Week 7 “Table of Contests”
Intro: Pinch Your Arm, Highway A, It’s a Night of Dream Games
Page 1: Hillsboro Hawks at DeSoto Dragons
Page 2: Jefferson Blue Jays at Grandview Eagles
Page 3: Seckman Jaguars at Hazelwood East Spartans (Thursday)
Page 4: Farmington Black Knights at St. Pius Lancers
Page 5: Hannibal Pirates at Festus Tigers
Page 6: Fox Warriors at Kirkwood Pioneers
Page 7: Jennings Warriors at Northwest Lions
Page 8: Crystal City Hornets at Duchesne Pioneers
Page 9: Bayless Bronchos at Herculaneum Blackcats
Last-Chance Gully: Windsor Owls at North County Raiders
The Gridiron Geek feels selfish for having seen this Week 7’s matchups in preseason, and saying, “Oh, goody! This is going to make the Power Poll easier to rank!” (In this crazy season, it probably won’t.) Week 7’s genuine storyline is that it’s an evening of dream matchups on The Road and payoff-games featuring the best teams of the Highway A corridor. Festus welcomes Hannibal. Farmington travels to Hill Valley. Hillsboro and DeSoto are squaring off with HHS looking for revenge against DeSoto’s record-setting quarterback! If you ever thought you would see a combo of games like this on one night in JeffCo – well, no ya didn’t.
Are we leaving other schools next to Highway A’s east end off the Dream Game list? Not necessarily. Herculaneum is going for its first three-game winning streak since 2022, plus the Blackcats’ first three-game conference streak in lord knows how long. Jefferson is trying for its first five-game winning streak in three seasons, although the Blue Jays’ contest with the Grandview Eagles is over in Dittmer, putting that kickoff in the “Big River” category. Speaking of which, Northwest’s matchup may be a bad dream of bad-luck scheduling, so TGG will investigate that with some hard-news style reporting on Page 7 of Week 7’s Friday Night Predictions.
Hillsboro Hawks at DeSoto Dragons
We’re about to get another object-lesson in whether bigger, faster, high-powered Friday Night Lights lineups should always be favored to win via a romp, or whether the passion and effort of a rivalry game can really be the sport’s Great Equalizer. Up to 2025, most of the Hillsboro Hawks and DeSoto Dragons’ outcomes seemed to confirm the idea that Leon Hall should always be favored.
Last fall was when Joachim Junction threatened to take command of the series. A sophomore Cannon Kisner’s lineup jumped on the chance to best a Hawks unit that was ailing by late in the season, the syndrome which has befallen three or four of Hillsboro’s last several stretch runs. DeSoto scored its second 6-point victory in two upsets over HHS, the previous 14-8 upset in 2018 having produced the best Regional Radio call of the 2010s: “Cheerleaders take the field! Everybody hugging! GATORADE BATH!”
No doubt, the Hillsboro Hawks have a blue-collar defense that struggles to stop athletes of Kisner’s ilk. But this year, the Hawks have been more vulnerable to the big-play threats of opponents like Holt and Festus than weak versus running teams. Festus High’s episodes trying to get Kamden Yates’ ground game rolling in the Highway A Game allowed the Hawks to hang around. The Hawks’ defensive line will be a bigger test for DeSoto’s No. 1 than Fredericktown’s meaty maulers were.
What’s more, the 5-2 Varsity Hawks’ offense will benefit from going against a Dragons defense that still dearly misses Eli Thebeau. DeSoto’s dearth of exceptional open-field ball “hawks” gives Hillsboro High a chance to take a deep breath, and figure out which returning ball-carriers may be capable of a “Patterson 2019” performance against DHS. Preston Ross and Nathan Bulback have returned to action, leaving only RB Trey Zimmerly off recent stat lines. But they won’t be facing your mama’s Dragons. It’s the sophomore Jadyn Rice who could still be called upon, like Patterson as a freshman against another tough gang of greenies.
DeSoto is a better team that it was three weeks ago, when the Dragons fell to the North County Raiders 35-23. Kisner is showing off the kind of midseason uptick in speed, agility, and confidence that you typically expect to see from a sophomore when the leaves begin to turn. DeSoto looked just about as good demolishing Windsor as the weakened Hawks managed to against the Owls.
Hillsboro, however, has begun to work rehabbing players back into the mix. Preston Ross wore a heavy turnover chain with two of Hillsboro’s five fumble recoveries against Windsor, and previously injured RB Nathan Bulback appears to be seeing the field too.
