Week 11 “Table of Contests”
Page 1: #5 DeSoto Dragons at #1 Festus Tigers
Page 2: : #3 Principia Panthers at #2 Crystal City Hornets
Page 3: #3 Hillsboro Hawks at #2 Sikeston Bulldogs
Page 4: #3 Seckman Jaguars at #2 Northwest Lions
Page 5: #4 Farmington Black Knights at #1 Fox Warriors
Page 6: #4 Park Hills Central Rebels at #1 St. Pius Lancers
Page 7:#3 Herculaneum Blackcats at #2 St. Clair Bulldogs
Fascination Station: #3 Montgomery County Wildcats at #2 Jefferson Blue Jays
Class 4, District 1 Semifinal: #5 DeSoto Dragons at #1 Festus Tigers
This week is the first time in a long while that we can put a Festus vs DeSoto contest on top of the scroll, and everybody knows it’s not because Festus is our Top Story coming out of the prior weekend. DeSoto was far-and-away the top story of the area on Halloween weekend, scaring the North County Raiders right out of the playoffs behind Cannon Kisner’s record-setting evening.
Now it’s a big-time matchup of Festus and DeSoto. The Tigers and Dragons have been well matched on the field in recent years, but not since Midmeadow Lane blossomed as a state championship contender. This is the first time that the DeSoto Dragons look dangerous enough to spoil a club that’s bearing a long win streak and high hopes. Tigers-Dragons has become serious business!
DeSoto’s got the Week 11 momentum, and the relatively clean bill of health. Linebacker Levi Huck didn’t go missing from the Dragons’ lineup late in the season the way his counterpart Aiden Schirmer did. The Dragons have not only had the same quarterback for 10 games; he also happens to be the most devilish running QB in the county, maybe as good with the football in hand as Blake Goddard or Essien Smith. Festus is performing with so many key Iron Man cogs that to stop No. 1 on Friday may mean making compromises on offense.
Kisner could be the next dual-threat QB to put a hurting on Festus High. It was Jackson’s QB runs for long touchdowns that nixed any chance the ‘25 Tigers had to bother the Indians in the second half, despite keeping up via their own fireworks for a while. In the 2024 state semifinals, Warrenton’s offense was stumped until WHS had to switch to a Wildcat runner, who stole the show, and nearly the victory.
DeSoto’s got a collection of skill players who flipped the field on Festus briefly in the Tigers’ 36-8 conference win this midseason. If the Dragons weren’t growing in the skill department, they wouldn’t have so many Gridiron Geek nicknames by now. You’ve got rushers and receivers like Nolan “The Tonic” Selsor and Damian “The Omen” Pogue, and LaDainian Landon Tomlinson isn’t far behind, should the effective junior ever get his turn at running back.
Pogue and Huck have combined for over 200 total tackles this season. Against the Raiders last Friday, DB Peyson Casey showed that he’s good enough to blanket Braydon Wilkes of the Festus Tigers if needed. The DeSoto defensive front finally looks ready to stand up to the FHS Tigers’ blocking, giving Midmeadow Lane’s feast-or-famine offense at least a few possessions without a fork and knife on Friday. Look beyond the stat line of Huck, and the Dragons are bigger and stouter in the trenches than at any prior point since 2018. The sophomores Caleb Barton and Brian Bell add that much-needed dose of weight to an Iron Man corps led by seniors such as Colin Barton. DeSoto is preparing to try to tackle Kamden Yates, but Yates has an uncertain backfield around him as of Midmeadow Lane’s emergence from the bye week. Junior running back Myles Farries could play a sizable role if Yates has to move around often, presuming that Schirmer’s injury is a serious one. QB Quinnten O’ Brien could be asked to play it safe on passing downs, to keep the opposing Dragons from getting any points-off-turnovers. Or, FHS could decide that Kisner is such an ever-present threat to score a touchdown from anywhere on the field that the Varsity Tigers might as well open up, and try to collectively outscore Kisner’s personal tally as a team.
The Festus Tigers’ chance to begin this postseason flying is largely a mystery, because we do not know how healthy the Black & Gold’s lineup is about to be. Midmeadow Lane’s entire QB-WR-TE-RB combo could change or get adjusted in the District 1 playoffs. Defense is a concern with a critical linebacker missing. But the DeSoto defense remains vulnerable to fast teams that let ‘er fly with a wide-open game plan, as shown by the Dragons’ three conference losses this year. Black & Gold’s best chance for another decisive win over the Dragons may be to come out of the gates swinging, trying to outpace DHS the way that FHS outscored North County and Sullivan in November of 2025.
If Coach Ofodile decides that Kisner is a force-of-nature that can’t really be shut down for 48:00, the Tigers will be likely to take to the air, hit Yates with as many open-field touches as they can, and try to mint a 40-plus point total that no opposing “Jordan Lynch” can surpass without the help of husky, heroic WRs. DeSoto’s talented receiving corps and the Festus receiving corps share many pleasures and problems due to having so many Iron Man kids in critical roles. Yet, Festus can make like Hillsboro at Sikeston this week, and look to snag the INT when Cannon is forced to live up to his nametag on 3rd-and-long. But a defensive backfield led by Yates and WR/DB Max Foglesong is going to need fresh legs to pull that off. The Tigers’ main plan for their own two-way stars potentially will be to try to score so many TDs, so quickly, that nobody can get to feeling too tired.
It’s like a Class 1 scenario in Class 4! Whichever lineup tilts the field in its favor won’t relinquish that edge after a quarter of play this time, since both teams’ scoring punch – and their motor – may depend on taking an early lead and enjoying a favorable substitution scenario, much like in a basketball game. If the final score is a football score, such as “20-14,” then watch out for the DeSoto upset. If it is a basketball score like “63-31,” then there is probably no way that the upset-minded Dragons will stand on the correct side.
