Missouri Week 7 high school football notebook: Offensive line play keeps undefeated Liberty North rolling
By Chris Geinosky and Nate Latsch
Coming into the season, Liberty North – last year’s Class 6 state runner-up – fully admitted that the key to putting together another successful season would be dependent upon the growth of their inexperienced offensive line.
A group that featured only one returning starter from the winningest season in program history, the big guys up front have been thrown into the fire on Friday nights. And not only have the Eagles flourished throughout a 7-0 start, they’ve done it in the face of adversity.
“We’ve had our top five guys that we believed would give us the best chance for success together for basically one game,” Liberty North offensive line coach Dan Luellen said. “There was even one day at practice where we barely had five bodies available because of injuries, sickness and some guys playing JV. We always preach to our kids that opportunity will come, and when that happens you have to be ready. We’ve had some guys step up.”
Senior right tackle Brody Hatcher, senior center Colin Swaney and junior left tackle Braden Gifford have been fixtures up front all season. However, it’s been a different story at the guard spots.
Senior left guard Treyton Shriver, the team’s lone returning starter on the offensive line and previous all-conference award winner, has played when available while battling an ankle injury suffered in Week 2. Sophomore right guard Motie Williams suffered an ankle injury in Week 6 that will likely keep him out until districts. Those holes have created chances for others like senior Zach Walker and junior Wyatt Richardson.
“Because of the adversity, we’ve been forced to get better together as a full unit,” Luellen said. “We’ve had to have the mentality that whoever we run out there has to play at a high level. It’s definitely been a situation of the next man up. Now when everyone’s healthy again, there’s going to be 6-7-8 guys that we trust to perform.”
Behind that offensive line, the Eagles have scored at least five touchdowns in five of seven games this season, which includes four in a row over the past month. North will look to keep it rolling this week at Raymore-Peculiar.
Cardinal Ritter sophomore quarterback Carson Boyd
Ricky Slaughter photo
Sophomore QB Carson Boyd shines for Cardinal Ritter
Cardinal Ritter, the No. 8 team in the SBLive Missouri Power 25 rankings, improved to 7-0 with a dominant 50-0 victory over visiting Lift For Life on Saturday and it was a sophomore quarterback, Carson Boyd, who stole the show.
Boyd completed 10 of 13 passes for 199 yards and five touchdowns – all in the first half – in the win. He tossed two touchdowns apiece to Michigan commit Fredrick Moore and his older brother, Ryan, another Division I prospect. He connected with tight end Dallas Winner-Johnson, a Missouri State commit, for his first touchdown.
Boyd opened the season as the backup behind junior Antwon McKay, but has excelled the past three games after McKay suffered an injury and been working his way back. Boyd has passed for 532 yards and 11 TDs the last three games and also run for 185 yards and two scores.
“I think he’s doing extremely well,” Cardinal Ritter coach Brennan Spain said. “He came in, he’s competitive. So is (Antwon McKay). He kind of banged his shoulder up maybe a week ago, so we’re real hesitant on just putting him in right now. He’s getting better and better. But Carson has done everything I’ve asked him to do. He has the team on his back. Everybody is rallying behind him and everybody is giving him the confidence he needs.”
The Boyd brothers transferred to Ritter from East St. Louis after last season and have added two talented pieces to one of the state’s top teams.
The Lions went 7-7 a year ago, losing to St. Pius X (Kansas City) 21-20, in the Class 3 semifinals. Ritter, led by standouts Moore and running back-safety Marvin Burks Jr., has been impressive this season, but the success to this point isn’t what the Lions are focused on.
“All summer long we didn’t talk about being No. 1 in Class 3A, we didn’t talk about going undefeated, blowing everybody out or not letting anybody score. The goal was to win state,” Spain said. “So as long as we keep that goal in mind, we have not accomplished anything. Because one position wasted, one time we’re not focused, it can all be erased. When the bar is set this high, and we haven’t accomplished that, then it’s nothing really to be proud of right now. … Until we get to the ultimate team goal, all this is just part of the process.”
St. Mary's senior running back Jamal Roberts
Photo by Ricky Slaughter
St. Mary’s dominates De Smet in final regular season home game
If last week’s win turns out to be the final regular-season home victory in school history, what a way to go out.
