It will be a busy weekend with the district finals taking place in football in Missouri while the third round of the football playoffs will happen in Illinois, state quarterfinals in soccer, and the Missouri State High School Activities Association State Boys’ State Swimming and Diving Championships taking place at the Rec-Plex in St. Peters, Mo.
Let’s preview the weekend in this week’s edition of the Friday Fast Break.
We start on the gridiron, there are many storylines in the area when it comes to the district finals. Plus, many teams are not only playing for the title but the right to host either the state semifinals or quarterfinals next week.
In Class 6, many will be heading to West County as Marquette travels up east on Interstate 40 to take on CBC. Both teams are coming off huge wins last week as the Mustangs defeated Seckman while the Cadets beat Kirkwood. This will be a match-up that will see one of the area’s top quarterbacks in Marquette’s Jack Ahlbrand going against one the top running back duos in the state with Dylan Van and Jeremiyah Love.
The feature match-up in Class 5 will see Eureka play host to MICDS in a battle of the top two seeds in their district. The top-seeded Wildcats will need a big game out of Kevin Emmanuel to advance to the quarterfinals while the Rams will use both Winston Moore and Steven Hall in the backfield as the two combined for 478 yards in their victory over Lafayette last week.
In the marquee match-up in class 4, Summit will head to South City to take on St. Mary’s in a much-anticipated contest for the district title. The Falcons are coming off an impressive victory over previously undefeated Union and will turn to running back Elijah Stevens to lead the offensive attack. The Dragons kept their hopes of returning to the state championship game with a win over Gateway as quarterback David Leonard will have control of St. Mary’s high-powered offense.
Here is a complete listing of the district finals in Missouri. All games are Friday evening unless listed differently:
Class 6:
District 1 – No. 2 Marquette at No. 1 CBC – 6 p.m.
District 2 – No. 5 De Smet at No. 2 Rock Bridge – 7 p.m.
District 3 – No. 2 Lee’s Summit North at No. 1 Nixa – 7 p.m.
District 4 – No. 7 Park Hill South at No. 1 Liberty North – 7 p.m.
Class 5:
District 1 – No. 4 Poplar Bluff at No. 2 Cape Central – 7 p.m.
District 2 – No. 2 MICDS at No. 1 Eureka – 7 p.m.
District 3 – No. 2 Fort Zumwalt North at No. 1 Howell – 7 p.m.
District 4 – No. 4 Timberland at No.2 Helias – 7 p.m.
District 5 – No. 2 Lebanon at No.1 Camdenton – 7 p.m.
District 6 – No. 3 Republic at No. 1 Carthage – 7 p.m.
District 7 – No. 2 Raytown at No. 1 Grain Valley – 7 p.m.
District 8 – No. 2 Oak Park at No. 1 Fort Osage – 7 p.m.
Class 4:
District 1 – No. 3 Festus at No. 1 Hillsboro – 7 p.m.
District 2 – No. 2 Summit at No. 1 St. Mary’s – 7 p.m.
District 3 – No. 2 Vashon at No. 1 Parkway Central – 7 p.m.
District 4 – No. 2 St. Dominic at No.1 Hazelwood East – Saturday 1 p.m.
District 5 – No. 2 Jefferson City at No. 1 Hannibal– 7 p.m.
District 6 – No. 2 Bolivar at No. 1 West Plains – 7 p.m.
District 7 – No. 3 Nevada at No. 1 Center – 7 p.m.
District 8 – No. 2 Smithville at No. 1 Kearney – 7 p.m.
Class 3:
District 1 – No. 2 Park Hills Central at No. 1 Valle Catholic – 7 p.m.
District 2 – No. 2 University City at No. 1 Cardinal Ritter – 7 p.m.
District 3 – No. 3 Lutheran North at No. 1 St. Charles West – 7 p.m.
District 4 – No. 2 Sullivan at No.1 St. Clair – 7 p.m.
District 5 – No. 3 Boonville at No. 1 Moberly– 7 p.m.
District 6 – No. 2 Osage at No. 1 Reeds Spring – 7 p.m.
District 7 – No. 3 Odessa at No. 1 Pleasant Hill – 7 p.m.
District 8 – No. 2 Savannah at No. 1 Maryville – 7 p.m.
Class 2:
District 1 – No. 2 Lift for Life at No. 1 New Madrid Central – 7 p.m.
District 2 – No. 3 Borgia at No.1 Blair Oaks – 7 p.m.
Class 1:
District 2 – No.2 Brentwood at No. 1 Duchesne – 7 p.m.
Illinois Quarterfinal Pairings:
Class 2A – No. 14 Althoff at No. 2 Johnson City – Saturday – 4 p.m.
Class 5A – No. 3 Peoria at No. 7 Mascoutah – Saturday – 3 p.m.
Class 6A – No. 7 Crete at No. 6 East St. Louis – Saturday – 2 p.m.
The quarterfinals are set for the Missouri boys’ soccer playoffs as a few teams are looking to either return to the state final four or advance to the WorldWide Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo. for the first time.
Here is a complete listing of the Missouri boys’ soccer quarterfinals set for Saturday:
Class 1 – Bishop Dubourg vs. Brentwood at Gay Field (Clayton) – Noon
Duchesne at Borgia – Noon
Class 2 – Saxony Lutheran at Principia – 1 p.m.
Orchard Farm at Helias – 1 p.m.
Class 3 – Cape Notre Dame at Webster Groves – Noon
Whitfield at Fort Zumwalt East – 2 p.m.
Class 4 – Lindbergh at CBC – 2 p.m.
Chaminade at St. Dominic – 2 p.m.
The MSHSAA boys’ state swimming and diving championships are going on at the Rec-Plex in St. Peters, Mo., with the finals in Class 2 taking place Friday morning while the Class 1 prelims will start Friday evening with the final heats in Class 1 taking place Saturday afternoon.
Jim Powers has been covering prep sports in the St. Louis area for 15+ years and a part of the Missouri State High School Activities Association Championship Broadcasts for the past 11 years. Powers is also a part of the Fox 2 Verlo Mattress Prep Zone Friday nights at 10:10 during the football and basketball seasons. If you have a prep sports story, please contact Jim at japowers2421@yahoo.com. Follow Jim at @hssportscaravan
