The Gridiron Geek occasionally posts “shorthand” predictions on most games in a week, but not typically this early in a year. It’s good to have an excuse to do it because some readers prefer the fast-and-easy predictions. (They’re not actually easy.) What readers in a mild, wet Missouri summer didn’t expect was a Sahara heat wave dominating the storyline of MSHSAA Week 2.
What’s the use trying to come up with 1,000 narratives on every kickoff? Mother Nature has given us a big, fat, shiny one in the sky, a Sol-sucking blaze of hot sun which could make field temperatures as high as 95 degrees during Friday’s warmups. The Geek is anticipating that Wednesday’s dash of “Friday’s Kickoff Has Been Moved To 7:45 PM” alerts from schools on social media will portend a broader trend, in which just about every host tries to move their event an hour-or-two later than it was scheduled. Missouri’s sunset is a way more important factor in cooling fields down than whatever a weathergirl says about the day.
Administrators are wary of shifting a contest to too late at night. It’s not like the old days, when Herculaneum and other teams were known for hanging around until midnight if necessary to keep playing on a stormy gridiron. Herky’s preseason Soap Game tradition might have morphed into a “Midnight Madness” tradition due to the alumni who can recall playing to 1 AM. But if a thunderstorm happens to strike an 8 PM kickoff in this era, the event is probably done-for. Heck, MSHSAA’s corps of officials has begun the campaign throwing so many penalty flags, they’ll put a perfectly dry evening in danger-of-curfew of the is ball kicked off late.
We can’t hope for later than a 7:30 start at most stadiums, leaving players to endure an absolute sauna in the first quarter, followed by three muggy quarters that won’t provide much relief for cramping athletes under the lights. How do coaches, players, and fans cope with the hottest games of 2026? Tip – don’t hold an open drink beneath any field lights, or the Confetti Bugs will fall into it.
Week 2 “Table of Contests”
Page 1 : Fox Warriors at Northwest Lions
Page 2 : North Point Grizzlies at Seckman Jaguars
Page 3 : Festus Tigers at St. Mary’s Dragons
Page 4 : Jefferson Blue Jays at Park Hills Central Rebels
Page 5 : Hillsboro Hawks at Hazelwood East Spartans
Page 6 : Perryville Pirates at DeSoto Dragons
Page 7 : Lutheran South Lancers at Windsor Owls
Page 8 : Crystal City Hornets at Affton Cougars
Page 9 : Bayless Bronchos at Grandview Eagles
Page 10 : St. Pius Lancers at Mehlville Panthers
Blowout Gulch : Herculaneum Blackcats at Fredericktown Blackcats
Fox Warriors at Northwest Lions
Gosh. Which one of these great old rivals is better equipped to lead after a draining first 24:00 of play? Power-rushing teams like the Fox Warriors can be successful in hot weather, but they require a whole cast of characters in the backfield to split carries. QB Jude Pribish is capable of being a Pez Dispenser and a downfield passing threat, yet it would take away the edge that Fox anticipates from the 220-pound bruiser’s inside running. Northwest has a similar dilemma, given that the NHS Lions are more than capable of opening up and spreading touches around behind QB Cohenn Stark’s arm. The Warriors are aware of that. If Fox’s defense forces Northwest to move the chains the way that Cedar Hill did last year, by utilizing Stark as its “Cam Newton” up the middle against Arnold, there’s no way the overheated QB could remain as effective on defense as Northwest is relying on Stark to be in ’26.
Northwest can find clear water if the Lions happen to win their next two games, and go into two or three relatively soft matchups with a 3-0 record in the bag, potentially standing in a three-way District 1 tie at midseason. But since Edwardsville, and maybe Hannibal and Cardinal Ritter, have turned out to be crummy matches for the Jackson Indians, the Lions should probably set their sights on keeping up with the Seckman Jaguars, who don’t play NHS this regular season. It might be a better seeding race if it doesn’t all hinge on one Lions-Jags contest! Meanwhile, the Fox Warriors love being the overlooked underdogs in the postseason, but a selection of home playoff games still wouldn’t hurt, no? The Warriors must compete for a favorite’s seed in Class 5, District 1, alongside Farmington, Cape Girardeau Central, St. Mary’s, and Poplar Bluff … that’s one of the deepest districts in Missouri.