It won’t always work so well against DeSoto this weekend. Hillsboro will be tempted to stick with a ground-and-pound game, hoping to saddle Kisner with a lack of rhythm by means of Hawks ball-control. Yet, if the devilish No. 1 strikes gold with another “Matador” move to score a TD and give DeSoto an early lead, any conservative HHS game plan to “win in the second half” can fall prey to the anxious nerves of trailing on the scoreboard, taking fewer turns with your own offense, and the roaring crowd at Joachim Junction. Hillsboro’s better bet is to open up the playbook, stress out DeSoto’s defense with catch-and-run attempts, and see what works against opposing HC Russ Schmidt’s defensive plan. After halftime, HHS can turn to its best running play to seal that victory.
Coach Sucharski would say that The Geek’s plan is a good way to get Hillsboro upset by DeSoto again, since the last thing Hillsboro needs is for DeSoto’s pass-rushing Levi Huck to get into Aidan Fleming’s pocket. But remember that Fleming is considered the hard-nosed, workmanlike, “Northern Illinois”-style helmsman in Hillsboro’s quarterback corps. He can scramble away without fear of the undersized Dragons defense, if necessary. Better yet, he doesn’t have to defeat Notre Dame – just DeSoto. The Hillsboro Hawks have enough explosives left to deploy to drown-out a Cannon this Friday evening. PREDICTION: HAWKS 38, DRAGONS 24
Jefferson Blue Jays at Grandview Eagles
The way this one goes will depend on Jefferson High’s mood, from a coaching perspective and from a players’ point-of-view. There is little doubt that JHS will get its fifth win in a row, meeting an injured team at a Dittmer field on which the Blue Jays have boasted many lopsided wins over the years. But who would HC Matt Atley like to tune-up for Week 8’s fierce battle with Ste. Genevieve, the quarterback Sam Kerley, or Aiden Kentch’s backfield? We’re afraid that Atley will let Kerley fire away and try to stay in rhythm for next weekend, given that the Dragons’ ugly losses to St. Vincent and Valle Catholic revealed a St. Gen defense that could be vulnerable to Kerley’s arm. GHS has 96:00 to endure to get Week 9’s relief. PREDICTION: BLUE JAYS 56, EAGLES 8
Seckman Jaguars at Hazelwood East Spartans (Thursday)
Seckman at Hazelwood East, from what can be gleaned at MSHSAA.com, will essentially headline Thursday night’s football slate in Missouri. That’s a strange thing to say when it comes to a contest between 5-1 Seckman, a contender for honors in the Suburban League and the Jefferson County Power Poll, and the 0-6 Hazelwood East Spartans. Why, it’s just another mismatch between the Jaguars and the cellar of the Suburban League, right? Nope … and not just due to the injuries which have slowed Imperial down. The Geek thinks that Cardinal Ritter and Lift for Life’s “Thursday 10/8” date at MSHSAA.com is a misprint – they’re also listed as meeting on 10/10.
Seckman’s injury cases seem likely to be concentrated between the hash marks, rather than at skill positions besides quarterback. Of course, the Jaxson Jablonski move to quarterback impacts the SHS running back corps in the same way Parker Perry’s rehab stint impacts the FHS Tigers, by snapping the pigskin to an athlete who could flourish taking touches elsewhere. But it has worked for Seckman and Fox to take their best potential tailbacks and put them behind center, where they can still dominate on the rush.
Week 1 and Week 7’s running back and wide receiver corps haven’t changed that much. Mississippi Magazine listed a Seckman TD versus Hazelwood Central as “Jaxson Jablonski to Carter Bough,” but more rewatching revealed that it was the Iron Man star Nick Weidler who took a sneaky handoff from Jaxson Jablonski, before throwing to sophomore Logan Harris for a touchdown instead. Seckman’s healthy skill players are developing skills that they never thought they would have to, at least not with the Jaguars. Meanwhile, Harris and Weidler can work together to “flood” a defense’s coverage, when they aren’t passing to each other.
The Jaguars don’t mind being a mystery-weapon team that can trick opponents in different ways, with more than one arm tossing the bean around. It’s fortunate, though, that Seckman has a warehouse full of hefty underclass linemen and LBs ready to play Fridays, if OL-DL-LB is where the injury problems have hit hardest.
Jackson Rutledge’s two interceptions, not to mention Boyer Hart feeling sturdy enough to have played a surprise Iron Man role against the Fox Warriors, shows that the Jags’ WR-DB boundary corps has also survived the injury woes to some extent. However, Hart did not factor in Week 6 after starring against Fox, making you worry that the speedster turned up limping in Week 6 practice. Coach Nick Baer did not betray any saddening news for Hart when he praised the youngster on a podcast following the Fox win.
