Firsts: Week 9 in Jefferson County Football

The regular season ended on a Friday of firsts. Jefferson beat St. Vincent 23-14 for the Quad County title — the first conference championship in school history, as KJFF and the Leader both reported. Northwest trailed Oakville 14-0 after a quarter and 21-14 after three, won 22-21, and took the Suburban Orange outright. Bayless beat Duchesne 16-6 for a third win, which it had never managed in nine seasons as a program. Festus won a seventh straight game and will open the districts as a No. 1 seed; so will St. Pius X, Eureka, St. Vincent, Valle Catholic and — after an MSHSAA forfeit ruling turned its district upside down — Fox. And in the one game that went the other way, Valle Catholic came to Festus and beat St. Pius X 52-6, its 22nd straight win in the series. The brackets are below. The openers are tomorrow.

Week 9 by the numbers

• 191 — receiving yards on eight catches for Jefferson's Ollie Klump against St. Vincent, with touchdowns of 39 and 40 yards. The Live Stream STL crew calls it a school record for a game and says it pushed his season past the school record, too; the Post-Dispatch's Jefferson numbers, which go back to 2012, top out at 160 and 632.
• 8 — interceptions this season for Jefferson's Logan Young, three of them Friday. That ties him for second on the Post-Dispatch's area list, behind St. Charles West's Maddox Sikma (13), and leads Jefferson County by three.
• 22-21 — Northwest at Oakville, from 14-0 down and 21-14 down, on Cohenn Stark's 14-yard run and his own two-point run with 1:26 left.
• 192 — rushing yards on nine carries for Windsor's Jack Kuda against Confluence, with five touchdowns.
• 180 — rushing yards on 18 carries for De Soto's Cannon Kisner against Herculaneum, plus two touchdown passes, in a 17-14 win.
• 0.30 — the margin, in MSHSAA points, by which Festus (44.72) beat Sikeston (44.42) for the No. 1 seed in Class 4 District 1.
• 22 — consecutive Valle Catholic wins over St. Pius X, dating to 2003.

Jefferson: 23-14, and a trophy the school never had

Jefferson built a two-score lead early, led by 10 at halftime per the Republic Monitor, and was ahead 17-14 with about six minutes left when St. Vincent's onside kick was ruled out of bounds; Jefferson scored again. Sam Kerley threw 32 passes and completed 17 for 252 yards and two touchdowns, and eight of the completions went to Ollie Klump for 191 yards and both scores. Logan Young, a freshman by the Live Stream STL crew's roster, intercepted three St. Vincent passes, and Kollyn Waters recovered a fumble and had one of Jefferson's two sacks. Jefferson ran for 61 yards and did not need more; Greyson Rundel made 12 tackles and Evan Botkin and Holden Green 11 each. St. Vincent had won or shared its conference title the last four seasons, and the Post-Dispatch's tables, which go back to 2012, never show Jefferson on top. The Blue Jays are 6-3 and 6-0 in Quad County play; St. Vincent, which had won the last three meetings, is 7-2. Jefferson is the No. 2 seed in Class 2 District 2, has a bye tomorrow, and hosts the Montgomery County-Confluence winner on Nov. 6; top-seeded Valle Catholic is in the other half. St. Vincent is the No. 1 seed in Class 2 District 1 and also sits out.

Northwest: 14-0 down, 21-14 down, 22-21

Oakville led 14-0 after a quarter and 21-14 after three, and Northwest scored eight points in the fourth quarter to win the Suburban Orange outright at 5-0. Oakville's Zach Sepko and Colin Piechocinski ran for touchdowns 91 seconds apart in the first quarter; Stark hit Braydon Jones for 43 yards and ran 15 for a touchdown in the third; and with 1:26 left Stark ran 14 yards for the score and kept it himself for the two points. Cohenn Stark went 10 of 27 for 184 yards, a touchdown and an interception and ran for two more, Braydon Jones caught six passes for 98, and Shane Moore made 11 tackles, per the Live Stream STL crew. Oakville's Zach Sepko ran 23 times for 103 and completed all three of his passes for 80 yards; Jackson Oettle carried once. Per the Live Stream STL crew, it is Northwest's first conference championship outside the 2020 Covid season, and the Post-Dispatch's league tables, which go back to 1999, never show the Lions on top. Northwest is 8-1 and the No. 2 seed in Class 6 District 1, where Oakville, 7-2, fell to fourth and opens tomorrow against Lindbergh.