The Lions, not the Warriors, might be the team that’s trying to slow things down this time. If Northwest-CH gets into the second half unscathed, Coach Gerling has the safety of nightfall in which to put Stark at QB, receiver, tight end, linebacker, safety, cornerback, and Vice President of Team Operations all at once. That’s when Northwest could seal the deal and vanquish Fox. However, should the Lions be working from a few points down, or a tied scoreboard, the Warriors have a weapon in the play-action pass department, something that they didn’t have in 2025. It’s perfect for hitting a surprise long TD versus a home team which had begun to ride the momentum. Beware, NHS – Fox’s size makes Arnold dangerous in a defensive war. PREDICTION: LIONS 16, WARRIORS 13
North Point Grizzlies at Seckman Jaguars
North Point did indeed mount a “Seckman vs Pattonville”-style comeback bid on Week 1’s victorious St. Dominic. But the Grizzlies were one-dimensional in their methods, handing off only about a dozen times in the 31-28 loss. Senior quarterback Alex Graham carried the Grizzlies much like Preston Brown carried the 2024 Hillsboro Hawks, scramblin’ and flingin’ for a combined 275 yards while the rest of North Point’s roster generated fewer than 100 yards on its own accord. If Seckman’s offensive backfield is in an injury-crisis mode, that’s a great opportunity for Jaguars coach Nick Baer to preach his Team-Team-Team messaging in pregame. Seckman’s got a deep cast of rushers to go with a tricky playbook. The Jaguars can vary their tactics without putting the football up for grabs. NPHS may have one heat-fatigued, tired star and no choice but to throw late in the matchup. Seckman’s defense should look for the interceptions that can shift Friday’s momentum in the Jags’ favor. PREDICTION: JAGUARS 24, NORTH POINT 21
Festus Tigers at St. Mary’s Dragons
St. Mary’s is a huge question mark, due to opening its season with a 28-point loss to Catholic Prep of Chicago. There’s a hopeful takeaway for Festus Tigers fans regardless, because for the last season-and-change, St. Mary’s has been reliant on one dominant tailback, the senior Kingston Miles. Miles seemed limited in St. Mary’s first game this year, so the Dragons potentially won’t begin feeding the beast until the leaves turn. Hot weekends are bad juju for teams that rely on one rusher. However, the Dragons do possess a legit Class 5 passing game behind the prodigal freshman QB Ja’Khori Battle. Parker Perry’s visiting offense, which is undoubtedly better suited for a lineup-rotation scrum, has to capitalize with scoring drives after three-and-outs when the defense creates them. Otherwise, Battle could beat the Tigers via another 2:00 comeback. PREDICTION: TIGERS 28, ST. MARY’S 22
Jefferson Blue Jays at Park Hills Central Rebels
Park Hills Central returned QB Brody Pigg and a large cast of upperclassmen for 2026, only to bellyflop in last Friday’s 32-7 defeat at Sikeston. Park Hills will battle hard to bounce back and get to 1-1 with a victory in the Rebels’ home opener. Yet, both teams’ offenses are especially well-suited Small Schools to score points in balmy conditions. Jefferson’s junior signal-caller Sam Kerley completed passes to seven receivers against Windsor last Friday. If he hits that number of targets again, Jefferson R-7 has a fighting shot to win a jostle that the ‘Jays would be favored to win on home turf. PREDICTION: CHS 32, BLUE JAYS 28
Hillsboro Hawks at Hazelwood East Spartans
What’s wrong with the Hazelwood East Spartans, who lost to Hazelwood West, one of those third-tier-of-Quad-County-Conference level programs hiding in the Suburban League weeds, in a darned dreadful Week 1? The Varsity Spartans have lost their formula for winning, which was built on another dominant RB1, the graduated Terrance Little, in 2025. HEHS also had a nifty pass-rusher in DE Oscar Chatman, but he’s since graduated, along with some of the Spartans’ best offensive linemen. Holdover senior QB Tyshawn Tillman is looking marooned, tossing four interceptions in the Spartans’ shocking loss to HWHS. Hillsboro may have a steep bus journey and a warm sun to deal with, but Friday night’s matchup against weaker-than-expected opposition is a chance for the visiting HHS Hawks’ speedier 2026 lineup to outrun a hobbled host. PREDICTION: HAWKS 35, HAZELWOOD EAST 12
Perryville Pirates at DeSoto Dragons
DeSoto is said to have some injuries coming out of training camp, the type of poor luck and bad timing that struck Grandview’s camp this summer. But the Dragons are facing a Perryville Pirates lineup of greenhorns on an evening when veteran depth counts for a whole lot. Joachim Junction’s patented wide-field Wing-T is an excellent playbook from which to spread those grueling touches around in a summer game without risking too much on downfield passes. PREDICTION: DRAGONS 27, PERRYVILLE 10
Correction: The Geek blundered in Wednesday’s Power Poll, saying that DeSoto was coming off of a loss in the Perryville series, and needed revenge. Only the Dragons who had already made Varsity in 2024 crave any vengeance for Perryville’s exploits, since the Dragons were actually the team to win “31-14,” not Perryville, in last year’s meeting. Perryville beat DeSoto 31-28 two seasons ago. However, 2024 is the only season in which the Pirates have been able to get the upper hand on DeSoto’s conference.