Thursday’s matchup is not as easy for Seckman High as it looked when Hazelwood East was losing to Hazelwood West, a previously 1-9 team, to begin this season. Hazelwood’s schools have bettered their gridiron fundamentals, and East’s offense came alive against Ritenour this midseason. Yes, the Spartans are 0-6, but they look like the hardest 0-6 opponent in the STL Metro. Hazelwood East has successfully resisted the Turbo Clock against Hillsboro, Kirkwood, and Parkway’s two powers.
Toughest 0-6 team? How about “best offense that isn’t scoring?” Thursday’s host Spartans haven’t scored a point since losing Week 4’s 32-24 slugfest to 4-2 Ritenour, a game in which the victorious Overland kids needed to recover four fumbles to get by. Ritenour went on to beat Pattonville 38-35 in Week 4, while the HEHS offense took a step backward via two consecutive shutout defeats.
Hazelwood East’s lineup seems to have taken a blow right where it hurts, in the offensive backfield, and maybe on the OL too. The Spartans’ dynamic RB pair Marquan Kohlien and Amaree Johnson combined for nearly 200 yards against Ritenour, but they were held to a frightening < 50 combined yards by Parkway West. Then Kohlien vanished from the mix in Week 6. Ritenour, Parkway West, and PNHS have comparable defenses, making it another mystery why Hazelwood East made so much Week 2-4 noise, followed by the icy offense that’s cursing a solid defense. Two injury-riddled programs may be about to meet near the airport.
HEHS’s quarterback Tyshawn Tillman has been – how do we say this on a site that never directly knocks a player? – charitable in tossing INTs when the Spartans’ run game isn’t working. That’s Rutledge’s cue to go ball-hawking, and flip the field for the Jags.
If Seckman can’t win decisively in the trenches, due to its thinned ranks, Hazelwood East has a chance for the upset. We’ll keep faith in those many big-boy substitutes at the Varsity Jaguars’ disposal. PREDICTION: JAGUARS 21, HAZELWOOD EAST 6
Farmington Black Knights at St. Pius Lancers
The Geek has only attended one game so far in 2026, which was St. Pius X’s inaugural home game at Father Dalton II in Week 3. There’s a lot to like about the new stadium, including the deluxe merch-and-eats stations right where the old concourse’s rightward tunnel used to be, and the fact that Hill Valley’s main bleachers are designed to create more “sunset” backdrops than river moons. We’ve already got a choice of local seats that aim a crowd straight at the Mississippi, like the epic panorama at Crystal City High.
There was just one problem. There weren’t as many fans filling the seats as you expect when a new venue opens. SPX’s PA system shorted out in the first half, giving a modest inaugural crowd fewer announcements to react to. There were occasional cheers as the Lancers scored over 10 times, but they weren’t especially noisy. St. Pius X attendance stats, by all accounts, swelled larger for the Homecoming Game. Then again, such games have “obligatory” spectators, some of whom leave at half to drive little kids home.
Were people still waiting to go to Father Dalton Redux and see the St. Pius Lancers? What, pray tell, were they waiting for?
Perhaps they were waiting for October, and Hill Valley’s welcome of not one, but two giants of Missouri football. Farmington arrives looking like a state-playoff contender in Class 5. Valle Catholic will bring a lineup which looks like the contender to win Class 2. So much Week 7 drama may be about to occur (on two Festus gridirons!) that an SPX-Vianney follow-up can feel refreshing in a sense, a matchup against a wide-open St. Louis attack that could help St. Pius in the way that DeSmet has helped FHS develop.
It won’t be so refreshing if the Farmington Black Knights stuff our county’s finest running game for 107.32 yards this Friday. Farmington boasts a defense that does things like that, though, making it way harder for the Varsity Lancers to begin this October’s gauntlet galloping. The scariest thing is that Farmington’s starting lineup looks supremely healthy through nearly two months of wear-and-tear, while St. Pius X – very healthy compared to almost all of JeffCo – has a couple of banged and bruised parts.
Farmington’s offense got a big boost in 2025 when former Jackson head coach Brent Eckley arrived, piquing the Black Knights’ interest with a pass-happy offense in place of Farmington’s cautious old playbook. This year, it’s the Black Knights’ defense that’s been playing so “lights out,” senior QB A.J Robbins’ offense can go to work by candlelight and still win. The Knights have held each of their opponents to 0 TDs except for Jackson, which didn’t produce as many touchdowns or gain as many yards on offense as the Indians’ 47-0 outcome would suggest. Jackson passed for fewer than 200 yards, scoring two of the game’s TDs with its defense.
