anyone who saw the Class 4 playoffs. Ten Tigers made the All-Star Team. But in line with the latest Jefferson County Power Poll, the Northwest Lions and St. Pius Lancers are also fat with seven and five All-Stars respectively. There are 49 All-Stars who made the “final roster,” but some of the Honorable Mentions can get in the game too. The Gridiron Geek treats the All-Star Team like a real team, including starters, packages, and substitutes.
Like the Power Poll, the Jefferson County All-Star Team is not handicapped by class. It’s a roster of our best athletes, period. Class 4-thru-6 teams have a better chance of finding many familiar names in the mix. But if you’re a Small Schools student-athlete who gets named to the All-Star Team, it’s not a “Bantamweight black belt.” It means that you’re every bit as good as the Large Schools big shots in 2025’s lineup.
Quarterback
Parker Perry, Festus Tigers
Cohenn Stark, Northwest Lions
Brody Kube, Seckman Jaguars
Honorable Mention: Cooper Frisk, Jefferson Blue Jays
All-Stars are listed alphabetically by school, not as a “ranking” of players from the first team to the third team. No offense to Seckman, Windsor, or the West Plains Zizzers. To enforce the point, we’ll begin this year’s Quarterbacks recap with Northwest … although the Lions do hail from Cedar Hill.
It was a year of junior quarterbacks, from the Mississippi Conference to the Suburban League. Northwest signal-caller Cohenn Stark was buoyed by a boosted Lions defense that hit the on-switch late in the year. However, there’s no denying that the Northwest Lions are going as far as their dual-threat phenom takes them at any given time. Cedar Hill’s attack revolves around the legs of Stark, who galloped for 1346 yards and 23 TDs while adding 12 touchdown passes and a similar yardage total through the air. Stark’s arm saved the day in Week 11’s defensive battle with the Seckman Jaguars.
Parker Perry did a lot more than shake-up the Kearney Bulldogs this year. The junior maintained a sparkling rate of accuracy that surpassed CBC’s Nick McLellan by less than one percentage point, 71.1% to 70.5%. Perry’s 38 TD passes led Class 4 quarterbacks in the STL Metro area. The 6’1″ marksman manufactured two of the best clutch-comeback wins in Festus history, a 41-35 Homecoming victory over Farmington and the 42-24 district title triumph over North County. The Kansas City Chiefs don’t have close to 70% aerial accuracy in 2025, but it’s an asset Festus can build around for 2026.
Head coaches of another era liked using cannon-armed quarterbacks as “relief pitchers” who could steer a comeback in the fourth quarter. The Geek has Seckman’s Brody Kube in mind as another kind of late-game “closer” for the Jefferson County All-Star Team. Kube’s expert hands and consistently smart decisions keep the Jaguars free of turnovers – Kube’s second straight year of 1000+ pass yardage in The Valley included a sterling TD-to-INT ratio of 18 to 2. Stark is the dual threat and Perry’s got the golden arm, but we can think of no JeffCo QB who feels safer protecting a 10-point lead than Mr. Kube.
Running Back
Leuntae Williams, Festus Tigers
Cody Shaver, St. Pius Lancers
Logan Wilson, Windsor Owls
RPO Package: Kamden Yates, Festus Tigers
Wishbone Package: Ricardo Pastrana (Crystal City Hornets), Isaac Walker (Grandview Eagles), Clark Struckhoff (Herculaneum Blackcats)
This year’s running back talent could force Mississippi Magazine’s All-Stars out of The Geek’s preferred “Muskegon” offense, in which two of three potential running backs can also operate as slot wide receivers at any time. Leuntae Williams, Logan Wilson, and the record-setting Cody Shaver are what you would consider “workhorse” tailbacks, players who flourish when they get into a groove with lots of similar handoffs in a half or a quarter of play. Would they be at their most effective in a fancier setup?
Hmm. Well, the senior Williams did catch 12 of Parker Perry’s throws for 130 yards and a TD this year. Shaver and Wilson don’t have many receiving stats to speak of, but the Muskegon attack needs at least one RB behind the quarterback whose specialty is plunging between the hashes. There is also a chance that Wilson, having performed in Windsor’s run-run-run offense all year, will have a breakout performance if given the opportunity to catch and run with some short passes. By golly, we might just make this work!