The pressure is on the Varsity Tigers to play a clean game and avoid penalty flags. If the Tigers keep the chains moving with a variety of weapons, Yates will be a threat to take his occasional up-the-middle carries to the house as usual, negating any of Kisner’s long TDs. It isn’t automatic that having the best quarterback also gives you the best athlete on the field. PREDICTION: TIGERS 46, DRAGONS 19
Class 1, District 2 Semifinal: #3 Principia Panthers at #2 Crystal City Hornets
MSHSAA is having its finest administrative year ever. Missouri has sanctioned a new “unlimited promotion” rule that will keep private Small Schools from hiring rent-a-team style coaches, knowing that their school could suffer a 15-game losing skid in a far higher weight class after the bomb blows up and the coaches leave town for more money, the exploitative game-rigging fiends that they are. Meanwhile, the association has done something truly great which makes it TWO THOUSAND TIMES simpler to scout opposing rosters such as Principia and Sikeston – and that project was finished during the season.
Just about every Missouri team now has a current, official, reliable, and complete roster – with classes and heights and weights and positions – uploaded to MSHSAA’s site where only the team’s head coach can approve the lineup list. This, friends, means that at last, Missouri football has come into the 21st century. We have stats on athletes from rural counties, sortable looks at each team’s offensive and defensive lines, and just … oh gosh. This is a really big deal, because HUDL and STLToday rosters are known for being incomplete. Let’s try out this miracle, and take a close, accurate look at Principia.
Crystal City will have to cope with Principia’s big-time QB Tristan Coon, throwing to a corps of talented Panthers WRs. 6’4” senior Kingston Money has lived up to his name with 1000+ yards and 17 touchdowns in nine games this season. Coon is working on a potential 3000-yard passing year with 32 touchdown passes so far. There’s no doubt that Principia has had a better year and overachieved compared to Crystal City, despite the programs’ almost-identical losing records. The Panthers scored 42 points against powerful Salisbury, and 70 points against common-opponent Veritas.
Look at that expanded MSHSAA roster of players, though, and it’s clear that the Panthers are working on a wing and a prayer against teams as physical as Jeff County’s cogs. Principia’s two-way line would only average about 185 pounds if not for the presence of the 300-pound Jere “Champion Burger” Ciampitti-Burgert, whose recent contributions appear to have been as spotty as Elias Miller’s roles with the 2025 Hornets. The Panthers likely can’t absorb a single injury to a 200+ pound senior in the trenches, and expect to win a playoff game. The DL’s depth chart is thinner than Crystal’s.
Crystal City’s new game plan of running the rock, physically and obsessively, might give the Hornets an outside chance to upset such a high-scoring team in the semifinals. Principia, with so few sizable linemen to go around, could get worn down to the point where the Panthers can’t stop the Hornets offense any more than the Hornets defensive backfield can shut down the Coon-to-Money connection. Crystal City, despite Bradley’s Farm’s lopsided losses, possesses a running back corps that can reliably gain first downs to grind the clock against Principia, behind an OL that outweighs the Panthers.
Problem is that if the Panthers can score in four plays, while the Hornets need 12 plays at a time to produce a touchdown, that leaves CCHS with a small margin for error. There’s not much of a chance for a host front-seven that has accumulated less than 10 QB sacks on the season to get the kind of edge pressure that would really bother Principia’s aerial attack. The Hornets’ best hope is similar to what the Fox Warriors have to try to do with Farmington, forcing a swift opposing unit to snap the football more often than it’s used to, increasing the chances of that turnover that can put CCHS in business.
Alex Parham is fast enough to cover Money worth a dime. Principia’s goal of winning its next game 200 to 100 could hinge on whether Talon Clayton can blanket Principia’s other dangerous wide receiver, the 5’9” senior speedster Thad Gerdine. It goes without saying that CCHS should play a four-down offense and try to hold onto the ball at all costs – but that doesn’t mean giving up Crystal City’s own developing passing game in the process. Like numerous other JeffCo teams this Friday, the Hornets could be asking for trouble if they run the same plays again and again. To beat Principia, antagonists have to score so many TDs in so many creative ways that a ball-hogging method alone will only run the clock out on a defeat.
At the very least, it should be a fun contest, one in which the Hornets can score points to cap off a Centennial season. If CCHS falls to 2-8 by the type of score The Geek expects, it could still serve as a confidence boost for the offense, and offer a glimpse of Parham’s exciting junior season to come. With 18 players already poised to return, each a year older in 2027, we can look at the bright side of watching Crystal City scoring more points than usual at the tail end of a season. Recall that the 2023 season came close to tanking with two shut-out losses to Herky and Tipton in the span of 21 days. There’s positives in Crystal City’s developing rookies having a bit more fun than that at the end of this one. PREDICTION: PRINCIPIA 62, HORNETS 28
Class 4, District 1 Semifinal: #3 Hillsboro Hawks at #2 Sikeston Bulldogs
In the lingo of British wrestling from the 20th century, Hillsboro at Sikeston is Going to Be a Hum-Dinger. The matchup has all the earmarks of a classic District Semifinal, starting with last season’s surprisingly close encounter between the Hawks’ and Bulldogs’ then-developing squads of underclassmen. HHS and SHS have each made tremendous strides since then, Hillsboro’s starting 4-0 and shooting to the top of at least one Jefferson County Power Poll, while Sikeston was putting together its best season in some time behind the leadership of third-year head coach Jim May.The improved Bulldogs have a “Seckman”-like playbook and an epic run game, scoring six TDs on a Poplar Bluff defense that held FHS and HHS to half that many combined.
Sikeston isn’t just a potential Cinderella team in District 1. The Bulldogs are more like a freight train that’s coming down the tracks, a force that has to be reckoned with due to the Bulldogs’ dogged style of offense, and a strong Sikeston defense that’s been shutting down one average attack after another since the leaves turned. Sikeston does have ONE potential weak point that opponents can attempt to take advantage of – however, the Bulldogs’ smart coaches have devised a game plan that hides that weakness very well, while helping the upstart program’s defense shine behind a collection of 225 to 250-pound SHS bruisers in the trenches – a hefty unit and a quick one.
What’s the Bulldogs’ weakness in the 2026 District Tournament? Before we get to that, get a gander at one of the running backs who has so expertly helped Sikeston ignore its shortcomings and build a watershed 7-2 record this year, the 5’10” senior Kenneth Holcomb.