It shouldn’t be possible for a wide-open offense style of team to have a defense as good as the Knights do in ’26, dotted by speedy standouts like the DBs Chase Elder and Wyatt Strohkirch, and the quick, rangy senior defensive lineman Issac Owens. It takes the pressure off Robbins, noted as an elite downfield passer, who is able to toss short passes, avoid turnovers, and keep the Knights’ offense humming along until a receiver like senior Josh McCarthy sprints open on a deep route. McCarthy looks like a fantastic weapon as a tailback or a WR, as a 4.5-speed athlete who weighs in at 220 pounds. But, honest to the identity of the 2026 Farmington Black Knights, McCarthy is being recruited as a linebacker, thanks to making Farmington’s defense a lion.
Eckley’s teams were always beatable when their offense broke down, and the Sprint Car turned into a flaming wreck. This season, it seems like Farmington could just hand off up the middle, punt the ball away and win almost every game over Class 1-5. Eckley tells MyMoInfo that McCarthy’s defense is playing so well, the Knights don’t even feel the need to punt on 4th downs. Suddenly, it isn’t necessarily your defense that’s the main key to beating Farmington. It’s whether your offense can go out and do … something!
St. Pius X’s offense can do a lot of “something.” We’re speaking of a Lancers unit that’s leagues above where it was at this time in 2025, an offense that dominated Quarter 1 at Gibson Southern, and that has threatened to go breaking Missouri scoring records since then. As The Geek vainly tried to point out before Cody Shaver was named “3rd Team” All-State, it’s not Shaver’s tremendous overall stats that ought to convince skeptics of Small Schools tailbacks, but the fact that No. 40’s rush yardage contribution often goes up against the tougher teams. Shaver, behind 2026’s blocking, can find more headway against Farmington’s defense than he did against Blair Oaks in the Show-Me Bowl, or even against GSHS in the final 36:00 of that loss.
It’s no mystery how SPX’s defense will look against Farmington this Friday. The Knights-Lancers matchup will be a rock ’em, sock ’em rumble when the visitors have the pigskin. DT David Schulte will challenge the interior of Eckley’s offensive line, and Harrison Ray’s defensive backfield will make plays to frustrate Elder and McCarthy. The fearful St. Pius pass rush looms as the weapon if FHS gets too greedy, asking Robbins to throw from the pocket too many times in a row. Eckley told reporters that his Knights offense was “uncomfortable” versus Jackson. SPX’s defense isn’t on Jackson’s level, but it can accomplish the same goal.
St. Pius probably can’t keep it up on defense for 48:00. Not that Farmington doesn’t have some two-way players of its own who can get winded out there, making the Class 5 vs Class 3 matchup into less of an edge for the Black Knights. But if you give a QB such as Robbins 10-12 turns on offense to figure things out, no blitz package or special defense is likely to nab him in the end. The Lancers must shorten the contest, and limit its total number of turns, to give LB Hunter Hylton’s defense a chance to shine.
Hill Valley’s offense is built on a powerful running game, plus the threat of downfield bombs on Evan Eckrich’s play-action. To upset Farmington, the Lancers may need to execute a few short passes before they worry about throwing those long bombs.
Farmington is probable to “stack the box” with its big defense, knowing that St. Pius wants to control the ball by running. If SPX responds by chucking bombs down the field, there’s a chance Farmington’s deep roster of athletes will prevail easily in a track meet. If our quarterback can get into a groove by hurting the Knights on the outside right away, the Knights could be made to back off.
SPX is the Power Poll leader we want going against Farmington. Festus and Hillsboro are wounded. The Suburban League had its chance last November. St. Pius X is the healthier, hotter, confident side that could potentially trip a Class 5 state-playoff contender like Farmington on this particular day. But it’s unclear whether St. Pius can win a long, ragged encounter that lasts until 10 PM, featuring many opportunities for each offense – and MSHSAA’s referees remain so eager to throw flags in Lancers games that they’re good at creating those 3:00:00 marathons. Even if Farmington takes its share of the flags, a night of short possessions and busy special-teams is taboo for SPX. Defending Robbins’ offense will become like holding onto a powder-keg that’s ready to explode. The Geek thinks St. Pius could upset Farmington in a flag-free match, in which each side’s offense makes first downs, but the Lancers have blitzes left to surprise Farmington on its Possession #8 in the fourth quarter. PREDICTION: FARMINGTON 35, LANCERS 26
Hannibal Pirates at Festus Tigers
The Hannibal Pirates seem like the scariest opponent to visit Midmeadow Lane in quite some time. They’re scary because they’re more relevant to the Black & Gold’s state championship hopes than DeSmet, or Jackson, two of the MSHSAA giants who have been frustrated on offense – if for only 1-to-3 quarters at once – at Tiger Stadium over the last few years. Hannibal is in Class 4, District 4, lurking as the potential Final Four opponent for whoever gets through in a free-for-all fight for District 1-2’s quadrant in Week 13.
