Workhorses: Week 6 in Jefferson County Football

A note in the margin of the Live Stream STL crew's score sheet framed it: this is the year the big schools found small-school workhorses. Friday proved it up and down the county. Kamden Yates carried 29 times for 341 yards — the top single-game rushing total on the Post-Dispatch honor roll this season — and Festus clinched the Mississippi Area Red Conference with three weeks to spare. Cannon Kisner ran for 216 and threw for two more scores. Jude Pribish carried Fox past a 5-0 Parkway West that hadn't allowed a point in three games. Jaxon Jablonski, Cohenn Stark, Zac Kem and Cody Shaver combined for 14 touchdowns. And Jefferson's Logan Young, a freshman by the Live Stream STL crew's roster, threw a 55-yard touchdown pass and intercepted three. The scores were lopsided. The workloads were the story.

Week 6 by the numbers

• 341 — rushing yards on 29 carries for Festus's Kamden Yates against North County, the top single-game total on the Post-Dispatch honor roll this season, 34 past Cody Shaver's 307.
• 172.1 — Quinnten O'Brien's passer rating, No. 1 in the area among passers with 45 or more attempts: 33 of 45 for 636 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception.
• 5 — interceptions credited to Jefferson's Logan Young in the last two weeks, two of them returned for touchdowns.
• 7 — carries, for 7 yards, by Windsor's Jett Black and Jack Kuda combined at home against Hillsboro. They came in with 1,288 rushing yards between them.
• 6 — takeaways by Northwest at Parkway South, five of them interceptions.
• 127 — passes Eureka's Zac Kem has thrown this season without an interception.

Festus: 341 yards, a conference title, and a defense that finally bent

Festus 55, North County 31, and the Tigers finished league play 4-0 — champions of the Mississippi Area Red outright, because nobody else can do better than 3-1. It's a third straight conference title and the fourth in seven seasons; as the Leader noted in August, Festus and Hillsboro are the only two of the league's five schools that have ever won it. The night belonged to Kamden Yates — 29 carries, 341 yards, three touchdowns, 11.8 a carry, per the box score Festus posted to the Post-Dispatch database (the Daily Journal counted 347 on 31) — and either number tops the Post-Dispatch honor roll for 2026. The touchdowns went 80, 51 and 54 yards by the Daily Journal's count. Festus recovered two onside kicks in the first half, per the Daily Journal, ran for 458 yards as a team and finished with 628. Quinnten O'Brien threw nine times, completed six, and three went for touchdowns — 23 and 25 yards to Braydon Wilkes, 36 to Dylan Clinton. The wrinkle is the other column. It was 49-21 at halftime, and North County's Braydee McClure threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns, per the Daily Journal, the last a 62-yarder to Jaxon Scherffius that made it 49-31. Yates answered on the next snap from scrimmage. The 31 points were more than Festus had allowed in its first three league games combined (14), the most by any opponent since opening night and the most by a league opponent since Hillsboro's 42 in 2023; an interception — credited to Carter Rush in the box score and to Dylan Clinton by the Daily Journal — an Antonio Pinkston fumble recovery and three sacks kept it a rout anyway. Festus is 4-2, has beaten North County seven straight times, and the conference is done.

Hillsboro's answer was a zero

A week after being shut out at home, Hillsboro went to Windsor and did the shutting out: 41-0, 28-0 by halftime, on just 222 yards of offense. The defense recovered five fumbles. Preston Ross, back after missing Week 5, recovered two of them, returned one 37 yards for a touchdown and added a rushing score; Auston Ross — his brother, per the Live Stream STL crew — recovered a third. Aiden Fleming (10 of 16, 79 yards, a touchdown) still hasn't thrown an interception in 66 attempts. Windsor finished with 182 yards, 102 of them on Teagan Gannon's 28 carries. The Owls have lost four straight, allowing 180 points in the slide, and Hillsboro hasn't lost to Windsor since 2007. Hillsboro is 5-1 and 2-1 in the league.