Lutheran South Lancers at Windsor Owls
Lutheran South could potentially answer Jett Black with a hot-shot QB of its own in Week 2, but the Lancers seem a little shy of their man behind center. Lutheran South ran up a Turbo Clock in a 42-7 win over Duchesne without tossing any TD passes, despite the senior QB Brody Slinkard’s devilishly accurate 8-of-10 day. Passing to many WRs is like Life Water for a team on a hot evening, but Slinkard’s Week 1 receivers didn’t do a whole lot with their touches. It’s a chance for Windsor to grow on defense, where DE Jayden Grindell gobbled all the tackles last Friday. If Slinkard tries to answer Windsor’s explosive attack with more than 15 pass attempts, defensive backs like Jonathan Drake will have to make big stops. PREDICTION: ALBINO BIRDS 36, LUTHERAN SOUTH 17
Crystal City Hornets at Affton Cougars
Affton’s got all the trappings of a Class 1 or 2 program saddled in a higher division. The Cougars were bad on offense against Class 3’s Herculaneum Blackcats, finishing the game with negative yards following a number of busted plays and costly scrambles in the backfield. But if the Affton offense is like an “East Prairie,” its defense looked more like a “Van-Far” in the 42-0 opening defeat, since Affton’s tacklers resisted Herky’s offense as well as you ought to expect from a marooned unit. For once, the pressure is on Crystal City’s offense, not its defense, to improve on the field and carry the day. QB Kolton Adams’ supporting cast needs to manufacture touchdowns without giving the football away with turnovers. A punt is a positive play when your defense is facing a Get-Well Opponent, even if Affton’s own defense is a harder pill to bite down on. PREDICTION: HORNETS 26, AFFTON* 14
*Affton now going with white/purple jerseys. We just have to call them “Affton.” What happened to the epic Banana Yellow, AHS?
Bayless Bronchos at Grandview Eagles
Gosh darn it, if teams keep opening their seasons in Illinois, why, we’re just not going to have a decent bead on them until Week 3. At least the friendly Grandview Eagles know this weekend’s visiting Bayless Bronchos, who fell 26-14 at Dupo last weekend, well enough to feel like they’ve got their next opponent scouted. The heat could help Bayless a slight bit more, since Grandview is featuring a small band of rushers this year, while Bayless always has an ensemble cast to share in the egg if nothing else.
The Bronchos’ sloppy errors are their main problem today, in the past, and maybe (hopefully not) forever. With the host Eagles forced to rotate even more inexperience onto the field to ward off the starters’ heat exhaustion, could this be the season in which Grandview gives the pigskin right back to Bayless after the Bronchos foul up? The Geek projects that the Eagles’ confidence will enjoy a boost from their winning streak over Bayless that GHS brings into the battle. PREDICTION: EAGLES 24, BAYLESS 16
St. Pius Lancers at Mehlville Panthers
Mehlville is scoring points again, which is a danger for Friday’s visiting SPX Lancers. Not because the Panthers’ start-up scheme of an offense is bound to outplay one of the STL Metro’s most exciting Small Schools, but because Week 1’s lousy experience with the referees wasn’t a fluke brought upon by the hostile setting. It has happened in Missouri too. Last season, MSHSAA’s referees made some of the Lancers’ early-season action nearly unwatchable, taking every opportunity to stop the game, saunter around, and yank Hill Valley back 10 or 15 yards. At some point, St. Pius has to address it, or the Lancers will be “taxed” 1000s of yards per season.
It’s out of the Blue & Gold’s control sometimes. However, the Lancers can avoid “phantom” Unsportsmanlike Conduct calls by simply STAYING SILENT WITHIN 20 YARDS OF THE REFEREES. Seriously. Don’t mumble anything around them. Don’t say, “Hi, Mom” because the referee is going to hear you say, “Die, Bob!!!” and chuck another 15-yard flag like it’s bird seed at a wedding. If you imagine that the refs are against you, just beat Mehlville, and point the zebras toward the scoreboard … without discussion. PREDICTION: LANCERS (Shh!) 38, MEHLVILLE 13
Blowout Gulch: Herculaneum Blackcats at Fredericktown Blackcats
Fredericktown couldn’t score a point against a porous Perryville team of greenhorns. Making things worse for Friday’s hosts in the Blackcat Brawl is the fact that Herculaneum’s rapid SET-HUT-GO! tempo before and during the snap is just the way Herky likes to punish a tired defense. But it’s not as though Fredericktown’s small corps will be exhausted in the heat from the beginning of the contest. Herky’s loyal fans – fanning their faces against the sauna – will have to guard against calling for the “hot” back to get Dunklin’s next run. He could be “sizzling” in more ways than one. PREDICTION: BLACKCATS 41, FREDERICKTOWN 8
Photo Credits: Herculaneum High School Facebook, WGHS Statesmen Football Facebook, Paulo Pinho Instagram