Hannibal is scary for other reasons. The HHS Pirates landed runner-up in Class 4 last season, boasting a more complete effort against Kearney in the 2026 Class 4 Show-Me Bowl than the Tigers in the Final Four against Kearney. Hannibal was not as explosive against the KHS Bulldogs as Festus in the opening frames, but Hannibal bravely hung around in a 21-14 loss.
Hannibal senior QB Wyeth Dorsey’s team is prolific again this year. The speedy senior RB Darrion Washington scored on a 2PT conversion to give the Pirates a dramatic 29-28 win over the Eureka Wildcats earlier this season. While the Pirates are just 3-3 versus a tough schedule, they’ve posted two impressive shutouts over Mexico and Week 9’s Festus High opponent Kirksville. The upperclassmen on 2026’s roster were part of that glorious and nearly winning effort against Kearney in 2025’s Class 4 title tilt. Jeepers, do the host Festus Tigers have enough weapons to spook Hannibal a full three weekends before Halloween?
Likely, yes! In fact, there’s no question that Festus comes into the Hannibal matchup with the hotter QB-RB combo in Quinnten O’ Brien and Kamden Yates. The Geek seems to miss one major storyline on the senior Yates each season – last year, it was that Yates rehabbed his way into late summer’s RB corps, bulked up as a dedicated rusher, then began adapting his new body to handle the defensive-back and “Slash” duties now required of R-6’s star Iron Man. This year, TGG didn’t want to watch Tom Brady Braydee McClure of NCHS keep completing bombs while the Tigers otherwise romped the Raiders, causing the site to overlook some “dedicated” (AHEM) running back feats from Yates in the Tigers’ 55-point blitz. No. 3 isn’t just electrifying, but tireless.
Week 6’s performance showed what an STL Metro “running back” star Yates might be if the Tigers didn’t utilize him in many ways. Every time No. 3 catches a Screen Pass and runs for a 70-yard touchdown, that’s 70 yards of hard work that do not go in the rush totals on STL Today, a “good problem” that neither Jamal Roberts or Cody Shaver have had to deal with as leading area rushers.
Hannibal’s midseason downturn keeps the Pirates from looking like a blowout threat. Pirates coach Jeff Gschwender was effusive about the team’s injury woes following Hannibal’s upset Week 6 loss to 3-3 St. Dominic, telling Muddy River Sports that even more players came up bruised during last weekend’s letdown Hannibal’s fans will of course be asked to “join the club!” once they drive to Highway A’s hotbed, where FHS is missing its All-World starting quarterback, and Hillsboro has been missing pieces of its ensemble cast of playmakers. It’s better for close scores if Farmington plays our independent and Hannibal meets our wounded Mississippi Conference. Festus or Hillsboro would need all hands on deck to take down Farmington’s machine, or Hannibal at its peak. An injury-tale vs injury-tale matchup gives Festus and Hannibal High the chance to show they can win under duress.
You still have to reevaluate the FHS defense, a unit that shut-out Hillsboro, stoned St. Mary’s in midgame … and somehow gave up bunches of yards and points to North County. Festus doesn’t have a brick wall of a defense. The Tigers have an athletic, disruptive defense that must abide that identity to be successful. Beau Canaday’s defensive line has to penetrate, and blitzes have to get home. Midmeadow Lane’s fan support can inspire Antonio Pinkston to get to the QB … but Hannibal will have its fans also.
The Pirates’ traveling fan base is a weapon, like the Hillsboro Hawks fans who could literally stomp Midmeadow Lane’s defense into submission by kicking the old bleachers – in a 1-by-1 beat like an army – in the chaotic “stadium” that Festus used to play its games in. The Geek, who has been accused of being a superfan and a sourpuss over the years, was shocked to hear Hannibal’s alumni radio call of the 2025 state championship game. Wow, the most controversial moments of the whole JeffCo sports media combined could not hold a candle to Hannibal’s alumni “announcers”: “There’s a Kearney handoff and YEAH!!! YEAH!!! GIT ‘EEM, GIT ‘EEM RICK! WOO! HE’S AFRAID OF US NOW HA HA HA!” etc. By the time you are calling a Show-Me Bowl on the radio, wouldn’t it become fun to call it legitimately? There’s lots of time to be a rivalry-booster later. KHS isn’t Hannibal’s blood rival, anyway.