Besides, there are other options. Kamden Yates gives our All-Star QBs Perry, Stark, and Kube the best check-down option around as a third-down back. We’ll also take inspiration from the 2025 St. Pius Lancers and install the “Wishbone” offense for short-yardage scenarios, spearheaded by Herky’s powerful Clark Struckhoff, Grandview’s relentless Isaac Walker, and CCHS’s three-year rushing star Rico Pastrana.
Wide Receiver
Jackson Frank, Festus Tigers
Tanner Duncan, Herculaneum Blackcats
Noah Buehler, Jefferson Blue Jays
Omarion Frazier, Northwest Lions
Cameron Benson, Seckman Jaguars
Honorable Mention: Nick Weidler (Seckman Jaguars)
Once again, the Jefferson County All-Star Team is forced to take a batch of amazing WR-DB performers and figure out who plays on offense versus who plays on defense. Omarion Frazier has to be a wide receiver after saving his Northwest Lions’ fur with a fake-punt catch in the fourth quarter against Seckman. The other no-brainer is Noah Buehler of Jefferson joining the offense, since there’s no debating that Cooper Frisk’s receivers did better on offense than the Blue Jays as a whole fared on defense this season. After that, the decisions get harder.
The Geek wants the 6’3″ Harrison Ray’s long arms on defense, which puts St. Pius X’s linchpin at safety or cornerback in sheer spite of Ray’s 984 receiving yards and 10 TD catches. That’ll leave room for the Seckman senior Cameron Benson, who lit up The Valley as a WR while not appearing to have played defense for the Jaguars this year. Benson is a man of many talents, including travel-team hardball.
FHS seniors Jackson Frank and David Russell make an interesting duo because they’ve put up almost identical numbers on offense and defense alike. It’s a draw! Russell posted 832 receiving yards and scored on nine TD catches in 2025; Frank gained 792 yards on 11 fewer catches but scored on 10 TD receptions. On defense, Russell manufactured 29 solo tackles to Frank’s 11, but Frank snagged two interceptions to Russell’s single INT. Since Ray is on defense, we’ll go with the taller man at WR.
Tanner Duncan was terrific for the Herky Blackcats again this year, scoring on seven of his 24 catches in a run-heavy attack. The Geek doesn’t care if he can intercept Aaron Rodgers … we’ll take him at receiver.
Tight End
Braydon Wilkes, Festus Tigers
Dawson Litterall, St. Pius Lancers
Honorable Mention: Aiden Clifton, Festus Tigers
It’s turning into a Festus sweep at Tight End every season! Tanglefoot’s tight ends are lucky to have QBs who make so many plays, operating in playbooks which have featured TEs since Festus High had Eric Ruess come along as a senior in 2021. 2025’s best TE Braydon Wilkes was electrifying against the Kearney Bulldogs in Week 14, capping a campaign of 470 reception yards and six TD catches.
Litterall’s 28 catches on the year came in handy against St. Pius opponents who didn’t know whether to key on Shaver all the time, or focus on harassing the sophomore QB Evan Eckrich. The consistent junior made receptions in every single tilt of the Lancers’ stunning stretch run this season, starting on Sept. 26.
Do the old-school running games of contenders like Hillsboro, Seckman, and Herky give JeffCo’s other schools a better shot in the Blocking Tight End category? Nope, not this year! Aiden Clifton, who starred as the FHS Tigers best receiving TE before Wilkes turned into a terror, remains one of the most physical two-way ends in the Dirty Dozen. This year, Clifton made 96 total tackles to go with 127 reception yards.
Offensive-Defensive Line
Trent Eisenbeis, Crystal City Hornets
Collin Barton, DeSoto Dragons
Carson Grass, Festus Tigers
Connor Rush, Festus Tigers
Eli Spicer, Fox Warriors
Tucker Rhinehart, Grandview Eagles
Ayden Bowling, Herculaneum Blackcats
Caden Romaine, Hillsboro Hawks
Hunter Williams, Northwest Lions
Jackson Jercinovic, St. Pius Lancers
Evan Hufford, Seckman Jaguars
Tommy Broderick, Windsor Owls
Honorable Mentions: Hayden Westbrook (Crystal City Hornets), Troy Jefferson (Jefferson Blue Jays)
One Festus team goes from lucky to unlucky as the awards turn from Tight End to offensive and defensive line. Frank Ray told The Geek in midseason that he couldn’t determine which of the St. Pius linemen were turning into beasts most rapidly, whether it was bullish interior blocker Mike Moss, or a big bruiser such as Jackson Jercinovic. For Jercinovic’s case, he’s the biggest (and one of the youngest) O-lineman on the C2D1 All-District Team.