Valle Catholic 52, St. Pius X 6

The Live Stream STL broadcast came from Festus, where Valle Catholic ran its series streak over St. Pius X to 22 games, every meeting since 2003. It was 24-6 at halftime and Valle scored 28 in the third quarter, per both the Daily Journal and KJFF; Sam Kuehn threw four touchdown passes and Evan Fallert ran 14 times for 161 yards and two more, per the Daily Journal. Cody Shaver carried 17 times for 53 yards, his lowest total of the season by 87 yards; Brody Ervin ran nine times for 32; Evan Eckrich went 6 of 13 for 80 with a touchdown and an interception, Harrison Ray catching two for 46. St. Pius X finished with 165 yards. The Lancers are 6-3 and fell to No. 10 in Class 3 in the Missouri Media poll; Valle is 9-0, No. 2 in Class 2, and the No. 1 seed in Class 2 District 2, with the Duchesne-Hermann winner on Nov. 6. For St. Pius X, the season will be judged where it always was going to be: as the No. 1 seed in Class 3 District 2, with a bye tomorrow and the Potosi-Central winner on Nov. 6.

Festus and Hillsboro: seven straight, and a third straight loss to Poplar Bluff

Festus 14, Kirksville 7, on Saturday afternoon 200 miles from home, and the Tigers are 7-2 with seven straight wins since the 0-2 start, allowing 70 points in the seven. No statistics from the game have been posted. Festus is the No. 1 seed in Class 4 District 1, sits out tomorrow, and hosts the De Soto-North County winner on Nov. 6 — an MAFC team it has already beaten either way (De Soto 36-8 on Sept. 18, North County 55-31 on Oct. 2) — going for a third straight district title. Hillsboro lost to Poplar Bluff for the third year in a row, 14-7 at home. (The Post-Dispatch's box score has the score reversed; MaxPreps, MSHSAA, KJFF and the Daily American Republic all have Poplar Bluff winning.) Per the Daily American Republic, Poplar Bluff scored on its opening drive and led 6-0 at halftime; Trey Zimmerly's touchdown run put Hillsboro ahead 7-6 with a little over two minutes left; and the Mules answered on their final drive with a jet-sweep touchdown and a two-point conversion. Hillsboro ran 48 times for 284 yards — Zimmerly 21 for 108, Jadyn Rice 14 for 107 — and Zimmerly also took snaps, completing five of six passes; Aiden Fleming does not appear in the box score. Preston Ross intercepted a pass, Auston Ross recovered a fumble in a fourth straight game, and Kyryn Miller made 10 tackles. Hillsboro is 6-3, has scored 16 points in two weeks, and as the No. 3 seed hosts Windsor tomorrow — a rematch of its 41-0 win on Oct. 2.

De Soto 17, Herculaneum 14: Kisner, again

Cannon Kisner ran 18 times for 180 yards and completed 4 of 9 for 91 and two touchdowns, Damian Pogue ran for 51 and caught three passes for 79, and De Soto beat Herculaneum 17-14 to finish 5-4 — its third straight 5-4 regular season and its third straight win over the Blackcats. Levi Huck made 11 tackles, per the Live Stream STL crew. Herculaneum's Conor Hedrick ran nine times for 91 and a touchdown and completed 6 of 12 for 47; the Blackcats are 5-4, 3-1 in their last four. De Soto is the No. 5 seed in Class 4 District 1 and goes to North County tomorrow, a rematch of North County's 35-22 win on Sept. 11 and the third straight year the two have met in the district opener; Herculaneum, the No. 3 seed in Class 3 District 2, hosts Lutheran South.

Windsor: 56, and Kuda's five

Windsor 56, Confluence 6, and the slide is over at six. Jack Kuda ran nine times for 192 yards and five touchdowns — from the 20, 3, 30, 54 and 45 — and Windsor ran for 301, Jonathon Drake intercepted two passes and Ethan Cobb had two sacks. The Owls are 3-6 and open the districts tomorrow at Hillsboro as the No. 6 seed.

Quad County: Crystal City's jump, Bayless's third, Perryville's fourth

Crystal City 28, Grandview 8 — the Post-Dispatch box has Grandview at 0, but KJFF, MaxPreps and the Leader have 8 — on 12 third-quarter points and 16 in the fourth: Talon Clayton carried three times for 71 and two touchdowns, Tristyn Munton 12 for 84, and Gage McPherson and Conner Miller intercepted passes. The Hornets are 2-7, and the win moved them from the fourth seed to the second in Class 1 District 2, which means a bye tomorrow instead of a rematch with Grandview. Grandview, 0-9, goes to Veritas Christian. Bayless 16, Duchesne 6: Toron Butler ran 22 times for 117, James Craig threw two touchdown passes, and Bayless finished 3-6 — the first three-win season in the program's nine-year history, per the Live Stream STL crew; its best before was two, and the Post-Dispatch's records, which begin with the program's first game in 2018, agree. Bayless goes to Westminster on Saturday at 1 p.m. Perryville 27, Cuba 20: Joshua Gremaud ran 15 times for 173 and, per the Republic Monitor, scored all four Perryville touchdowns. Perryville finished 4-5 and fourth in the league at 3-3, and hosts Fredericktown tomorrow in a rematch of its 16-0 opener; Cuba is 4-5.