December’s barrel o’ laughs isn’t so funny now. That’s ^ the kind of fanaticism that drives the Hannibal Pirates to success, so much success that the Pirates overcame about 67 key graduations to put another bracket-busting lineup on the field this year. Remember, those passionate alumni in the radio booth were once Varsity Pirates. The field around the host Festus Tigers is going to sound as fierce as that Show-Me Bowl radio booth when the Pirates are on it. Eureka was stung by Hannibal’s iron determination to win when the mighty Wildcats fell to the Pirates 29-28 earlier this season. It was a signature victory for a Pirates program which could be called the “Blair Oaks of Class 4.” Public schools aren’t supposed to punch above their size after turning over the roster.
Public schools also aren’t supposed to go to back-to-back Final Fours and a Show-Me Bowl if there’s two powerhouse neighbors, including a private-school hot spot, right up The Road. But the Festus Varsity Football Tigers have done it. There’s no call (not even a radio call) for LB Aiden Schirmer’s corps to be frightened of Hannibal’s lineup. Like Ofodile has told the Tigers in speeches, “Look, these guys don’t come from Fantasy Land.” With the macro-analytics (aka final-score math) method that The Gridiron Geek often discourages, you can see that the Hannibal Pirates aren’t any stronger, faster, or superiorly organized than DeSmet, Farmington, Kearney, Warrenton, or Hillsboro, state contenders against whom Festus has collectively gone above .500 against since 2023.
How will Quinnten O’ Brien’s squad try to pull off the upset – one which wouldn’t be called an “upset” if Festus had had a better start? Hannibal’s defense hopes that Ofodile turns to his “underdog” game plan of running and punting, taking the 10% chance to prevail with a Ball-Control masterpiece over a perceived 0% chance to win a track meet with a faster teams. However, as dangerous as Yates is on any touch – a big-play threat on a Tush Push! – running and running may not be the way on Dream Game Friday.
WR Dylan Clinton has emerged as another downfield receiving threat, giving O’Brien something closer to the kind of receiving corps Parker Perry has flourished with. Pass protection was the first thing that the Black & Gold OL started to get right this summer. What if the coaches decide to trust that strong-suit and give O’Brien some early downs to fire away on? Heck, Yates and Braydon Wilkes are still growing as wide-field playmakers, which is a good thing, because they haven’t even peaked as receiving weapons – yet. If FHS gets O’Brien into a rhythm early in the Hannibal game, the Tigers will have a better chance to win a hair-raising final quarter. Quinnten has shown a “Jayden Daniels” level of calm in the face of pressure thus far.
Festus hasn’t been showing up in great form against Godzilla teams in midseason. Last October, the Tigers found a way to lose to DeSmet’s dismantled 2025 roster in a more decisive outcome than the previous year’s amazing fight with Class 6’s champs. The only exception was when Perry pulled a rabbit out of the hat in last year’s Week 8 comeback over Farmington. Hannibal is so passionate that the Pirates will always show up to play ball, especially when going against a potential Final Four opponent.
That’s all the more reason to let it fly with O’Brien, Clinton, and whoever’s not too busy between the hashes to take a TD catch to the house. Eureka, which may not have a single 600+ yard receiver this regular season, diced Hannibal’s new defensive backfield up in that five-quarter battle. The Troy Buchanan Trojans, now an aerial team, burned the Pirates even worse. If Festus has a potential weakness in ’26, it’s fatigued legs at CB and FS, when the fastest players are in Iron Man roles. Guess what? Hannibal has the same issue because of its graduations and injury cases. They’re no more upbeat than we found Hillsboro in Week 5.
It’s time to see what O’Brien can do with a big-time start like this one. Even if the original starting lineup is due for a late-fall reunion, you never know when you’ll need Midmeadow Lane’s newer stars to shine in the postseason. PREDICTION: HANNIBAL 32, TIGERS 28
Fox Warriors at Kirkwood Pioneers
It’s refreshing to see a pretty good Kirkwood Pioneers lineup again, because Kirkwood – of all Public Schools programs in St. Louis – has resembled that private campus’s team that can be manipulated by self-serving coaches. Kirkwood seemed artificially ahead of its competition year-after-year in the early 2010s, until the entire administration fell apart (wouldn’t you know) in a scandal, and an exodus of coaches occurred, followed by years when the Pioneers looked more ordinary than they probably should’ve. Can the contemporary era of HC Jeremy Maclin bring Balance To The Force? It seems so of Week 6, because as happy as the KHS Pioneers made their fans last season, Kirkwood High hasn’t taken the field with a prohibitively great lineup again this time.