Jefferson's Logan Young: one pass, three picks

Jefferson 35, Perryville 7, and the box score belongs to Logan Young. A freshman by the Live Stream STL crew's roster, in his first varsity season, Young threw one pass all night — a 55-yard touchdown, on a flanker double-pass per the Live Stream STL crew — and intercepted three on defense, returning two of them 80 yards. He has also caught three touchdown passes this season. Evan Botkin caught two passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns and added an interception; Sam Kerley went 4 of 8 for 66 and two scores and ran twice for 61 yards. Aiden Kentch carried 19 times for 110 and two touchdowns. Jefferson piled up 376 yards, led 29-7 at halftime on the Live Stream STL ticker, snapped Perryville's two-game hold on the series, and is 4-0 in Quad County play having outscored the league 146-33. The Blue Jays are 4-2.

Kisner: 216 yards, four touchdowns, and a record

De Soto 33, Fredericktown 8. Cannon Kisner ran 16 times for 216 yards and two touchdowns, threw for 91 and two more, and — per the Live Stream STL crew — became De Soto's career leader in rushing touchdowns. In two weeks the junior has 389 rushing yards on 27 carries, 14.4 a carry, plus five touchdown passes on 18 attempts. De Soto has won two straight and sits 3-3.

Fox beat the unbeaten with 46 runs

Parkway West came to Arnold 5-0 with three straight shutouts and 31 points allowed all season. Fox ran the ball 46 times for 321 yards and won 27-7. Jude Pribish carried 22 times for 191 yards and three touchdowns — from the 1, the 12 and the 6 — and Ryan Joggerst added a 2-yard score to go with 58 rushing yards and 12 tackles. The defense took the ball away five times, three of them by Nehemiah Glanville — an interception and two fumble recoveries — with Gavin Pecoraro and Carson Younger recovering one each. It was 7-7 at halftime; Fox scored the last 20, one of the touchdowns capping a 99-yard drive. Pribish has scored on the ground in four straight games and has 601 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the season; Brent Tinker told KJFF he had challenged his defensive line and secondary, and both answered. A week after outgaining Seckman and losing in overtime, the Warriors are 3-3.

Seckman: a shutout, a 58-yard run, and somebody else throwing touchdowns

Seckman 28, Hazelwood Central 0 — the Jaguars' first shutout of the season — and Jaxon Jablonski's third start at quarterback looked like his second: 17 carries, 147 yards, touchdown runs of 2 and 58. The passing touchdown came from somebody else — Nick Weidler threw it, 22 yards to Logan Harris — and Jablonski's own passing (5 of 8, 35 yards, two interceptions) is still the work in progress. Chase Borawski made 12 tackles. Seckman is 5-1. And the Suburban Red got interesting while the Jaguars weren't looking: Pattonville, which shut them out 35-0 two weeks ago, lost 38-35 at Ritenour on Saturday and dropped to 1-1 in the pool — level with Seckman, behind 2-0 Ritenour and Parkway North. Seckman still plays both.

Stark threw it, and Northwest took it away six times

Cohenn Stark had thrown for 518 yards in five games. He threw for 253 in one Friday — 12 of 19, with touchdowns of 62 yards to Kaleb Belcher, 22 to Jeremiah Clines and 12 to Braydon Jones — and ran 33 yards for a fourth score in a 41-13 win at Parkway South. The defense did the rest: five interceptions, two by Jones, and a Clines fumble recovery — six takeaways. Northwest led 27-7 at halftime, is 5-1 with three straight wins, 3-0 in the Suburban Orange alongside Oakville, and has allowed 63 points in six games.