Leon Hall is good enough to grab a road win over Sikeston and make a bid to win District 1’s title in Week 12. The question of whether Hillsboro’s lineup is healthy enough to do so seemed to be answered by the Hawks’ explosive W from last Friday’s playoff debut. There’s no getting around the notion that it’s impossible to get Hillsboro’s injury report right without nosing in or harassing the coaches, and perhaps not even then. But there’s reason for a fan’s optimism that the Hawks’ dominant late-summer lineup is back on point.
It was cringey, horrible, and absurd to keep mentioning Preston Ross and Cody Reese in Hillsboro’s midseason journal as if they were healthy on the field, and Mississippi Magazine would still owe everyone at HHS an apology – except there were few blunt journalism errors to be sorry for apart from being overambitious trying to relay Hawks information that simply did not exist, at least not in the public sphere. The Geek was worked by Leon Hall’s midseason injury and backfield depth-chart developments. Week 5’s quarterback-duo outlook was Liked and Shared by 0.26 Hillsboro fans, making TGG assume that the Hawks were scared of their dual-quarterback system being reported as a “competition,” and did not want The Geek even bringing up the specter of a Quarterback Controversy. Therefore (DOH!) It was decided Mississippi Magazine would put “Fleming and Reese” together in every suitable spot no matter what TGG recalled from a game, the way that you make sure to mention Valle’s two QBs. There was one long injury-timeout in Week 4’s win over North County when Preston Ross was helped off the field. However, when someone erroneously called Auston Ross by his brother’s name on the next Friday, it seemed to confirm the weird gridiron truth that very painful injuries aren’t as bad as the subtle ones. Preston did rehab quickly, if not with “Aeneas Williams” speed by the same game’s fourth quarter after being helped off the field, because it’s often when players walk slowly to the sideline, tearfully, that they’ve torn ACLs or broken their arms. You can play H-O-R-S-E with a bad ligament – but at the risk of a lifelong disability after one mishap.
Reese appeared to sit on his rump after one play in Week 4’s first half, and a manager ran out to give him a Powerade or something. We should have known -that- was a bad omen, compared to Preston’s “my leg hurts too bad to walk” episode. Whether there was a “dreaded cart” involved in the third quarter that Mississippi Magazine overlooked, or Reese transferred to an academy in South Africa, only the Hawks’ insiders know. On the field, Reese’s extended absence served to poke the avalanche of Hillsboro injury reports that hampered HHS in losses to Festus, Farmington, and Poplar Bluff. Ross, Fleming, Trey Zimmerly, and Landon Gonzales have all gotten dinged. Hillsboro had to improvise its offensive backfield by the regular season’s end, giving Zimmerly one pretty promising chance at QB.
That’s when the second Windsor game happened, and boy, did Blue & White buck the stereotype of injured teams being unlucky to have to play Week 10s! Hillsboro took what could’ve been a tough scenario with Festus and Sikeston getting to sit out Week 10, and turned it into a Get-Well Game in more ways than one, fielding a 95%-back-together lineup that helped Aiden Fleming produce his best aerial night of this season so far. 18 of the starting QB’s 24 intended passes were snagged by Ross, Zimmerly, Ross, and Associates – including the junior Alec Fleming. Zimmerly and Jaydn Rice’s good health increase Nathan Bulback’s value as a utility Iron Man. Even though the Hawks were facing a struggling Windsor brand, it remains impressive that Hillsboro scored 47 points in the first half of the victory.
Don’t worry about Windsor’s record. Compare this Week 10’s Hawks performance with Hillsboro’s regressing teams of October-November from the prior two years. Perryville defeated Windsor 26-8 in Week 10 of 2024, then eliminated Hillsboro’s decimated lineup by a similar 21-7 score the following weekend. Hillsboro labored to beat Sikeston’s losing team of 2025 before getting whitewashed at Festus. It’s crazy-obvious that Fleming’s lineup has found a level far above those district disappointments. Even if Hillsboro had gotten its real ensemble all together and healthy for a practice that looked like last Friday’s tune-up tilt, wow, what a banger of a PRACTICE!
Sikeston’s not hosting the diminished Varsity Hawks of the last two postseasons. The Bulldogs have to deal with the real thing. While a Sikeston defense studded by tall, quick defensive ends such as juniors Jared Waters and Adam Green has had a better year than Hillsboro’s defense, the Hawks’ offense has had more chances to shine and build confidence against quality Large Schools foils. Fans didn’t know how flaky Cape Central was turning out to be when Sikeston got its rivalry win over the Tigers this midseason, as we didn’t know how impressive Hillsboro’s blowouts of Kennett or Bonne Terre were until Kennett and North County combined for 14 wins in 16 other regular-season games. If Dexter and Cape Central have given Sikeston problems, we can assume Kennett and North County would have decent chances against Sikeston. The Varsity Hawks obliterated Kennett via a Turbo Clock score, then went on to eat close to 500 total yards in that 45-13 September thrashing of Bonne Terre.
It’s a trade-off – Sikeston’s offense can certainly score TDs against Hillsboro, and Fleming’s offense can surely find ways to retaliate and score points against the Bulldogs. It still leaves Sikeston in the role of the favored school, playing host to the Hawks after getting a week’s rest. But there remains Sikeston’s one possible Achilles Heel that might just allow 2023’s Class 4 runners-up to trip the pesky Bulldogs. If – and it’s a big if – Hillsboro can force Sikeston into passing scenarios, such as 3rd-down-and-long, the Bulldogs will not be comfortable.
Sikeston’s QB Jayce Drake stands only 5’9”, the “Russell Wilson” of Class 4, District 1, if you will. If that’s a weakness for Mr. Drake, it rarely shows up on Friday nights. Nothing but MAD respect for the successful short quarterbacks of the world – if Sikeston makes a Cinderella run in the state playoffs this season, any opponent that takes Drake lightly due to his height will have a world of problems. However, in this particular Friday night’s case, Hillsboro’s ability to rush the opposing QB could make the Hawks’ defense like the Detroit Lions’ sneaky-good defenses of Motor City’s better teams, one which loses the stat sheet, but wins the scoreboard via turnovers and mayhem.