Moss missing the cut should be viewed in context of his leadership that’s helped hosses like Jercinovic come along. Meanwhile, who wouldn’t like an OL of Williams, Romaine, Jercinovic, Rhinehart, and Rush? (Or, if we’re blocking for Mr. Struckhoff, we can always go Bowling.) Add in DeSoto’s up-and-coming Collin Barton as a sixth man when anyone’s winded, and you’ve got a line that’ll clear so much room for 2025’s crew of Jefferson County All-Star running backs, it won’t matter so much what playbook we put them in.
Hayden Westbrook didn’t do anything much this semester except join the Army, go through Basic Training, and return to the Sunken Place to play in Crystal City’s midseason clashes against Class 4. The Man!
Linebacker
Eli Thebeau, DeSoto Dragons
Aiden Schirmer, Festus Tigers
Ryan Joggerst, Fox Warriors
Jeremiah Clines, Northwest Lions
EDGE: Dylan Lappe (Seckman Jaguars), Antonio Pinkston (Festus Tigers)
Honorable Mentions: Corbin Fullerton (Fox Warriors), Karter Smith (St. Pius Lancers), Drew Spratt (Northwest Lions)
Eli Thebeau has been one of DeSoto’s best two-way performers in a long time. Aiden Schirmer of FHS isn’t as decorated as his brother Mason yet, but his junior season promises to be epic. Drew Spratt of the Northwest Lions is the man who dealt the TKO to Fox via a scoop-and-score TD in Week 6, but Spratt’s worth as an Iron Man is overshadowed by Jeremiah Clines’ LB numbers when awarding one position.
Speaking of Fox, the junior Ryan Joggerst is set to shine at Middle Linebacker for 2025’s All-Stars after finishing fourth in the STL Metro with 154 total tackles. (Schirmer made 95 *solo* tackles to vie for the STL lead in another category after a sterling sophomore year.) Joggerst was the glue that held Fox’s defense together during the Warriors’ late-season surge and tit-for-tat first half with Farmington in the Class 5 district semifinals. Dylan Lappe’s presence on the “EDGE” rounds out an elite crew of QB hunters.
Defensive Back
David Russell, Festus Tigers
D.J. Cox, Fox Warriors
Brock Poole, Grandview Eagles
Preston Ross, Hillsboro Hawks
Kaleb Belcher, Northwest Lions
Harrison Ray, St. Pius Lancers
Colton Fowler, Seckman Jaguars
Honorable Mention: Cameron Brooks (Grandview Eagles)
Defense is a lost art in much of the St. Louis area. If the top schools of the Jefferson County Power Poll keep building better and better defenses, we’re going to have a leg-up on so many Missouri regions that are dotted by porous teams. Thankfully, most of 2025’s best ball-hawks are returning as upperclassmen!
Russell and Colton Fowler will graduate this coming spring, but we’re blessed with up-and-coming phenoms like Harrison Ray and Preston Ross who can patrol the Jefferson County All-Star Team’s defensive backfield for seasons to come. Brock Poole versus Cameron Brooks formerly of the DeSoto Dragons at Grandview is a start-or-sit dilemma. The Gridiron Geek selected Brock for his Triple Iron Man skills as a DB, RB, and KR.
2025 Jefferson County All-Star Team: Specialists, Slashes, and Special Teams
Wildcat: Cannon Kisner, DeSoto Dragons
Slash: Brody Ervin (St. Pius Lancers), Jack Kuda (Windsor Owls)
Kick Returner: Kayden Newbold, Northwest Lions
Punt Returner: Chase Belcher, Northwest Lions
Placekicker: Caleb Arnold, Hillsboro Hawks
Punter: Benjamin Bajric, Seckman Jaguars
Thanks to our readers and Facebook Group users for the amazing support all season!
Photo Credits: Purchased from Rivals (Pixieset), Mary Jo Koetting-Nicks, Jaguar Football Booster Club Facebook, Windsor Owls HUDL, St. Pius X Football Facebook