Kem, Harris and 55 at Eureka

Eureka 55, Marquette 28, and Zac Kem accounted for five touchdowns without a mistake: 16 of 18 for 187 yards and three scores, 15 carries for 132 and two more. Curtis Harris ran 14 times for 108 and two touchdowns, and a 21-point third quarter turned a 27-20 game into a rout. Eureka is 5-1, winners of four straight since the one-point loss to Hannibal.

Shaver, Ray, and 306-26 over five weeks

St. Pius X 46, Lutheran St. Charles 6. Cody Shaver carried 16 times for 180 yards and three touchdowns, which moves his season to 1,341 yards on 94 carries — 14.3 a carry — with 20 rushing touchdowns and 136 points, still first in the area in both. Harrison Ray caught five passes for 151 yards from Evan Eckrich (8 of 15, 197 yards). The Lancers are 5-1 and have outscored their last five opponents 306-26.

Quad County: Herculaneum ran for 404

Herculaneum 49, Grandview 0, and the Blackcats ran it 36 times for 404 yards — 11.2 a carry. Luke Smith ran eight times for 130, Conor Hedrick four times for 109, Gabe Vincent twice for 52, and Austin Brinkley scored three times. It was 28-0 late in the second quarter on the Live Stream STL broadcast and 41-0 midway through the third. Herculaneum is 3-3 and has won two straight by a combined 84-8; Grandview is 0-6, outscored 252-40.

St. Vincent reset after Valle: 35-0 over Bayless, with the Indians holding Bayless to 123 yards and four passing yards on six completions. It was Senior Night and, per MaxPreps, a seventh straight home win, a week after Tim Schumer told the Republic Monitor, "Our response to this game will define our season." St. Vincent is 3-0 in the league with 119 points scored and 7 allowed, and the Oct. 23 trip to 4-0 Jefferson holds. Cuba snapped a two-game skid against the Pleasant Hope co-op, 44-0, behind Ethan Noltkamper's 137 yards. And Crystal City ran into Salisbury, No. 2 in Class 1 in the Missouri Media poll and now 6-0, and lost 66-0; the Hornets are 1-5.

Around the Suburban

Rockwood Summit scored 21 in the first quarter and beat Lafayette 33-14 behind McCoy Brown's 18-of-25, 256-yard, three-touchdown night and four takeaways, including Aiden Dooley's 64-yard interception return. Oakville scored 28 in the first quarter and 48 by halftime in a 51-0 win over Webster Groves — Andrew Ziegler had three sacks — to reach 5-1. And the Suburban's biggest result came Saturday: Ritenour 38, Pattonville 35, on freshman Tavion Gardner's late field goal, Ritenour's first win over Pattonville since 2016, per the Post-Dispatch, and the first loss for the team that shut out Seckman two weeks ago. Anthony Odom threw for 371 yards and four touchdowns.

The three we circled, graded

• North County at Festus — We said win and the Mississippi Area Red title is Festus's. Final: 55-31, title clinched. Grade: the stakes held, and Yates settled them, 341 yards' worth.
• Perryville at Jefferson — We flagged Perryville's two straight wins in the series. Final: Jefferson 35-7, 29-7 at the half on the Live Stream STL ticker. Grade: streak over, and Logan Young stole the show.
• Hillsboro at Windsor — We said somebody's month turns around. Final: 41-0 Hillsboro. Grade: Hillsboro's did. Windsor's slide reached four.

Week 6, the whole board

• Festus 55, North County 31 · Hillsboro 41, Windsor 0 · De Soto 33, Fredericktown 8
• Jefferson 35, Perryville 7 · St. Vincent 35, Bayless 0 · Herculaneum 49, Grandview 0
• Cuba 44, Pleasant Hope 0 · Salisbury 66, Crystal City 0 · Fox 27, Parkway West 7
• Seckman 28, Hazelwood Central 0 · Northwest 41, Parkway South 13 · Eureka 55, Marquette 28
• St. Pius X 46, Lutheran St. Charles 6 · Rockwood Summit 33, Lafayette 14 · Oakville 51, Webster Groves 0 · Kirkwood 27, Lindbergh 3 · Ladue 59, Hazelwood West 13
• Saturday — Ritenour 38, Pattonville 35