If the Bulldogs scouted the Hawks well, they’ll be even more paranoid of passing than usual. Kyryn Miller is a special lineman with six sacks in 2026. Fellow upperclassman Dylan Dickemann has been such an active, high motor option for Hillsboro’s defense this year, he’s one of the few JeffCo kids listed as a front-seven and skill player on the internet, depending on where you look. Sikeston’s hefty OL can’t merely plan to block Miller and Dickemann, because there is more pass-rushing talent where they came from on the Hawks’ defense. Junior Eli Petit has made Paree puree of more than one opposing quarterback. So has senior Mason Reiter.
None of that matters if Sikeston runs the ball on 99 plays out of 100. Hillsboro is going to have to do what Poplar Bluff tried to do, stacking the line on Drake and the Bulldogs’ runners, until the opposing team’s play-callers have to kick, scream, throw Skittles, and order up some passes. Sikeston can try their pass-package QB Ty Murray at any time, yet he’s currently stuck in the wrong waggle-and-option system in Mississippi Magazine’s opinion, making the big-armed but slower paced Murray seem too much like Jim Plunkett with the Patriots, when New England would make the future HOF’er execute five option plays in a row, and he would trudge off the field hearing Boston fans yell, “You stink Plunkett, go back tah STAN-FAHD!”
It doesn’t take a Stanford graduate to tell you that if Sikeston’s got a choice between losing to Hillsboro, or doing something other than hand-off up the middle on 4th-and-50, the Bulldogs will have to make compromises in their play-calling, giving HHS a shot to utilize its defense’s strong suit on the edge and in the secondary.
It could help to convince the jury on Hillsboro’s defense this Week 11, through allowing the Hawks to play a simple, physical style at the LOS before calling all hands on deck for blitzes and edge-rushes when the time comes. Head coach Bill Sucharski’s cool, scientific vibe may lead to Hillsboro High backing off and letting Sikeston run the rock too much in the first half, but it’s also likely that an old-school Hawks assistant coach will grab Sucharski at the collar, shouting “STACK THE LINE, THESE GUYS THINK IT’S 1926!!!” and that will take care of that. Hillsboro could mount a comeback win behind the 3-and-outs of an aggressive defense in the second half, giving Fleming too many short-field opportunities for the Bulldogs to resist a receiving corps with two inspired Ross-es in it. The Geek can imagine Miller or Gonzales forcing a game-changing turnover when Sikeston finally has to get fancy. It could take the Hawks everything – plus about 600 tackles of opposing rushers – to get to that moment. PREDICTION: HAWKS 28, SIKESTON 27
Class 6, District 1 Semifinal: #3 Seckman Jaguars at #2 Northwest Lions
It would be a weird dishonor for Northwest and Seckman football to put the Lions-Jags semifinal clash in Page 1 of Week 11’s predictions, or to give the rivalry rumble our longest preview of the week. As much as Meramec football seasons have begun to revolve around Cedar Hill and Imperial meeting each November to decide bragging rights, we don’t want to characterize Cohenn Stark or Brody Kube’s awaited senior years as revolving around one matchup against each other. Each team earned a bye week with a superb regular season. The winner of this Friday’s clash at Northwest advances onward to the Class 6, District 1 final. There’s a massive game to play this weekend, but it’s part of a bigger journey for deserving playoff teams.
How have the lineups changed since last fall, when Northwest won a surprisingly defensive battle 14-7 over Seckman before traveling to The Pit? (One good thing about Jackson’s stadium – it isn’t like the TV show “The Pitt” because the people there can speak English, instead of Snappy One-Liner.) Well, there’s the obvious move to Iron Man football at both programs this year, except that Northwest was already using two-way players more often than the Seckman coaches were comfortable with it. Common sense compelled both teams to go with Class 3-style lineup tactics, as Seckman’s injury cases mounted in September, and Northwest quickly realized that nothing would be as effective as letting Stark and Jeremy Clines rock on multiple units.
Northwest has become a defense-minded team that looks to strike quickly with big plays, hoping to score the winning TD at any random moment while an opposing lineup wastes its time, beating its collective head against a stonewall defense. Scott Gerling’s season-plan hasn’t always worked to perfection. Cedar Hill has pushed-and-pulled its depth chart to enhance the offense, then the defense, and back again, sometimes at the expense of the other contingent on the sideline. If the Lions try to get 30 points, they’re more likely to allow 30 points. When they hunker down, they try to win 17-0.
We shouldn’t rate Northwest down because Oakville turned out so lousy in the playoffs, losing to Lindbergh 21-3. Sure, it was tougher for the Lions to trip the Tigers, but you must consider that Oakville finished Week 9 by literally tripping itself flat on its face, trying to create a viral controversy. OHS coaches ignored their own kicker’s Neymar routine, shouting and pointing at the neutral zone and the Northwest end zone for some reason. Oakville High was so mentally discombobulated after blowing a halftime lead, the Tigers could not even agree on how they supposedly got robbed of a conference title. They were grasping at straws. Week 10’s surprising #4 vs #5 outcome was more about the Tigers’ deteriorating nerves than anything else. No offense, Flyer Nation – but while it was the Lindbergh Flyers who eliminated the pesky Oakville Tigers of 2026, it was the physical NHS Lions who finished them off.
Seckman, in a role reversal from where the Jaguars-Lions matchup was a year ago, is the more vastly skilled and numerous team that has had to deal with injuries and spotty line play, the “Hillsboro” to Northwest’s “Festus” if you will. That’s not the way Seckman-Northwest used to be! Last fall, it was Cedar Hill’s crafty passing offense, paced by WR Omarion Frazier, that pulled the Lions out of a fourth-quarter jam in The Valley’s semifinal match. Northwest was confident enough to defeat Seckman, but the Lions went 1-1 against the Jags, because Seckman was still bigger and stronger.
The Varsity Jaguars are still plenty big and strong. But they’ve gotten dinged by injuries in the rank-and-file, in addition to the high-profile cases at QB early this year, one of which still impacts the rehabbing Cohner Baer. At one point, shortly after the Jags endured their worst loss of the year versus Pattonville, Coach Nick Baer announced on his typically close-to-the-vest podcast that eight of the Jaguars’ scheduled 22 starters were wounded.
