The district playoffs began last weekend on the Missouri side of the river and there were no shortage of upsets and surprises on the first Friday night of the postseason.
We usually see such surprise outcomes during basketball season during what everyone now refers to as “March Madness.” With so many surprises happening around the close of October of football season, one can call the opening round of the playoffs, “Halloween Havoc.”
Much of the upset activity occurred in Class 4, District 3 when the field was turned upside down as the No. 1, 2 and 4 seeds all went down to defeat.
The biggest surprise came when No. 8 seed Riverview Gardens stunned No. 1 seed Clayton 28-24. Riverview Gardens had finished the regular season with a 0-9 record and had been outscored 181-42 in its last three games. That mattered very little in the postseason as the Rams jumped up and bit the Greyhounds and earn a second-round date with St. Dominic. St. Dominic knocked off No. 4 seed St. Charles 14-12.
In the other stunner in the district, No. 6 seed MICDS rallied to defeat No. 3 seed St. Charles West 38-27 in one of the best comebacks of the season. St. Charles rolled to a 27-10 halftime lead behind 296 yards rushing and four touchdowns from senior running back Dre Kelly. However, MICDS flipped the script in the second half as they outscored the Warriors 28-0 and came away with the improbable victory. Sophomore running back Preston Buchanan scored on two touchdown runs, senior quarterback Lawrence Taylor ran for a TD and pass for another and senior Will McMahill caught the winning TD pass with 20 seconds left and sealed the win with an interception return for a touchdown.
In Class 5, Webster Groves has struggled to a 3-5 regular season with a young team in a rebuilding year. But the Statesmen rose up and stung Ladue 28-20 in the first round of the District 2 playoffs. Webster Groves trailed 13-0 before roaring back with 28 unanswered points to take the first round the victory. The Statesmen will try to keep the magic going this weekend when they visit No. 2 seed Pattonville on Friday night.
Valiant in defeat
Despite playing their final games of the season, a few players really stood out in last weekend’s playoff openers.
*Senior Dre Kelly of St. Charles West rushed for 332 yards and four touchdowns in the Warriors’ 38-27 loss to MICDS.
*Sophomore Darries Rainey of Trinity rushed for 254 yards and three touchdowns, including a 99-yarder in the Titans’ 28-27 loss to Lutheran St. Charles.
*Senior Kai Collier of Fort Zumwalt South caught 11 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 38-28 loss to Parkway West.
*William Brown of Roosevelt rushed for 203 yards and a touchdown in the Roughriders’ 49-6 loss to Affton.
Top Games this Week
Missouri District Semifinals
SLUH (8-2) at Hazelwood Central (8-2), Saturday, 1 p.m. (Class 6, District 2)
Lafayette (7-3) at Kirkwood (8-1), Friday, 7 p.m. (Class 6, District 2)
Marquette (8-2) at Eureka (9-0), Friday, 7 p.m. (Class 6, District 2)
Ritenour (6-3) at CBC (10-0), Friday, 7 p.m. (Class 6, District 1)
Vianney (7-3) at Summit (8-2), Friday, 7 p.m. (Class 6, District 1)
Parkway Central (7-3) at Fort Zumwalt North (9-0), Friday, 7 p.m. (Class 5, District 3)
Vashon (7-3) at Gateway STEM (9-1), Friday, 7 p.m. (Class 4, District 2)
Lutheran St. Charles (7-3) at Brentwood (9-0), Friday, 7 p.m. (Class 2, District 5)
Hermann (8-2) at Lutheran North (6-4), Saturday, 1 p.m. (Class 2, District 5)
Illinois First-Round Playoff Games
Waubonsie Valley (5-4) at Edwardsville (9-0), (Class 8), TBA
Clinton (5-4) at Althoff (9-0), (Class 4), TBA
Breese Central (5-4) at Columbia (9-0), (Class 4), TBA
