Congratulations to the four high school football teams who will be playing for state championships this weekend. Hazelwood Central, Hazelwood East and Cardinal Ritter will be at the Edward Jones Dome competing in the Show-Me Bowl in their respective classes, while the East St. Louis Flyers will be in Champaign playing for the IHSA Class 7A state title.
A special salute goes to three African-American head coaches who are leading their teams on to the field of battle for a state championship. All three have taken different routes to where they currently stand today; at the pinnacle of high school football excellence. East Side’s Darren Sunkett has a chance to do something really special. In 1998, he led Riverview Gardens to the Class 5A state title with a thrilling 41-34 victory over Jefferson City behind star players such as Christian Morton, the late Damien Nash and Jamaal Clark. Now, 10 years later, Sunkett is back in the state title game with his talented Flyers team on the Illinois side. Sunkett has a chance to lead a large school football team to a state title in both Missouri and Illinois. East Side will face Geneva for the Class 7A state title on Saturday afternoon in Champaign at 4 p.m.
At the end of the 1999 NFL season, Mike Jones was making a game-saving tackle to preserve the St. Louis Rams’ 23-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. Jones finds himself in a position to win another championship, this time as the head coach of the Hazelwood East Spartans. Jones was tabbed as the Spartans’ interim coach late in the summer when former coach Corey Johnson was promoted to a vice-principal’s position at the school. After a 4-3 start, Jones has the Spartans rolling into Saturday night’s Class 5 Show-Me Bowl at the Edward Jones Dome, the very place where he experienced his greatest triumphs as a linebacker with the Rams. East will face Raytown South on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. As the song goes, “Mike Jones, Mike Jones, Mike Jones.”
The third coach of this trio is Brian Simmons, who will be taking his Cardinal Ritter team to the Show-Me Bowl for the first time in the school’s history. After spending several years on the sidelines at Pattonville as an assistant coach, Simmons got his opportunity this season and he has the Lions poised to win their first state title at a school that is known for his dominance on the basketball court with its five state championships. After a 3-7 season in 2007, Simmons engineered a tremendous turnaround effort in getting the Lions to the Dome. Cardinal Ritter will face Cassville on Friday afternoon at 4:15 p.m.
Good luck to all four of these talented local teams in their quest to bring home a state championship.
Wildcats strike
The Northwestern Wildcats football team finished the regular season with a 9-3 record and two St. Louisans have played a big part in the team’s great success in 2008. Sophomore linebacker Quentin Davie (Cardinal Ritter) has recorded 55 tackles with nine tackles for losses and 3.5 quarterback sacks. Sophomore tailback Stephen Simmons (SLUH) has filled in admirably at tailback for injured starter Tyrell Sutton in the past month. Simmons has scored two touchdowns, including one in the Wildcats victory over Illinois last Saturday….Former Beaumont standout Niles Brinkley has four interceptions as a starting cornerback with the University of Wisconsin.
Earl Austin, the DVD
My upcoming DVD presentation of “The PHL in the STL” will be available real soon. For those who are interested in this two-hour video history of the great basketball legacy of the Public High League, they can order on-line on my website, www.earlaustinjr.com. The “PHL in the STL” book is also available as well. You can also call me at (314) 289-5412.
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime journey down memory lane for prep basketball fans. Enjoy.
Show me Pepsi
Several of area’s top high school basketball teams will be competing in the Pepsi Showcase, which will be held on Saturday at the Show-Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Hazelwood Central will meet Cape Central at 1 p.m., Miller Career Academy will play Pickneyville (Ill.) at 2:45; McCluer will face Poplar Bluff at 4:30 p.m., Lafayette will face Sikeston at 6:15 p.m. while Maplewood will play Chaminade in the finale at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale for $10 for all games.