Seckman: a 21-14 loss, and a seed that held

Seckman lost 21-14 at Parkway North, where it is 0-6 in the Post-Dispatch's records; it is 1-12 against Parkway North overall. Brody Kube went 10 of 17 for 135 yards and two touchdowns — 38 yards to Weidler, 23 to Logan Harris — with an interception, Nick Weidler caught four passes for 80, and Jaxon Jablonski ran 18 times for 67; Chase Borawski made 10 tackles, per the Live Stream STL crew. Parkway North's Jeremiah Burns threw 38 passes for 235 yards. Seckman is 7-2 and finished 3-2 in the Suburban Red, which Pattonville and Ritenour share at 4-1. The seed held: Seckman is No. 3 in Class 6 District 1, has a bye tomorrow, and plays at Northwest on Nov. 6.

Fox: 409 on the ground, and a No. 1 seed

Fox 42, Parkway Central 14, and the Warriors ran for 409 yards: Jude Pribish 14 carries for 156 and two touchdowns, Ryan Joggerst eight for 104 and two more. Fox finished 5-4 — and it is the No. 1 seed in Class 5 District 1. That is because of a ruling, not a score: MSHSAA forfeited four of Farmington's wins over player eligibility hours before kickoff on Oct. 23 and upheld the forfeits on appeal, per the Daily Journal, which dropped Farmington to 4-5 and the No. 4 seed. Fox sits out tomorrow and plays the Farmington-Poplar Bluff winner on Nov. 6.

Eureka: 14-13, and the Yellow outright

Lindbergh led Eureka 13-6 at halftime on two Noah Norman touchdowns, and Eureka's second half was one play: Curtis Harris's 42-yard run and Sal Gianino's two-point catch 1:31 into the third quarter. Curtis Harris ran 21 times for 109; Zac Kem completed 16 of 25 for 104 and was sacked five times. Eureka is 7-2, won the Suburban Yellow outright at 5-0, and is the No. 1 seed in Class 5 District 2, idle tomorrow.

Around the Suburban

Rockwood Summit scored 20 in the first quarter and beat Marquette 40-14; McCoy Brown went 15 of 25 for 243 yards and four touchdowns, Liam Matthews caught five passes for 110, and Marquette threw four interceptions. Summit is 5-4 and hosts Parkway Central tomorrow. Kirkwood beat Lafayette 35-7 and is 7-1. Pattonville needed two overtimes to beat Hazelwood East, 39-31, and finished 8-1. Farmington beat Park Hills Central 49-7 and hosts Poplar Bluff tomorrow. North County beat Ste. Genevieve 49-27 for a third straight win; per the Daily Journal, Braydee McClure ran for three touchdowns and threw for a fourth, and Ian Marler went 53 yards for a score on the second snap. North County is 6-3, one of those wins the Farmington forfeit.

The three we circled, graded

• St. Vincent at Jefferson — We said winner-take-all for the outright title and the defending champion on a three-game series run. Final: Jefferson 23-14. Grade: the run is over, and the trophy is new.
• Northwest at Oakville — We said the pool and the Class 6 District 1 No. 2 seed were on the table. Final: Northwest 22-21. Grade: both went to Northwest, from 14 down.
• Valle Catholic at St. Pius X — We said Valle had won 21 straight in the series. Final: Valle 52-6. Grade: 22.

Week 9, the whole board

• Jefferson 23, St. Vincent 14 · Northwest 22, Oakville 21 · Valle Catholic 52, St. Pius X 6
• Poplar Bluff 14, Hillsboro 7 · De Soto 17, Herculaneum 14 · Windsor 56, Confluence 6
• Crystal City 28, Grandview 8 · Bayless 16, Duchesne 6 · Perryville 27, Cuba 20
• North County 49, Ste. Genevieve 27 · Parkway North 21, Seckman 14 · Fox 42, Parkway Central 14
• Eureka 14, Lindbergh 13 · Rockwood Summit 40, Marquette 14 · Kirkwood 35, Lafayette 7
• Pattonville 39, Hazelwood East 31 (2 OT) · Farmington 49, Park Hills Central 7
• Saturday — Festus 14, Kirksville 7

Helmet stickers

• Ollie Klump, Jefferson — eight catches, 191 yards, two touchdowns, in the game that won the school its first conference title.
• Jack Kuda, Windsor — nine carries, 192 yards, five touchdowns.
• Cannon Kisner, De Soto — 180 rushing yards and two touchdown passes in a three-point win.

