Earl Austin Jr. is celebrating his 30th year as the sports editor at the St. Louis American. To commemorate the occasion, Earl has put together a list of 30 of the top high school games that he’s witnessed during those 30 years. The next installment is a memorable state playoff football game in November of 1995 between Hazelwood East and Mehlville. The photos are provided by our Hall of Fame photographer Wiley Price.
The 1995 Class 5A state semifinals football game between Hazelwood East and Mehlville was one of the most remarkable events during my career of covering high school sports in the St. Louis area.
This postseason clash of titans had everything that you would want in a state playoff game. You had two powerhouse football programs with an endless supply of top-level athletes roaming the field.
You had a huge crowd with an electric atmosphere. You had a dramatic comeback and one of the most controversial endings in the history of high school sports in St. Louis. It is a game that fans still get into heated arguments about decades after its conclusion.
Hazelwood East’s 21-17 victory over Mehlville on that unseasonably warm November afternoon in South County was indeed one for the ages.
And just to think, that game was just mere seconds away from never taking place. We must take you back to the sectional playoffs that were held on that previous Monday night.
Mehlville was able to advance to the semifinals with a comfortable 35-14 victory over Parkway South. However, there was nothing comfortable about the Spartans’ sectional game against district rival Hazelwood Central.
I happened to be at Ritenour High on that Monday night for that latest showdown of these two North County powers. The final moments of that game were nothing short of insane. The game appeared over when the Spartans held a 28-25 lead with about 30 seconds left when big defensive lineman Tavorris Carnes blocked a potential game-tying field goal by the Hawks.
Hazelwood East appeared to be in the clear. All was needed was one kneel down and it was on to Mehlville for the semifinals. Somehow, the snap was botched and the ball fell to the grass. I remember grabbing my head in shock as Hazelwood Central recovered the fumble to get new life.
It took only two plays for the Hawks to find the end zone as quarterback Jimmy Mitchell connected with Nick Payne to take a 32-28 with less than 10 seconds left. I couldn’t believe this was happening.
Once again, another talented Hazelwood East team was on the verge of a heartbreaking postseason defeat. However, when Hazelwood Central tried to squib kick it down the middle of the field, the ball was recovered by the Spartans at about midfield. They had a chance.
Senior quarterback Rodney McClure dropped back and heaved a pass downfield as far as he could. The pass fell into the waiting arms of all-state receiver Reggie Germany, who had gotten behind the Hawks defense. He made the catch with no time left to give the Spartans a dramatic 34-32 victory. Bedlam ensued on the field. What an incredible ending.
This set up the big showdown between Hazelwood East and Mehlville. What I really remember about this Saturday was how warm it was outside. It was a beautiful day for it to be in late November.
When the two teams took the field, I was amazed at the amount of talent out there. We were getting ready to watch some future Division I standouts and National Football League players in action.
Hazelwood East had players such as running back Ricardo Rhodes, defensive back Jamar Fletcher, linemen Michael Young, David Webber, Daryl Whittington, tight end Bryan Fletcher and the aforementioned Germany. Mehlville had some dominant two-way players in Jason Eberhart, Melvin Williams, Robert Franklin, Greg Wayne and a talented quarterback in Alex Graves.
For more than three quarters, Mehlville had dominated the action. Behind two touchdowns from Eberhart, the Panthers led 17-7 in the fourth quarter. Mehlville’s defense had pretty much shut down the Spartans’ powerful offense.
There was one play in particular that I vividly remember that exemplified Mehlville’s defensive dominance. It was when the diminutive Rhodes took a handoff and tried to break outside, only to be gobbled up by the massive Eberhart in the backfield for a loss. The big fella was moving swiftly and the Panthers’ defense followed suit.
With about six minutes left to play, another Hazelwood East drive appeared to stall as they faced a fourth down and nine on their own 33-yard line. That’s when McClure dropped back and heaved a pass down field, much like he did at the end of the quarterfinals game. The result was the same as McClure’s pass landed in the arms of Germany who caught in stride and sprinted into the end zone to cut the lead to 17-14. The Spartans now had life and momentum.
“I remember being on the sidelines trying to snap out of the funk I was in the entire first half,” McClure said. “Gorzo (East coach Rick Gorzynski) came to me and said I had to let go of whatever was holding me back and just play. I had a couple of completions, got my footing, and fell back on the one player I knew could make a big play for us. He had been getting open most of the game. I just didn’t have the time I usually had to find him. But once he caught that TD, we knew the train was running.”
After forcing a Mehlville punt, the Spartans offense sprinted on to the field with their boisterous cheering section finally finding its collective voice. It didn’t take East long to strike quickly as McClure hit Rhodes on a swing pass that went for about 50 yards and deep into Mehlville territory. On the next play, McClure threw a pass in the middle of the field which was tipped by a Mehlville defender and into the waiting arms of Germany, whose third touchdown gave the Spartans the lead with less than two minutes to go.
Germany’s two-touchdown explosion gave them a 21-17 lead, but the fun was still just beginning. Mehlville had plenty of time to respond and they had the athletes to get it done. It started with a nice kickoff return from Derrell Jones into Hazelwood East territory. Three plays later, Graves connected with Deonte Owens on a fourth-down pass that went all the way to the East three-yard line. Big momentum had swung back in Mehlville’s favor.
The Panthers were on the doorstep of a dramatic victory and they put the ball in the hands of Eberhart, the 6’3” 245-pound running back. On first down, he powered his way to the one-yard line.
On second down, Eberhart got the ball again and pushed himself into the pile. The Mehlville players celebrated as if he scored, but the East players were waving their arms to say they stopped him. The officials marked him short of the goal line.
On third down, Eberhart got the carry again and the Spartans met him at the goal line again. Both teams thought they were successful again. The official call was fourth down as the Spartans again turned Eberhart away. This was getting serious now. The folks on the Mehlville sidelines were livid as they felt that Eberhart had scored at least one, maybe twice already.
The entire season came down to one play with the clock running down. The Panthers gave the ball to their main man Eberhart one more time and he was met by a wall of Spartans at the goal line, including the 5’4” Rhodes. The Spartans sprinted off the field in celebration with their second dramatic victory of the week. Meanwhile, the Mehlville Panthers left the field visibly upset, feeling that they were robbed of a last-second touchdown.
The final score was Hazelwood East 21 Mehlville 17.
The Spartans advanced to the state championship game. There would be no dramatic ending in the state finals as East romped to an easy victory over Blue Springs South for their second state championship.
However, few people may remember what happened in that state championship game in 1995. All of the talk was about the controversial goal-line stand at the end of the semifinals game. All-sports talk radio was going strong then and everybody wanted to talk about the ending of that game.
For my show that week, I played the song “Controversy” by Prince as a lead in to the program. The phone lines were jammed with jubilant Hazelwood East fans, irate Mehlville fans and neutral fans who were at the game. Everyone had an opinion.
That also includes the players, 30 years removed from the game.
“We did watch the film on it the next day,” McClure said. “We watched in slow motion, real speed and about 20 times easily. I’m about as objective as they come in any situation. He didn’t make it over the goal line.”
Dominic Smith, who was a sophomore on Mehlville’s team naturally saw things a little differently. I saw him at a high school game last week where he coached as he was very adamant about the game’s ending.
“There was no way they stopped Jason on the goal line,” Smith said. “We thought he got in on at least two or three of those four plays. That should have been a touchdown.”
To this day, folks are steadfast in their opinions on the goal-line stand of 1995.