This may be a rare season in which Kirkwood boasts no Division 1 talents in their best form. No rusher in the backfield has 500+ yards. We kid you not, WR George Kidd leads the Pioneers with 278 reception yards and three TD catches. Kirkwood has tried two quarterbacks, each of whom has thrown picks. Most incredibly, no player on KHS’s defense is collated at STLToday with more than one interception or two QB sacks through six weeks. The Pioneers are 4-1, but they’re lining up with a standard MSHSAA roster.
Is this Fox’s cue to craft another surprise in Week 7? Friday’s kickoff couldn’t be timed much better for Arnold to try to knock off Kirkwood. Jude Pribish’s offense is gaining confidence. ILB Ryan Joggerst’s defense proved to be more than fast enough to defend a similar offense from Parkway West in last week’s resounding 27-7 victory. The Pioneers could have a dogfight on their hands in Week 7, but TGG won’t overreact and favor Fox over legacy teams just yet. PREDICTION: KIRKWOOD 27, WARRIORS 21
Jennings Warriors at Northwest Lions
Now we know what’s wrong with the Jennings Warriors. Following a brief altercation with the U-City Lions after the teams met this Week 4, Jennings head coach Darrell Green has chosen to take more drastic measures than suspending a few instigating players.
MSHSAA already forces teams to crack down on players who legitimately punch each other. Green appears to have wiped the slate of anyone who left Jennings’ sideline to get involved in the U-City spat, potentially including some coaches. Once the Post-Dispatch had picked up the news of Jennings forfeiting games, the Warriors reappeared with a tiny outfit for Week 6’s loss at Normandy. How tiny? Jennings might be down-and-out on the scoreboard for a minute. We hope they’ll choose to play on Homecoming Friday in Cedar Hill, but gosh. If Jennings pulls out of its Week 7 commitment, it’s because JHS is all out of non-suspended athletes. At Normandy, it looked like a still-fairly-weak Varsity team was defeating a booster-funded “club team” from the other sideline.
Jennings looked like an injured Class 1 club at Normandy – but they showed up bravely with what they had! It’s hard to glean much from a Jennings Athletics Facebook news feed that keeps everything positive-positive-positive and holds any setbacks close to the vest, such as when Roosevelt forfeited to Jennings last season, and the JHS administration would not talk about it. However, it’s surmisable that Green has told a sideline of about 25 players, coaches, and helpers, “let’s focus on behavior and do our best.” Supposing some of the Warriors are reinstated for the contest at Northwest, it’s still unlikely that they can compete to win.
It could be an “SEC Homecoming Game” scenario for Cohenn Stark and the host Varsity Lions. One with an academic final score, produced against an unlucky school with little left to give on the gridiron this season, except to courageously fulfill its commitments when possible. Let’s see the younger Mr. Stark get a few more reps at QB, along with any other youngsters Northwest coach Scott Gerling’s been hoping to find some field-time for. Unless there will be some dramatic return of Jennings’ real deal (and they’re not too rusty), Friday will be a chance for Cedar Hill to celebrate and stay healthy. PREDICTION: LIONS 54, JENNINGS 8
Crystal City Hornets at Duchesne Pioneers
TGG has decided to separate Private/Charter School programs into CHEER! and BOO! columns based on a simple principle. We will get into it more when Valle and St. Vincent appear on the slate again, but rest assured neither of those schools is going in the BOO! category. The idea is that a football-first team would not care if they woke up one day and heard, “Hey, you’ve changed from Methodist East, you now attend Baptist West.” Lift For Life could become Pull For Pinatas and the Hawks would want to play on. Honest private-school brands are not football teams that are using a school for legitimacy. The school itself is their legitimacy.
Duchesne is an honest brand that got caught up in the minefield of MSHSAA trying to limit the “Pull for Pinatas” bids. The Pioneers were so excellent in early-2020s postseasons that they were promoted into Class 3, in which a parade of lesser lineups struggled to make any noise at all. Duchesne has settled back into Class 2 as the campus grows more than the football outfit seems to be able to, although the 2-4 Pioneers did engineer a minor upset over 3-1 Veritas, and then looked lively enough against St. Charles High.
