Cardinal Ritter tops Republic to win Missouri Class 5 football championship, second straight title

Lions compete second straight undefeated championship season

Author:
Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports
Publish date:
Dec 1, 2023 11:54 PM EST

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI – The Cardinal Ritter football team did it again.

A year after winning the school's first football championship – and overwhelming Reeds Spring in the Class 3 title game – the Lions returned to Memorial Stadium with a more daunting task after jumping up two classifications to Class 5.

The result, however, was the same.

Ritter defeated Republic 38-25 to win the Missouri Class 5 championship on Friday night and extend its winning streak to 28 games.

"It's a surreal feeling," Cardinal Ritter coach Brennan Spain said. "It's not really going to hit me until later on. I'm living in the moment. I tell them all the time, let's not worry about tomorrow, let's not worry about last week. I stress to them every week, this Cardinal Ritter team is in competition with self and self only – we want to be better than what we were last week. And these guys progressed, they got better and better."

The Lions (14-0) led 8-0 after one quarter, 22-13 at halftime and 30-13 after three quarters.

Republic trailed 38-19 in the final seconds before scoring a touchdown as time expired – there was no point-after kick – to make the final score 38-25.

"The game was everything that we thought it would be," Spain said. "We knew their style of play would limit our offensive possessions, but we knew defensively for them it would be extremely tough to stop us."

Keelan Smith Liberty North Missouri football 8-25-23 David Smith 23503

Cardinal Ritter's quarterback duo – senior Antwon McKay Jr. and junior Carson Boyd – combined for 155 passing yards and three touchdowns. Junior running back Jamarion Parker ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Junior wide receiver Dejerrian Miller caught four passes for 74 yards and two TDs.

Junior defensive tackle Bryce Gray led the Lions defense with 16 tackles, while senior safety Dominique Dixon had 12 tackles and one sack. Junior safety Tyron Steed, junior linebacker Eldridge Johnson and junior cornerback Antonio Parker each had interceptions.

Senior quarterback Wyatt Woods led Republic (12-3) with 120 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 28 carries and 133 yards passing and two scores with two interceptions.