Imperial has glued things back together since then. Wow, has it ever! Kube’s return to the fold in Week 7 was revelatory, extending a four-win streak via a “Heavy Metal” 66-6 combined winning margin in the senior’s first two contests back at the helm. WR Nick Weidler took advantage of Kube’s return to set program receiving records, but meanwhile, it put the Jaguars’ 1000-yard rusher Jaxson Jablonski back in a loaded stable of tailbacks and wide receivers. Seckman’s adjusted lineup is a bit more explosive than Northwest’s when it is operating in full gear. It’s still a delicate proposition, though, for The Valley to block and execute Baer’s multiple playbook without 100% health across the hashes, shown by Imperial’s letdown loss to Parkway North in Week 9.
What went wrong for the Jaguars against the Vikings, and does it give Northwest a blueprint to conquer Seckman again? Neither the Vikings or the Jags could get it going in the running game during Parkway North’s 21-14 win which drew the curtain on a Cinderella conference bid for Imperial. Kube was excellent passing the bean as usual, but the Jaguars couldn’t keep possession of the pigskin long enough to keep its WRs hot in the second half. A returning defensive star, Matt Muessig, had just three assisted tackles against pass-happy Parkway North … but two other Jaguars landed sacks.
Kube could be asked to throw twice as often in Cedar Hill this Friday, and not because Seckman is apt to be losing decisively. Seckman’s best chance to beat Northwest is to dazzle Clines’ defense with so many looks, weapons, and plays in the early-going that Gerling’s hand is forced, and Northwest is driven to load up its defense with maximum Iron Man minutes to try to stem that tide. It would make the Stark-Clines combination, not to mention defensive backs like Jax Newcomer, potentially too tired to turn around and do anything special on offense, burning the Lions at both ends.
Northwest can fight back hitting Seckman’s defense where it hurts, slapping the Jaguars with the best opposing ground game that they’ve had to defend since facing Fox on September 25. If Stark can get into his “Cam Newton” groove running for first downs in the opening half, managing an Iron Man battle becomes simpler for the Lions with the aid of ball-control and extra sideline rest for one-way defenders. Seckman needs possession time to get Jablonski rolling as a rusher, since that’s the top ingredient to keeping Kube clean in the pocket all night. Northwest’s pass rush is still decidedly average in most encounters. But if the Lions can pick and choose their spots to blitz on 3rd-and-long, even a golden-glove QB such as Kube can make a costly error.
The Geek’s forecast for the rivalry outcome isssss … It All Depends. If the bout is a low-scoring one, Northwest will be in its comfort zone, and have the slightly better chance to prevail in front of a roaring throng at NHS. If it turns into a shootout of Stark’s bombs and scrambles against the playmaking of Kube, Weidler, and Jablonski, Seckman might have a 51% chance to win while Northwest becomes the thin underdog. All in all, it’s more likely that postseason jitters and a pair of fine defenses will produce the tight kind of tilt that the Lions’ improved muscle up front will flourish in. But there’s incalculable potential ways that the showdown can turn into a total toss-up in Quarter 4 … or in OT. PREDICTION: LIONS 23, JAGUARS 20
Class 5, District 1 Semifinal: #4 Farmington Black Knights at #1 Fox Warriors
Fox versus Farmington ought to be the easiest game on this Friday’s ledger to preview and to forecast. The Warriors and Black Knights had a district playoff battle last November, and it was a tough tussle in which both teams had to play their seniors the whole way. Given that neither school had a tremendous litany of key graduates in May, the prior contest and its stat lines could give Mississippi Magazine a clear bead on C5D1’s possibles.
Trouble is that this Fox-Farmington matchup is upside down and cockeyed from the get-go, and we have to take a moment to explain to newly arriving readers what all the fuss has been about. Fox looked poised to seed either #2 or #3 in Class 5, District 1, with a potential Week 11 semifinal against Cape Girardeau Central that might have given Arnold a garden path to the District Championship Game. In the span of a few bizarre weeks at the end of the regular season, #2 seeded St. Mary’s started to sizzle, and knocked off DeSmet in a landmark STL Metro outcome, while Farmington found a very creative way to forfeit several previous wins and settle for a #4 seed in a district Farmington had led, due to some weird player eligibility snafu.
As a result, Fox High earned its helpful Week 10-11 rest period, and the right to host District 1’s whole shebang, so long as the Warriors win in the semis. However, it’s a troubling trade-off to have the surprise #1 seeded host bid welcoming Farmington, which has turned into more of a powerhouse in 2026.
It’s not wild to think Fox and Farmington have each improved by lengths in the 12 months since they met, but honesty requires admitting that Farmington has been a lot more consistent about proving that. Fox head coach Brent Tinker’s club bettered its results against the Suburban League overall in a 5-4 season, compared to the 2-7 record that the Warriors endured going into last year’s playoffs. Fox performed in two tight games against Northwest and Seckman, defeated Parkway West 27-7 in an impressive midseason effort, led by 191 rushing yards from QB Jude Pribish, and three takeaways by defensive back Nehemiah “Don’t Call Me Jerry” Glanville. But the inconsistent Warriors also let up 391 opposing yards of offense from Kirkwood’s ordinary 2026 lineup in a 35-21 defeat, fell to a Ladue brand they had beaten the prior year, and allowed nine total TDs to four weak opponents.
Farmington might be upset and distracted by the Forfeit ruling, which inspired FHS head coach Brent Eckley to drive to MSHSAA’s office in Columbia and argue on the Black Knights’ behalf this October. (Isn’t there a MSHSAA office in Bonne Terre, also? That’s what some of the association’s socials claim. Maybe they gave the wrong Buccaneer the keys to MSHSAA’s online castle. Or, maybe Eckley wanted to drive as fast as possible down the longest highway to bark at the pesky pencil-pushers, just to prove a point.) But it’s not likely to take the fire out of a special Black Knights lineup. Eckley’s new-and-improved Black Knights are “Realistically 8-1,” boasting magnificent years from QB A.J. Robbins and D1 prospect Josh McCarthy.
There’s no reason Fox can’t peak for this one game, mount a bid to upset Farmington, and render all of the talk of “consistency” into a moot point. They don’t get a Mulligan for a playoff score just because their team had a better record in the regular season. Arnold has become, in The Geek’s opinion, an even more physical football team than it was when Fox racked up 500 yards of offense in last fall’s 49-28 elimination defeat at Farmington’s hands. The St. Pius Lancers, who struggled to defeat a Vianney squad that the Warriors would have a chance to block, batter, and beat by a decisive score, rushed for 323 yards against the 2026 Black Knights, whose defense is exceptionally talented, but isn’t a virtual brick wall like the Hillsboro Hawks of 2022-23.