In fact, it’s a little scary how well the Varsity Pioneers (CHEER) match up with Crystal City, a team for whom we CHEER! even louder, at the present time. The fact that the Bradley’s Farm defense couldn’t shut down a Veritas offense that didn’t go anywhere against Duchesne reveals that CCHS’s defense can still be a liability in any game. The Hornets’ promise is in Alex Parham’s skill corps, and a few scattered playmakers across the LOS. The opposing Pioneers are sloppily tossing the bean around out of a Saturday-style playbook, the one thing that gives you hope. Duchesne’s turns can be as filled with errors as Crystal City’s.
Duchesne’s senior RB and utility man T.J. Yaeger could be a tough cookie for the Crystal City defense to bake. If the Hornets can tackle the Pioneers well enough in the open field, and especially along the boundary on the Pioneers’ short passes and tosses, there’s a chance Parham’s offense can put enough TDs on the board to win. PREDICTION: DUCHESNE 24, HORNETS 20
Bayless Bronchos at Herculaneum Blackcats
The stats from Herky-Grandview help to reveal some of Dunklin’s developing threats who are adding more to a deep backfield. Luke Smith, a junior who has been playing both ways, has 358 rushing yards and five TDs on the year. Herky has also added QB Chase Luebbert to a RB corps that’s been missing Michael Hankins, moving the alternate QB, sophomore Conor Hedrick, behind center. Hedrick has given Herky a boost in quarterback rush yards, and can presumably perform with Luebbert in either QB-RB combo.
It’s good that the Blackcats are tinkering on offense at this time of year, since Herculaneum may be taxed more while trying to score points against Week 7’s opponent than when the ‘Cats are stopping ’em 3-and-out. It’s another night for patience at Blackcat Drive. Remember that Bayless’ seemingly unremarkable “16-0” victory over Grandview came when the Eagles were slightly more intact.
The Bayless Bronchos’ offense remains mired in mistakes, but the school’s defense fought hard in a 35-0 loss to St. Vincent. Herky must protect the egg and be resourceful to strike a four-year-history making triumph. PREDICTION: BLACKCATS 28, BAYLESS 12
Windsor Owls at North County Raiders
It’s last-chance gully for the Windsor Owls! Friday’s contest at North County is the Albino Birds’ final chance to make noise in what could have been a promising 2026 Mississippi Conference trek. The Geek has noticed what he thinks is the biggest flaw in the Owls’ struggling defense, which is that Windsor’s linebackers and defensive backs are too tardy to adjust laterally, when a play changes direction, and they can’t shed blocks well enough to pursue at an angle after it happens. The Owls aren’t devoid of straight-line speed – when an opponent is trying to send WRs streaking up the field for a long pass, Windsor’s defense is often fine. It’s a problem of what happens after a runner’s cutback, or a QB’s unexpected throw to the weak side, that is cursing the Owls.
Perhaps that gives Coach Freeman a canny potential game plan at North County. Instead of adding even more Iron Man minutes to the defense’s lineup, in a vain effort to turn Windsor’s D’ into a faster unit in pursuit, why not load up the offense with as many fast players, tricky calls, special weapons, and ball-control tricks that the Owls have in their Flexbone arsenal? If you control the ball against North County and limit the Raiders’ possession time to say, 20-22 minutes, that’s when NCHS might just self-destruct.
Wyatt Compton’s 2-4 team is feeling better about its offense following the 55-31 outcome at Tiger Stadium. Compton might have a fancy “NFL”-style game plan prepared for QB Braydee McClure this time – no doubt he has spoken to Mr. Will Compton about it and they each notice the same weakness in Windsor’s defense that Mississippi Magazine does. Coach Compton could wind up drawing so many counter-plays and weak-side screen passes into North County’s playbook for Windsor, it’ll look like Thurman Thomas’s selection of plays on Tecmo Super Bowl. NCHS doesn’t want to beat WHS by feeding Noah Lashley – it’s better to be stylish.
Bonne Terre will roar when those plays go for TDs – but not all of them will. Sometimes, the Raiders could be vulnerable to penalty flags as a cross-field play leads to holding and clipping calls, leaving North County no choice except to pass downfield against a sturdier Owls lineup. If North County runs its “fancy” playbook trying for its own 55-point evening, it may not score 31 this time. Windsor, of course, can’t fumble another five times against North County in Week 7, or all of the speculation is a moot point.
Windsor can’t widen its defensive formation to compensate for those slow uptakes, or else Lashley will run all the way up the middle for touchdowns. What the Owls can do is play four-down “Hillsboro 2015” offense and hog the football, leaving McClure’s offense no time to figure it out if Compton counters his own school’s chances to win. PREDICTION: NORTH COUNTY 42, ALBINO BIRDS 26
Photo Credits: Gateway Sports Hub, St. Pius X Football Facebook, CCHS Football Facebook, HUDL