Final standings

• Mississippi Area Red Conference: Festus 4-0, Hillsboro 3-1, North County 2-2, De Soto 1-3, Windsor 0-4.
• Quad County: Jefferson 6-0, St. Vincent 5-1, Herculaneum 4-2, Perryville 3-3, Cuba 2-4, Bayless 1-5, Grandview 0-6.
• Suburban Orange: Northwest 5-0, Oakville 4-1. Yellow: Eureka 5-0, Kirkwood 4-1. Red: Pattonville and Ritenour 4-1, Seckman and Parkway North 3-2.
• County leaders, per the Post-Dispatch: Sam Kerley leads Jefferson County in passing with 1,396 yards (Northwest's Cohenn Stark is next at 1,151; Eureka's Zac Kem, at 1,566, plays in St. Louis County); Ollie Klump leads its receivers with 651, eight ahead of St. Pius X's Harrison Ray; Logan Young leads in interceptions with eight.
• Missouri Media poll, Oct. 26: Festus holds at No. 8 in Class 4; St. Pius X falls to No. 10 in Class 3; Valle Catholic is No. 2 and St. Vincent No. 10 in Class 2; Ladue is No. 4 and Eureka No. 9 in Class 5, where Farmington, now 4-5, is still No. 7.

The brackets

• Class 4 District 1: 1 Festus (44.72), 2 Sikeston (44.42), 3 Hillsboro, 4 North County, 5 De Soto, 6 Windsor. Tomorrow: De Soto at North County, Windsor at Hillsboro. Nov. 6: Festus and Sikeston host.
• Class 6 District 1: 1 Jackson, 2 Northwest, 3 Seckman, 4 Oakville, 5 Lindbergh. Tomorrow: Lindbergh at Oakville. Nov. 6: Seckman at Northwest.
• Class 5 District 1: 1 Fox, 2 St. Mary's South Side, 3 Cape Central, 4 Farmington, 5 Poplar Bluff, 6 Mehlville. Tomorrow: Poplar Bluff at Farmington, Mehlville at Cape Central.
• Class 3 District 2: 1 St. Pius X, 2 St. Clair, 3 Herculaneum, 4 Central (Park Hills), 5 Potosi, 6 Lutheran South. Tomorrow: Potosi at Central, Lutheran South at Herculaneum.
• Class 2 District 2: 1 Valle Catholic, 2 Jefferson, 3 Montgomery County, 4 Duchesne, 5 Hermann, 6 Confluence. Class 2 District 1: St. Vincent the 1-seed.
• Class 1 District 2: 1 Louisiana, 2 Crystal City, 3 Principia, 4 Veritas Christian, 5 Grandview. Tomorrow: Grandview at Veritas. Nov. 6: Principia at Crystal City.
• Class 5 District 2: Eureka the 1-seed; Rockwood Summit hosts Parkway Central tomorrow. Class 4 District 2: Bayless at Westminster, Saturday, 1 p.m.

Friday: the openers we've circled

• De Soto at North County: the third straight year these two open the districts against each other, and North County won the last two and the September meeting, 35-22. North County has won three straight; De Soto has not won six games in a season in at least the last seven years, per the Post-Dispatch's records. The winner goes to Festus.
• Windsor at Hillsboro: Hillsboro won 41-0 four weeks ago and hasn't lost to Windsor since 2007, but it has scored 16 points in two weeks; Windsor just scored 56 and has Jack Kuda. The winner goes to Sikeston.
• Lindbergh at Oakville: Oakville, a point from the Orange title, gets Lindbergh, which just lost by a point at Eureka. The winner goes to Jackson, Class 6's No. 1 team.

For the record: three finals were reported differently this week. Poplar Bluff beat Hillsboro 14-7 — the Post-Dispatch's box has it reversed, and KJFF's recap printed 14-6. Crystal City beat Grandview 28-8; the Post-Dispatch box shows 28-0 because Grandview's side was never entered. And KJFF's Jefferson story said 23-17; it was 23-14. Sam Kerley's Friday line was 17 of 32 for 252 yards, per the box score, not the 232 that first circulated. And a correction to a running note: for much of the season we wrote that Zac Kem had not thrown an interception this season, by the Post-Dispatch database's count. The database's own box score from Eureka's Oct. 2 game against Marquette lists an interception return by Andrew Oldham, as the Leader reported at the time; Kem has thrown one. Festus had not posted its Kirksville box score as of Thursday.

County coverage runs all season in partnership with Live Stream STL, which broadcasts these games live. Catch up on the Week 6, Week 7 and Week 8 recaps and the season preview that framed it all. Athlete development, as always, by M4P — Movement 4 Power.

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