Show-Me Bowl wrap-up: CBC brings home the hardware

Ask most people around here, and they’ll tell you they’re favorite annual STL sporting event is probably Cards’ Opening Day. Some people might say the Rams’ Dome opener and some others might say, the Mizzou-Illinois Border War game right before Christmas.

But for me, the best annual sporting event our area ever puts on is the MSHSAA Show-Me Bowl down at the Dome.

I love it! I get chills every year when it comes around and I get sad every year when it’s over.

Six games in two days in the cozy comfort of the Edward Jones Dome, featuring the 12 best high school football teams in the state, all battling for that coveted state championship.

It really is the best weekend of the year for a football junkie like me, and I was so glad to have a chance to cover it again this year.

We had two STL-area teams make it to the Dome this year, with John Burroughs losing the championship game again (that’s four state title losses in five years for the Bombers), and CBC – perhaps the area’s preeminent private school athletic program with 38 state titles in a wide range of sports – claiming its first state football title ever.  And they did it by knocking off Rockhurst High, which is probably the top program from the Kansas City area!

Talk about having your cake and eating it too! Man, it was a lot of fun!

I’m sure anybody that made it down to the Dome last weekend would agree. And for those that couldn’t get downtown last Friday or Saturday, here’s a quick recap of what went down at the 47th MSHSAA Show-Me Bowl State Football Championships. 

Meet The New Champs: Class 1 – Valle Catholic Warriors (15-0); Class 2 – Lamar Tigers (14-1); Class 3 – Oak Grove Panthers (13-2); Class 4 – Webb City Cardinals (15-0); Class 5 – Battle Spartans (11-4); Class 6 – CBC Cadets (14-0).

First Time Champs: Oak Grove won its first title by defeating John Burroughs 49-27; Battle held on for a thrilling 25-22 victory over Nixa; and CBC won an absolute slugfest 31-24 over Rockhurst. 

Repeat Champs: Valle Catholic won its second title in a row (13th overall and fourth in the last five years); Lamar claimed its fourth title in a row; and Webb City made it five in a row (13th overall as well) to once again prove it has the best prep football program in the state. The little tykes begin playing flag football at age 5 in Webb City and their youth league teams, which all run the same plays as the high school varsity team does, begin at age 7.

It really should be no surprise that the Webbies are the best team every year. By the time they get to varsity, those kids have been running those plays, the same way and with the same terminology, for 10 years. It’s just incredible what coach John Rodrique has built with that football program out there. 

Best Game: The Class 6 thriller between CBC and Rockhurst. 

It was billed as the marquee game of the weekend, and the showdown between the Cadets and the Hawklets lived up to the hype and then some, with both teams landing big blows throughout the night the probably would’ve put lesser teams down for the count. 

Instead though, CBC and Rockhurst kept answering the bell and one-upping each other to set up a sensational fourth quarter, which began with the score tied at 24. 

In the end though, it was CBC QB Blake Charlton who delivered the knockout blow, when he found teammate Kameron Curtis for an 11-yard touchdown with 5:43 remaining to put the Cadets up for good. Rockhurst tried to rally, but the Hawklets’ final drive stalled out, which allowed the CBC fans, who are used to celebrating hockey, soccer, and basketball championships, to experience their first football title ever. 

Best Performance: Aaron Graham – RB, Oak Grove. 

Folks around this area may have thought that Burroughs’ John Moten, a player whose headed to Northwestern next year and might be the STL’s Offensive Player of the Year when award season begins later this month, was the man to watch in Friday’s Class 3 title game against Oak Grove, but it was Oak Grove’s sensational senior RB who stole the show. 

Graham came in to last Friday’s title game with over 2,600 rushing yards and 37 touchdowns and the weight of an entire town’s hopes for a championship on his back. And things began slow for the Panthers, who fell behind 21-7 early in the second quarter. But that was when young Mr. Graham got going. And once he started up, nobody could stop him from putting on an unbelievable show, with 39 carries for 266 yards and four touchdowns. Graham probably could’ve had more, but he shared some of the spotlight with junior teammate Landon Cairer, who had 75 yards and two touchdowns of his own. 

Best Performance (Local Player): Michael Jones – OLB, CBC. 

With all due respect to the Moten kid from Burroughs, who did have 187 yards and a TD in the losing effort to Oak Grove, we just loved what the CBC LB did for his Cadets on Saturday. 

Jones is not the star of CBC’s team. He’s probably not even the best player on their defense, but he was absolutely tremendous in the state title game. The 5’10, 185-pound senior had eight tackles, two massive big hits, and three quarterback sacks, which helped turn Rockhurst’s passing game on its ear. 

CBC finished with seven sacks and teammate Clayton Stalling had three sacks of his own, including one late in the fourth that brought the whole stadium to its feet, to help the Cadets finally put the Hawklets away. 

Best Moment: CBC Locker Room after the game. 

Media members weren’t allowed into the locker rooms following the game, but just standing outside the doors once all the Cadets were inside, you could hear the jubilation as they were finally able to let go and get TURNT UP for their first state football title in school history. It was clear those young men (and their coaches too) were having fun and it was pretty exciting just standing outside the door listening to them have that fun. 

Best Team: Webb City. 

Five titles in a row and there’s absolutely no reason to believe the Webbies are slowing down. Coach Rodrique just seems to reshuffle his deck every year and every year Webb City is still the best team in the state. I don’t normally believe that even the best Class 4 team could really beat the big boys from Class 5 or 6, but this year’s Webb City team is different. 

They walloped Class 6 runner-up Rockhurst back during the regular season and I happen to believe they’d do the same to any and every other team in the state. It might only ever be one year in 20 that the best team in the state comes from a smaller class, but this year is that one in 20. Webb City is the best team in Missouri this year and after seeing them in person, I don’t think there’s anyone that could dispute that. 

What It All Means: Usually we find that the best talent in the state is either on one side or the other. Some years the boys from KC are dominant and other years, it’s our boys from here in the STL. But what I believe we found out this year is that the talent is spread out all over the state. 

The team with the best quarterback in the state (Drew Lock from Lee’s Summit) didn’t even make the playoffs. The team with the best running back (Marquise Doherty from Winnetonka) got knocked out in the first round. And the team with the best combo of speed, size, and athleticism (Hazelwood Central) got knocked out early too. 

So that tells me there’s talent everywhere. There’s good coaching everywhere. There’s good players everywhere. And that means next year could produce state champions from anywhere. You don’t have to be from a big school or a big city to win it all, you just have to be that team that’s ready on every Friday night or Saturday afternoon to execute the best. That’s what our six champions of 2014 did this season and it really could be anybody that does the same next season. 

We know teams like Hazelwood Central, CBC, Kirkwood, Francis Howell, Webster Groves, Lutheran North, and my favorite underdogs from Jennings will be back at the top of the polls next year. And you know East St. Louis, Edwardsville, and the Belleville schools will be reppin’ the Ill-side too. Every year seems like a good year for STL high school football, and I’ve already set my sights on next year, which if it turns out to be anything like what this year was, will be beyond tremendous. 

All I know is I feel like Bart Scott talking to Sal Pauloantonio … CAN’T WAIT!