Defensively, Fox can hope for another big effort from linebacker Gavin Pecoraro following his seven-tackle performance against the Black Knights last postseason. Fellow senior LB Ryan Joggerst had three solo stops, but remained all over the place in last November’s tilt with *14* combined tackles.
Joggerst will get his 100th tackle of the year as soon as he touches Robbins, McCarthy, or another of the Black Knights. That’s yet another milestone for JeffCo’s record-setting run stuffer from the Meramec. But for the Warriors defense, the problem is how much a physical front-seven is going to get the chance to shine against a Farmington offense that’s gotten so tuned into its Air Raid tactics, Farmington doesn’t need to run successfully to win. It’s bananas how few rushing yards the Black Knights produced against SPX’s similar defensive front in Week 7 … but they prevailed 41-20 anyway.
That is what’s scary about Fox having to play Farmington – the visiting Black Knights’ way of finding 5-7 touchdowns no matter how much of a fight the defense puts up. It’s easy to say that Pribish’s legs, the hands of Pecoraro and junior receiver Robbie Twitchell, and a combo of Joggerst and speedy sophomore Jacob Edwards in the backfield comprise Fox’s best chance to upset Farmington, a unit that can control the ball, account for long-drive touchdowns as usual, and just limit Robbins’ chances to go out and get another 40-50 points. But if Joggerst looks very fresh on offense, it could correspond to the fact that Fox’s linebackers won’t be useful in full formation against Farmington’s 5-wide WRs. Farmington’s ability to force its antagonists to change their defense to a “Nickel” or “Dime” setup, taking linebackers off the field, hits the Fox Warriors’ strength right in the gut.
Glanville’s turnover chain, if he gets to wear it again in Week 11, could be the straw that stirs the drink for Fox’s upset hopes. Nothing would set the Fox playoff crowd alight on a chilly night like a Farmington turnover. It’s up to Tinker to shift his defense around to get the most out of crafty pass-rushers such as the senior Cole Theobald, and set up Glanville to have the freedom to hawk the ball, without utilizing Joggerst’s linebacking corps as the top option on snaps for which Farmington’s arena-football style makes having seven big guys up front into a taboo. Maybe The Geek’s worst error of this preseason turns out to be correct after all, and Fox’s big LBs will take turns playing “Seth Joyner” defensive back, just to stay on the field against the Knights.
It’s regretfully likely that Fox’s long possessions will turn into episodes, while Farmington’s great offense benefits from its penchant for scoring on just a few rapid plays each time it converts, making it less likely that the evening’s chill will cause the Black Knights to bobble the bean. The Geek has a bad dream in which Fox drives down the field to potentially take a lead at the halftime break, only for the inexperienced Edwards to have an option pitch careen over his head, leading to a scoop-and-return for the Knights that triggers the avalanche of a decisive defeat for the Dirty Dozen. But if the misfortune befalls Farmington, Pribish’s gutsy gang could make things VERY interesting. PREDICTION: FARMINGTON 54, WARRIORS 21
Class 3, District 2 Semifinal: #4 Park Hills Central Rebels at #1 St. Pius Lancers
It may not be a full-fledged “Upset Alert,” but it’s an UPSET FANS alert for sure. St. Pius X’s injury and lineup woes have gotten worse at an unlucky time. Suddenly, the Lancers-Rebels rematch, in which Mississippi Magazine would have forecasted another romp for the SPX Lancers, has become an intriguing District 2 semifinal, one that puts the Lancers on the brink of surrendering a fantastic season far too early.
Hill Valley’s seminal tailback Cody Shaver is out due to accumulated 15-yard conduct flags. RB Brody “Remember Me” Ervin is remembering to purchase Advil, essentially listed “doubtful” for Week 11 with a painful ankle wound. TE Landon Mercer, a junior who Coach Frank Ray calls one of the most skilled blockers in 2026’s lineup, is sick with a virus, and knocked out of district action. Jackson Jercinovic is still at just 85% or 90%. Defensively, not only is Shaver missing, but S Lynnden McCoin has an ailing joint, and DT David Schulte has a hurting foot.
Wouldn’t you know, Park Hills Central has gotten a bunch of players back, just as St. Pius X hits what will hopefully prove to be Hill Valley’s low point in this fall’s injury crisis. Junior QB Brody Pigg is playing happily in the slop again (and on sunny days, too), to go with several returning names on the line and in the Rebels’ offensive backfield. 4-6 Park Hills has won three out of six games since falling 54-0 at Father Dalton II this September, losing to Dexter’s 6-4 club just 28-16 in one impressive effort, then improving to 2-0 versus Potosi in last weekend’s quarterfinals.
Making things worse is that Park Hills’ coaching staff is so good as to be insidious, and they recognize when there is a chance for a great upset over a team that the Rebels lost to during the season. It was 2022 when the Central Rebels lost to Valle Catholic 40-30 in Week 6, a contest which the Rebels became so convinced they had blown their opportunity to prevail in that they took a freeze-frame of its midgame scoreboard, with CHS ahead 30-21, and stickered it all over the campus. Later, the Rebels performed lights-out and beat Valle Catholic by that exact score, 30-21, for the district championship. “Men, if you don’t believe in God,” HC Kory Schweiss gushed to his team in postgame, “I don’t know what to tell ya.”
The Geek is not ready to favor Park Hills over St. Pius in this Friday’s rematch, no matter how healthy the Rebels are, or how banged-up the Lancers may be. The Lancers blocked the Rebels to smithereens this September, averaging around 15 yards-per-snap with seniors on the field. Backup RBs Cole Pavlovits, Dawson Litterall, and Javier Pulido have combined to average 10+ YPC and produce three touchdowns on limited touches this year.
