The Festus Tigers look poised to return to the Class 4 state playoffs. A distract bracket that seemed terrifying on behalf of Hillsboro, DeSoto, North County, and even Sikeston as of August has turned into a morass of riff-raff below the #1 seeded Black & Gold. Hillsboro, DeSoto, and Perryville finished the regular season having regressed from their high marks earlier in the year, Hillsboro losing three straight to go 4-5 while DeSoto followed its watershed Week 7 with a dreadful loss to Potosi. In comparison, the Tigers are on fire, scoring another seven Ws from Midmeadow Lane’s toughest two-year schedule ever put together. Parker Perry’s offense might be R-6’s best of the decade, which is saying something.
Stop those paws, and the presses. The ease and disparity of this year’s tournament could become a problem for the boys. Recall that Week 11 of last year was when the Tigers began to feel overconfident (here’s a story on it from a “credible source,” okay Ray?) and that’s something FHS absolutely can’t afford this November 7. Most probably, the dangerous Hillsboro Hawks are coming to town again, just two weeks after Festus High School was embarrassed by visiting Jackson in the second half.
A semifinal scrap with Hillsboro would reset everything for the Festus Tigers, for good and bad. Meanwhile, DeSoto is set for a heck of a gamble that might just pay off.
Class 4, District 1 Tournament Seeds and Opening Round Games
Week 10 District Quarterfinals (October 31):
#1 Festus Tigers (Bye)
#2 Perryville Pirates vs #7 Windsor Owls
#3 DeSoto Dragons vs #6 North County Raiders
#4 Hillsboro Hawks vs #5 Sikeston Bulldogs
Jackson’s visit in Week 9 represented the Festus Tigers’ second of two Class 4 Show-Me Bowl level opponents in three weekends. As poorly as the Tigers started against DeSmet on October 10, they started out in fantastic form against the Jackson Indians. Jackson Frank and Kamden Yates took two of Jackson’s first four kickoffs back to the house for six points each in one of the best displays of FHS special teams on record. Perry piloted a smooth early drive for a TD, while Yates flashed the potential as a pure rusher that he demonstrated against the world-class DeSmet Spartans of 2024 in last year’s memorable Senior Night clash. Jackson and Festus were shockingly tied at 21 after 14:00.
That’s when Drew Parsons’ offense got upset, and schooled Week 9’s defense in midgame like SPX-of-KC schooled another set of Tri-City tacklers the previous weekend. Jackson roared to a 41-point victory with an offense that rarely needed more than five plays to score, reeling off explosive plays by ground and air on every single turn except for one opening scoring drive in which the Tigers restrained the ‘Injuns. Jackson went crazy for quick points on its second through its ninth possession until penalty flags finally slowed JHS down. Parsons’ last long TD run went 75 yards without an R-6 player coming within five yards of him. The Festus defense was fried, baked, roasted, and toasted.
Midmeadow Lane’s offense is a machine in 2025. For the Tigers to have success on defense is a more delicate proposition. Festus flourishes when the Tigers force takeaways, yet it’s hard to grab turnovers when every good play turns into a touchdown for your opponents. Black & Gold’s defense was stout enough to shut down DeSmet for three-and-outs.in Week 7 – it’s also shaky enough on the back end to give up easy TD passes to DeSoto on a bad day. The Geek isn’t amused when kids say things like “We played badly against Jackson, then we played well against Affton,” because they are talking about attempting to climb Pike’s Peak followed by a stroll up Buck’s Knob. However, the Tigers were so fundamentally helpless to restrict Jackson’s good plays to 5-to-20 yard gains – as opposed to easy TDs – that the team’s defensive pursuit needs some work no matter who manufactured all those green-pasture gallops against FHS last Friday. As was the case last Halloween, the boys have to renew their efforts on defense at a scary time.
Festus is unlucky to draw a potential rematch with Hillsboro in Week 11. Then again, the psychological reset of playing a crosstown rival would help snap to the Varsity Tigers out of any complacency. As the Herky and Festus football mogul Chris Glaze once told The Geek sagely, you can throw out everything that you think you know when the Hawks and the Tigers meet up. But a semifinal victory over HHS would give Festus pigskin a dose of momentum and confidence going into the title tilt to follow.
Hillsboro can be happiest of all about the fresh start offered by Week 10’s tourney brackets. Braxton Chazelle and the Hawks held a 14-7 lead over the solid Poplar Bluff Mules last weekend, and they’re likely to produce another one against the 3-6 Sikeston Bulldogs this Friday night. Yes, it’s true that Hillsboro would have a better chance to defeat a #2 or #3 seed in the semifinals than they’ll have against #1 if Sikeston can’t pull off an upset of the slumping Blue & White. We’re still thinking that the best way for Hillsboro to gather its momentum back is to enjoy a tune-up win over the #5 seeded Bulldogs, then knock off the favored Festus Tigers in an outcome that would echo across Missouri. If those circumstances occur, then whoever met Hillsboro in Week 12’s final would be nibbling at their nails even more than FHS does when Hillsboro comes up on the slate.
DeSoto’s head coach Russ Schmidt just made one of his most important decisions since taking the helm at Joachim Junction, and we hope for the Dragons’ sake that everything works out. DeSoto – to the best of TGG’s understanding – could have chosen to forego cashing-in its head-to-head win over Hillsboro to jump over the Hawks, who finished #3 in District 1’s standings, and to seed #4 where the Hawks are now. Schmidt chose the conventional – but in this case risky – route of jumping up to #3. It offers DeSoto a way more difficult Week 10 semifinal against visiting North County, a team that vanquished the Varsity Dragons earlier this season, as opposed to a scrum against #5 Sikeston. But the possibilities for a big payoff are there. If DeSoto won Week 10 as a #4 seed, the Dragons would draw a nearly-unwinnable date against a well-rested Festus team. In the alternative setup of DeSoto berthed in its current #3 seed, the Dragons could earn an easier semifinal contest against Week 2’s victim Perryville, or even #7 Windsor.
QB Jett Black and the Windsor Owls are still looking the role of a regressed team in October. Windsor rolled up 438 rushing yards against the overwhelmed Bayless Bronchos in Week 9 and somehow still wound up with four pass attempts for two (2) yards and an interception. Black’s got 21 completitions on the year, not bad for a first-year starter in a stubborn earth-bound offense like Windsor’s, making it a sign of the team’s static progression that the Owls couldn’t do anything through the air against a weak team. The Perryville Pirates must be favored by 14 points over Windsor in Week 10 … but the Owls’ style of offense is also known to sneak up and produce upsets out of nowhere.
Vianney feels like the District 2 representative that’ll face whichever Mississippi Conference District 1 team who lifts the trophy on November 14. While only 3-6 overall so far, Vianney’s Golden Griffins have beaten St. Francis of Borgia and District 2 rival Union High School while having exciting games with DeSmet, SLUH, and Chaminade. Vianney’s quarterback Sam Deen has thrown for over 2000 yards on the season. Deen’s receivers Noah Williams and Anthony Cullen have combined for over 1000 yards and 13 TDs. Meanwhile, the rest of District 2 has failed to establish any other schools as state contenders next to Vianney. Sullivan, the #2 seed, lost to Northwest by 50 points.
CLASS 4, DISTRICT 1 PREDICTIONS:
DISTRICT CHAMPION: FESTUS TIGERS
RUNNER-UP: DESOTO DRAGONS
Photo Credits: Purchased from Rivals (Pixieset), Perryville Pirates Facebook