Reigning state champion St. Mary’s, which looks like the favorite to win the Class 4 state title this year, completely dismantled Class 6 De Smet in a battle of ranked teams last week, 45-14. The Dragons opened up a 17-0 halftime lead and put the game away by extending the advantage to 31-zip in the third quarter.
Star running back and Missouri commit Jamal Roberts and his twin brother John, both rushed for over 100 yards and a touchdown. Chase Hendricks scored two touchdowns in the matter of 10 seconds in the second half to blow the game open. But it was the defense that really dominated the game by forcing four turnovers and racking up seven sacks.
Perhaps the most shocking part of the blowout was the circumstances surrounding the St. Mary’s program. The St. Louis Archdiocese recently announced its plan to shut down St. Mary’s after this school year, making last week’s contest the last regular-season football game at the institution.
“It's my job to keep these guys levelheaded, and you know we can't control what's going on with the (possibility of the school closing),” St. Mary’s head coach Ken Turner told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. “… I try to teach them that adversity is going to come. Whether it's football or life, you're going to have adversity.”
Turner earned coaching win No. 100 at St. Mary’s one week earlier at St. Dominic, and we will likely add to that total in the upcoming weeks. The Dragons close out the regular season with a pair of road games, and then they will be back at home for the Class 4 District 2 tournament.
Kirkwood senior running back Deion Brown
Photo by Nate Latsch
Kirkwood running back Deion Brown breaks rushing record
Deion Brown has had several big games in the past two years while wearing a Kirkwood uniform. But he had his biggest – and the biggest by anyone in program history – last week.
Brown broke a pair of single-game school records in a Week 7 victory at Lindbergh. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound senior running back ran wild for a record 352 yards and seven touchdowns, and he did it on 29 carries, most of it coming in the first half of the blowout win.
Kirkwood opened last week’s game with a 42-0 lead, and Brown accounted for all six touchdowns on runs of 32 yards, 28, 9, 74, 18 and 53. He added a one-yard TD plunge in the middle of the third quarter to close out his huge night.
Brown has carried 152 times for 1,070 yards and 18 touchdowns this season. He rushed for 1,081 yards and 13 scores last year.
Kirkwood has won at least seven games every season since the program’s state championship campaign in 2016, but the Pioneers have some work to do if they want to keep that streak in tack. The team currently owns a 3-3 record heading into this week’s game against McCluer.
Carthage, Gall score big revenge win over rival Webb City
Last year, Carthage crushed Webb City, 42-14, during the regular season only to lose to the eventual Class 5 state champion Cardinals in a district championship game that crushed the Tigers’ playoff hopes.
Carthage gained a little bit of revenge with another regular-season victory against one of their biggest rivals last week, a convincing 28-14 bragging-rights win. The Tigers fell behind 7-0 in the game but scored 28 unanswered points in the first half – on four touchdown runs by standout Luke Gall (10 yards, 42, 2 and 5) – to take a three-touchdown lead into halftime.
In the second half, Carthage had an opportunity to blow the game wide open but had two drives stall in the red zone, which included one possession that ended on the 1-yard line. The Tigers allowed a garbage score in the fourth quarter but were always in control of the game.
Webb City has still dominated the rivalry recently, winning 14 of the past 18 meetings between the two schools. However, Carthage has now won the past two regular-season matchups, and most importantly, it has earned home-field advantage for the postseason.
With only two weeks remaining on the schedule, Carthage and Webb City have all but locked up top two seeds in the Class 5 District 6 tournament and both teams will receive first-round byes when the district play begins. Barring a monumental upset, the two rivals will once again meet again in the district championship round with the winner moving on to the state playoffs, just like last year.
St. Dominic running back gets PWO offer
One of the Show-Me State’s top players hasn’t played a down yet this season, but recently picked up a big opportunity.
Dynamic St. Dominic senior running back Jackson Overton suffered a broken collarbone in the preseason and it’s unsure if it will heal in time for him to be able to return to action this season.
But the Crusaders’ standout running back shared some good news this week when he announced that Murray State had extended the opportunity for him to be a preferred walk-on next season.
Overton, a 5-7, 155-pounder, racked up 4,029 total yards (3,293 rushing, 736 receiving) and 52 touchdowns his first three seasons at St. Dominic.
The senior received scholarship offers in the offseason from the University of St. Thomas, Butler, Valparaiso, Drake and Dayton, among others, after a strong offseason of camp performances, but he hasn’t had the chance yet during his senior season to show schools what he is capable of.