QB Evan Eckrich will look to the one position where St. Pius has gotten healthier – the receivers. It’s time for Wyatt Harris to rekindle some of his mojo from last year’s Class 2 quarterfinals, in which the TE and WR’s clutch downfield hands helped get the Lancers going against the Montgomery County Wildcats. If Harris and Litterall can give Eckrich open targets, that will give WR Harrison Ray the rare opportunity to operate in single coverage, or at least non-obsessive double coverage. If Ervin can play, he ought to be a “Bronco Nagurski” 4th-down specialist RB. However, the healthier Pavlovits has already split out to snag four catches and a receiving TD this campaign.
St. Pius X could be in the weird spot of having to spread out its offense to avoid turnovers. If Eckrich distributes the pigskin to Ray, Harris, and Litterall in a roughly equal balance, the Lancers can feel assured that such ingrained, reliable performers will not surrender a costly rash of fumbles, or balls batted up in the air. Friday may offer just as good of an opportunity to shift back into the Wishbone and give an underclass runner the chance to get hot, but SPX’s youngsters are too used to daylight, and less experienced in a playoff-game scenario of short carries and greedy hands clutching at the ball in the pile. Dishing out 40+ tough, short rushes to Week 11’s temporary backfield could invite giveaways by Quarter 4.
For the defense, the path to another shut-out performance is a dicey one. Shaver and Ervin’s Iron Man engine churns both ways for the Lancers. Schulte is the Plan A nose tackle and Jercinovic is the Plan B nose tackle, but the Lancers’ front is so injured from A-to-Z that what was once a glowing strength is a cause for concern. Neither man may be well enough to play both ways against Park Hills. The luxury of the Texas Roadhouse playbook, with Schulte as the Iron Man, could give way to good old hard-earned yardage on Friday, carefully orchestrated to keep the wide receivers as busy as the running backs.
But there’s a way Mississippi Magazine’s readers can help the St. Pius Lancers survive the Perfect Storm, defeat Park Hills for a second time, and advance to the District 2 finals. GO TO THE GAME and pack out Father Dalton II like it hasn’t been packed out yet – BIGGER than the crowd for the Farmington and Valle dates. Pack our newest stadium to the gills – and scream your keyster off for the Lancers when you’re there. Not for the usual reasons of supporting the kids, or screwing up CHS’s offense with all of the noise. For a different reason!
It’s funny because The Geek has been waiting to bring up the recent, iconic sporting events on TV. USA-vs-Canada in Olympic hockey seemed like a good Mississippi Magazine topic because it was instructive to our local coaches, or any coaches for that matter. Jon Cooper of Canada coached one of the worst tournaments that The Gridiron Geek ever saw, beginning many months before Milano-Cortina 2026. Canada’s coaches lied to their players, the media, and the world about Sidney Crosby’s health, including on the night before the final. Canada’s poor attitude toward international 3-on-3 overtime is also stupid, petulant, and self-destructive – practically speaking it puts the Canadians behind 0-1 before the first period begins! Team USA was nervous and tired for the final, or Mike Sullivan’s lineup might have defeated Cooper’s snotty, delusional version of Team Canada by three goals in regulation.
But gosh, there’s no call for bad coaching notes at a time like this. Schweiss and Coach Ray’s credentials are among MSHSAA’s absolute best. We’ve got several Show-Me Bowl head coaches toiling in this week’s batch of eight bouts – and we’re pretty sure none of them are going to shout “WE’RE DOWN 0-7 ALREADY! MSHSAA’S OVERTIME IS NOT REAL FOOTBALL!” in their pregame speeches.
A better reference for today is the Curse of Danhausen, since Danhausen’s curse of the New York Knicks’ foes showed how a crowd’s belief can take on a life of its own. The curse was just words out of a wrestler’s mouth when the Knicks’ playoff winning streak began. By the time they had won six times in a row, Karl-Anthony Towns was throwing WWE parties for 1000 people at a time. Danhausen, as a performer and not a character, successfully gambled when he made his Curse. Once the streak got rolling, suddenly the Knicks -and- their opponents began to believe something amazing was taking place.
That’s the vibe Hill Valley needs to manufacture when Park Hills Central visits on Friday. Park Hills’ veteran athletes will hardly be scared, intimidated, or lazy at any point in the semifinal, even against a team that they’ve lost to by 50 points previously. But the Rebels are smart enough to look around a stadium and realize when something special is happening, and that they are not up against another Valle-2022, regardless of the Lancers’ injury woes. TGG wants to hear Lancer Nation screaming and shouting after every 5-yard carry for one of its backup running backs. Throw a fit in the bleachers every time Harrison Ray touches the ball, the way that Arizona’s fans used to do for Larry Fitzgerald. Treat every sack, tackle-for-loss, and incomplete Park Hills pass like it’s the fourth quarter of the Cowboys against the Giants, because it has been a giant leap forward for JeffCo ‘26 to contend as much as it has while coping with severe injury problems. The Lancers can underline that theme with a playoff victory this weekend, but they’ve got to believe, too.
Absent players? HA. Missing players hasn’t caused the Dirty Dozen to skip a beat in ‘26! Who knew Jaxson Jablonski would have a 1000-yard rushing season … as a substitute quarterback? Jablonski wasn’t the starting quarterback at Seckman. He wasn’t a backup quarterback at Seckman, for crying out loud. In a hotbed where ‘QB’ Trey Zimmerly has handed off to various wide receivers, and the HHS Hawks still look like a hope to play in the Class 4 District Finals, the Week 11 loss of Shaver and Ervin is nothing that should cause 2025’s state runners-up to lose. Not if the Lancers’ live crowd is there to remind Blue & Gold that they’ve got two remarkable seasons on the mantle. Go bonkers for SPX at Father Dalton II. It could have a real impact this time.
Recall when one of KSDK’s videos on the 2025 Varsity Lancers cut off with a bloop, blip, and bleep after 39 seconds, due to some defect? Coach Ray said, “They go nuts for us here now! Heck, I’ve seen ‘em –BLIP– …” and it was all the skipper got to say. Ticket buyers need to pick up where that left off, and make SO much bedlam versus CHS that whatever Ray’s “seen ‘em” do before will be pattycake. Remind the Lancers who they are, as a team, and it won’t take Shaver’s standard-issue 200 rushing yards to win and advance. Potosi’s point total of 13 against Park Hills could be at least doubled by SPX’s patchwork lineup with Eckrich at the wheel. But be warned – the passionate Rebels will squeeze all they can out of every possession, and even every conversion attempt. PREDICTION: LANCERS 26, CHS 16
Class 3, District 2 Semifinal: #3 Herculaneum Blackcats at #2 St. Clair Bulldogs
So, it’s time for another Dunklin defeat in the semifinals, isn’t it? The Varsity Blackcats have boasted their usual Week 10 win over an overmatched rival, Herky coaches fearfully dialing-up about 40 running plays in a row to get another precious playoff W in the bag. St. Clair, a 6-3 club that’s gone toe-to-toe with the Mississippi Conference in 2026, is here to remind Herculaneum that it still has a long way to go in attempting to build a legit Class 3 contender.