Helmet stickers

• Kamden Yates, Festus — 29 carries, 341 yards, three touchdowns: the top rushing game on the Post-Dispatch honor roll this year, in the game that clinched a conference title.
• Logan Young, Jefferson — one pass, 55 yards, touchdown; three interceptions; five in two weeks.
• Jude Pribish, Fox — 22 carries, 191 yards, three touchdowns against a defense that had pitched three straight shutouts.

Where the races stand

• Mississippi Area Red: Festus 4-0 — clinched. Hillsboro 2-1, North County 1-2, De Soto 1-2, Windsor 0-3.
• Quad County: Jefferson 4-0 and St. Vincent 3-0, still on a collision course for Oct. 23 at Jefferson. Perryville and Herculaneum are 2-2.
• The passing race: Sam Kerley 938, Crystal City's Kolton Adams 908 — a 54-yard deficit two weeks ago, 21 last week, and now Jefferson's quarterback leads it for the first time, with 11 touchdowns against three interceptions. Quinnten O'Brien owns the best rating of the three.

Week 7: three we've circled

• Friday — Hannibal at Festus: the first game as champions, against last year's Class 4 runner-up — the team that beat Eureka 29-28 in Week 2 and fell from No. 4 to No. 8 in Class 4 in this week's Missouri Media poll after losing 29-26 at St. Dominic. Both teams' 2025 seasons ended against Kearney. The Post-Dispatch's records show no prior meeting. Hannibal is the first opponent in a month built to argue with the Festus ground game.
• Friday — Hillsboro at De Soto: Hillsboro won this game four straight years by a combined 203-17 — then De Soto walked into Hillsboro last October and won 26-21. The Hawks arrive off a 41-0 shutout; the Dragons arrive off two straight wins and Cannon Kisner's 307 yards of total offense. De Soto's defense just had its best night of the season; Hillsboro's just posted its second shutout.
• Friday — Eureka at Ladue: 6-0 Ladue, No. 7 in Class 5 in this week's Missouri Media poll and averaging 45.5 a game, hosts No. 8 — a 5-1 Eureka team on a four-game run with a quarterback who hasn't thrown an interception in 127 attempts. The schools have met only in the playoffs since 2003 — Eureka won both, in 2021 and 2023.

Thursday opens the week: Seckman at 0-6 Hazelwood East, 6 p.m. The rest of Friday: Windsor at North County, where Windsor hasn't won since 2014 and the Raiders have taken 11 straight; Jefferson at Grandview; Cuba at St. Vincent (7:30 p.m.); Bayless at Herculaneum; Potosi at Perryville; Crystal City at Duchesne; Farmington (5-1, No. 9 in Class 5 in the Missouri Media poll) at St. Pius X, a first meeting in the Post-Dispatch's records; Jennings at Northwest; Fox at Kirkwood, a series Fox has never won in six meetings on record and hasn't played since 2016; Riverview Gardens at Rockwood Summit; Clayton at Oakville; and Hazelwood Central at Pattonville.

For the record: Festus's Week 5 numbers have reached the Post-Dispatch's database, so the evening against Hillsboro this space left unrecorded last week now reads Kamden Yates 26 carries for 143 yards, plus a 62-yard catch, and Quinnten O'Brien 10 of 14 for 221 yards and two touchdowns. Two counts differed this week and we went with the box scores: the Live Stream STL crew had Yates at 336 yards on 31 carries and Logan Young with two interceptions Friday; the database credits 341 on 29 and three.

County coverage runs all season in partnership with Live Stream STL, which broadcasts these games live. Catch up on the Week 3, Week 4 and Week 5 recaps and the season preview that framed it all. Athlete development, as always, by M4P — Movement 4 Power.

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