Miller Career Academy continued its magical undefeated season with a 48-21 victory over St. Mary’s to win the Class 4, District 2 championship on Monday night. The Phoenix were able to avenge its only loss in the past two seasons, that coming to St. Mary’s in last year’s district playoffs.
The Phoenix actually trailed 21-0 in the first quarter before exploding for 48 consecutive points to run its record to 11-0. Junior Marquis Stewart rushed for 249 yards and scored a touchdown while Jaylen James rushed for 189 yards and scored three touchdowns. James also had 153 yards and four touchdowns in Miller’s victory over Lutheran South in the district semifinals. Career Academy will visit Cape Girardeau Central on Saturday afternoon in the state quarterfinals. The school’s first ever berth in the state semifinals will be on the line.
The Class 3, District 5 field was supposed to be one of the toughest in the area with undefeated Christian O’Fallon and one-loss McCluer South-Berkeley and Duchesne in the mix. Instead, McCluer South-Berkeley turned it into a romp as it clobbered Christian-O’Fallon 56-0 and Duchesne 40-13 to win the district title in dominating fashion. The Bulldogs have been on a serious roll all season with its combination of size and great speed on both sides of the ball. Quarterback LaMarko Ball passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns and added a 70-yard TD run against Christian-O’Fallon. He added two more touchdown passes and two touchdown runs against Duchesne. Those two TD passes went to athletic 6’4” junior Ryan Stokes. The Bulldogs (11-1) will host California in the state quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon.
Lutheran North continues to be one of the area’s hottest teams after winning the Class 2, District 2 championship. The Crusaders defeated Carnahan 49-8 on Monday night to advance to Saturday’s state quarterfinals against visiting Caruthersville. The Crusaders started off the season at 0-4, but they have won nine consecutive games.
*One of the season’s most electrifying plays was turned in by Webster Groves standout Cameron Hilton during the Statesmen’s 21-19 victory over rival Kirkwood in the Class 5, District 2 championship game. Kirkwood led 7-0 in the second quarter and appeared headed for a second score, but Hilton intercepted a pass at the goal line and returned it 99 yards for the game-tying touchdown. He ran down the left sidelines and swerved all the way across the field and dove into the corner of the end zone to complete a game-changing play that swung the momentum to Webster Groves. It was really something to see. Webster Groves will take on Jackson in the state quarterfinals on Saturday.
*Here is the schedule for this weekend’s state playoff action.
Missouri Football Playoffs
Class 6 (All Games on Friday at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted)
Lafayette at Eureka
Lee’s Summit at Blue Springs
CBC at Hazelwood Central, (Saturday, 1 p.m.)
Rock Bridge at Fort Zumwalt West
Classes 2-5 (All games on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Class 5
Webster Groves at Jackson
Camdenton at Parkway Central
Class 4
Miller Career Academy at Cape Girardeau Central
Webb City at Westminster
Jeff City Helias at St. Charles West
Class 3
Park Hills Central at John Burroughs
California at McCluer South-Berkeley
Class 2
Caruthersville at Lutheran North
*Illinois State Quarterfinals (All games on Saturday)
Class 7A: Lincoln Way East at Edwardsville, 3 p.m.
Class 6A: East St. Louis at New Lennox Providence, 1 p.m.
Class 5A: Highland at Springfield Griffin, 1 p.m.
Class 4A: Althoff at Rochester, 4 p.m.
