The area claimed two more state championships this past Saturday as CBC and East St. Louis took care of business while four teams advanced to Faurot Field for more state championship action next weekend in Columbia, Mo.
Let’s get caught up on all the action in this week’s edition of the Monday Morning Wrap-Up.
The MSHSAA Class 6 title game was one for the ages as CBC needed to rally from eight points down in the fourth quarter to defeat Lee’s Summit North 35-28 in overtime to claim the championship for the fifth time in the past eight years.
Photo Credit – Missouri State High School Activities Association
It was a tale of two halves as the teams combined for 48 points in the first 24 minutes with CBC scoring the only touchdown in the final half to force the extra session.
After the Broncos missed a 21-yard field goal on their opening drive, Jeremiah Love did not wait long to give CBC an early advantage as he took the first play of the Cadets’ opening possession and ran 80-yards to put the Cadets on top 7-0. North answered on their next drive with a touchdown pass to even the game at 7-7 at the end of the first quarter. In a wild second quarter, the Broncos took the lead early in the period on another pass play to grab a 14-7 lead only to see the Cadets cut the deficit to one as Love grabbed a 4-yard pass from Cole McKey to make the score 14-13. North added to the lead with 6:28 left in the half on another long pass play to put the advantage to 21-13. The Cadets answered with 1:46 remaining in the quarter as Love collected an 89-yard pass from McKey and raced to the endzone to get the score once again to within one at 21-20. The Broncos ended the half with their fourth passing touchdown of the game with four seconds on the clock to take a 28-20 lead into the locker room.
The second half turned into a defensive battle as neither team was able to score until Love raced seven yards to the endzone with 6:49 left in regulation to cut the lead to 28-26. CBC converted the all-important two-point conversion as Jeremiah McClellan found Corey Simms on a swing route to tie the game at 28-28. North had a chance to win the game with five seconds remaining as they missed a field goal from 20 yards out, but the Cadets were called for a roughing the kicker penalty that gave the Broncos another chance at winning the game. CBC would not be denied as they blocked the Bronco’s second field goal attempt as time expired to force overtime. The Cadets needed just one play on their possession as Love scored his fifth touchdown of the evening with a 30-yard sprint to the endzone that put CBC on top 35-28. The Cadets’ defense sealed the deal as they stopped the Broncos on a fourth and 16 pass play to give CBC their second consecutive state title.
Love paced the Cadet’s offense with 219 yards on 19 carries with three scores while adding another 106 yards receiving and two more touchdowns. McKey finished the day with 256 yards on 18 completions and two touchdowns. Michael Teason led the Cadets on defense with 12 tackles while Zakiese Smith added nine stops to aid CBC in the win.
Over on the Illinois side, East St. Louis won their 10th state title and first since 2019 as the Flyers defeated Prairie Ridge out of Crystal Lake 57-7 Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.
Prairie Ridge scored their only touchdown of the game midway through the first quarter on a 14-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead. After that point, it was all East St. Louis as the Flyers answered with a TaRyan Martin 34-yard run and a two-point conversion to grab an 8-7 lead. Martin found the endzone again early in the second quarter on an eight-yard run to make the score 15-7. Martin then scored his third touchdown of the game with another eight-yard run with 3:39 left in the half to push the score to 22-7.
The Flyers put the game out of reach in the third quarter as they found the endzone four times with Robert Battle tossing a pair of scoring passes and then he used his legs to score from 26 yards out to make the score 50-7. Battle found Jesse Watson on a 27-yard pass and then hit Rico Bond for a 41-yard touchdown strike in the quarter with Chris Bennett, Jr. finding the endzone from 12-yards out to give the Flyers a 50-7 lead after three quarters.
Antwon Hayden scored the final touchdown for East St. Louis with 6:45 remaining in the game with a 69-yard run to put the Flyers ahead 57-7. Martin finished the game with 174 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns while Battle threw for 207 yards on 10 completions with three scores to lead the Flyer’s offense. Battle also rushed for 63 yards in the game to help East St. Louis to their 10th state crown.
It was a banner weekend for the local teams in the state semifinals as Howell, St. Mary’s, St. Dominic, and Cardinal Ritter all advanced to the state championship games this coming weekend in Columbia, Mo. We will break down those semifinal games in a special Tuesday edition of the Tuesday Wrap-Up on Scoops with Danny Mac.
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