Ahh, but this is a new postseason, and St. Clair is not hosting your mama’s Herky Blackcats this week! The River Flat Cats, dare we say it, seem to be peaking at just the right time to make noise in Class 3, District 2. Better yet, it’s not just a flourish of skill-player TDs, but a renaissance in the trenches.
Herky’s big line has begun to put big performances on the ledger. Ayden Bowling’s group of oversized felines held DeSoto’s breakout offense to just 17 points on DHS Senior Night, boosted by seven solo tackles by unheralded sophomore LB Mason Harris. As Connor Jenkins of Live Stream STL’s blog points out, HHS went on to play way more dominant defensive pigskin against Lutheran South, giving LSHS a grand total of 0 yards on its 18 carries. Herculaneum’s sensational substitute QB Conor Hedrick is averaging a bananas 10.4 YPC, thanks in part to R-5’s exceptional run-blocking effort.
Meanwhile, the St. Clair Bulldogs have lost some of their momentum from earlier this fall. The Bulldogs were gashed by North County’s running game in a 38-27 October loss to the Raiders – recall that North County didn’t have any more success against DeSoto than Herky late this year, thus Herky already knows that it can hang with teams like DeSoto and North County, and that the Raiders win over the Bulldogs helps give the Blackcats a blueprint. St. Clair’s defense is vulnerable to Herky’s stable of rushers, having allowed even Pacific’s pedestrian offense to gallop for 250 rush yards in Week 3.
St. Clair’s offense is a little more balanced than it has been in past years, thanks to the arm of senior QB Jude Dierker. However, the Bulldogs still rely on the running game to move the chains consistently. While it’s scary for Herky to face another six-win team that loves to pound opponents into the turf, it’s also an opportunity for Herculaneum to claim Friday’s edge as the favorite to win early in the contest. If the Blackcats manage to stuff the Bulldogs’ rushes, St. Clair could find out that it’s just as hard to throw late-down passes against a “committee” edge-rush than versus one dominant DE.
If only Herky had an aerial arsenal of its own! It stinks that just when the Blackcats are on the cusp of a district title bid, the ‘Cats are less balanced with the ball than ever, failing to get a single receiver in the 100+ yard category this season. We’re not saying that Herky will need trick plays and long bombs to score points against St. Clair. But the Bulldogs’ defense can seek the same goal as the Blackcats. If they stop the run, Herky has nothing to turn to.
It’s probably going to result in a low-scoring outcome, one that does give Herky a terrific shot to win and advance to the District Championship Game at either St. Pius or Park Hills Central. Each offense may move the chains, then labor to try to convert 70 yards down the field once there. The home-field advantage of St. Clair, plus Herky’s issues traveling, keep this prediction from being an Upset Special. PREDICTION: ST. CLAIR 20, BLACKCATS 13
Fascination Station: #3 Montgomery County Wildcats at #2 Jefferson Blue Jays (C2D2 Semifinal)
Well now, here’s a fascinating contest at Blue Jay Way that we don’t want lost in this week’s Large School hullabaloo. Montgomery County is starting to get familiar with the Tri-Cities. Jefferson, having won a landmark conference title in Week 9, wants to get back to the familiar realm of Week 11 action.
Leading with Jefferson’s historic-first trophy ceremony, as opposed to the Week 9 conquest itself, might be a left-handed compliment to the 6-3 Blue Jays. Of course Jefferson won a QCC championship – it was bound to happen in any year! Before the QCC, the Blue Jays played in Valle’s league a long time, in which The Geek considered JHS to have won the I-55’s “Publics” championship a time or two.
But an opponent like Montgomery County offers faint echoes of C2D2’s favored Valle Warriors, since it’s in rural Missouri’s “County” schools where you see teams benefit from the fact that not every campus close by – not that there are that many – has a flourishing sports program. It’s hard to beat all of the teenage football players from a county. The St. Pius Lancers found that out when they hosted MCHS in a postseason bout last fall, laboring to an ugly 0-0 halftime score with the defensive-minded Wildcats.
Montgomery County arrives in R-7 with a 6-4 record, aided by a Q-Final forfeit from the Confluence Prep Titans, which the Wildcats would have beaten anyway. Led by junior QB Jackson Benney, the Wildcats have put performances on the board that rival some of Jefferson’s better outcomes this year, such as defeating Hermann 36-6 to begin the season. MCHS is 5-2 without a blowout loss since Week 3.
However, there is evidence that Jefferson may be seeing Montgomery County at the right moment to claim a decisive victory. Sam Kerley and the Blue Jays are peaking in execution while Wildcats’ coaches wonder what happened to their stubborn defense of 2025. With a pair of the Wildcats’ most promising defensive upstarts (based on their measurables), McCullie Schluss and Drake Monsen, each in their sophomore years, it doesn’t leave much size up the middle to help stuff an opponent’s ground game, and give upperclassmen Dallas Hans and Jack Barker a chance to rush the pocket against an offense as sturdy as Jefferson’s in 2026.
Aiden Kentch could finally get his wish to be a 110% running back and gobble up every yard, since the Blue Jays of Week 11 may think like the Herky Blackcats of Week 10, and decide not to risk much through the air if the running plays are working against porous defense. Louisiana tripped Montgomery County by two touchdowns in Week 9. Considering the similarities between the likely C1D2 champs and C2D2 runners-up, we’ll call for Jefferson to do the same. PREDICTION: BLUE JAYS 27, MCHS 13
Photo Credits: Gateway Sports Hub, Ty Ferrell Facebook, St. Pius X Football Facebook, Montgomery County HS Facebook