The St. Mary’s Dragons won their second consecutive state championship in football in dominating fashion.
St. Mary’s defeated fellow Archdiocesan Athletic Association opponent St. Dominic 42-0 to win the Missouri Class 4 state championship on Friday at Faurot Field on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia. They finished the season with a 12-2 record.
It was also the second consecutive year that the Dragons won the state championship game with a shutout. St. Mary’s won the Class 3 state title last season with a 56-0 thrashing of Kansas City St. Pius X. The Dragons’ defense was on top of its game on Friday as it limited St. Dominic to just 97 yards of total offense for the entire game. Linebacker Gabe Booker had seven solo tackles while defensive end Zamier Collins had four tackles and a quarterback sack.
The St. Mary’s offense was handled by its corps of big play athletes who struck early and often. Senior wide receiver Chase Hendricks opened the scoring with a 32-yard touchdown catch from quarterback David Leonard in the first quarter. Hendricks caught four passes for 101 yards. He also added a 67-yard touchdown on a punt return in the second quarter to give the Dragons a 14-0 lead.
Senior running back Jamal Roberts took over in the second quarter with two more touchdowns to give the Dragons a 28-0 lead. Playing on his future home field, the Mizzou-bound Roberts scored on runs of 54 and 12 yards. He finished the game with 89 yards on 10 carries. Leonard also had a productive game as he completed eight of 11 passes for 118 yards and touchdowns while rushing for 73 yards and another score.
