How SBLive’s Top 25 Missouri football teams fared: Webb City claims state-record 16th championship; Smithville, St. Mary’s, Lutheran St. Charles earn 1st titles

By Chris Geinosky

Here’s how the Top 25 Missouri high school football teams fared in Week 15 action. It is state championship week in Class 1 through Class 5. Class 6 play finished last week.

1. Christian Brothers College (13-1) season complete

2. Liberty North (11-2) season complete

3. Lee’s Summit North (11-2) season complete

4. Smithville (13-0) beat No. 6 Hannibal 31-0 in Class 4 State Championship Game

In the team’s biggest game of year, the MSHSAA Class 4 Show-Me Bowl, the Warrior defense proved to be the best unit on the field. Again. Smithville posted the team’s fourth shutout of the season, this time against an explosive Hannibal team that ranked among the state leaders in points scored. Quarterback Andrew Hedgecorth guided the Warriors to the first state championship in program history, completing 13-of-21 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns – a 54-yarder to Rhett Foster that opened the scoring in the first quarter and a 4-yarder to Keltin Nitsche that made it 14-0 early in the second quarter. Cody Simoncic and Preston Rash added touchdown runs in the second half.

5. Holt (13-1) lost to No. 7 Webb City 26-21 in Class 5 State Championship Game

Playing without star quarterback Cooper Brown, who suffered a broken collarbone last week, the Indians fall just short against perennial powerhouse Webb City in the Class 5 title game. Holt trailed 26-7 with less than three minutes left in the game before nearly pulling off a wild comeback. Backup QB Owen Merrill tossed two touchdown passes – an 18-yarder to Jackson Smith with 2:32 left in the game and a 31-yarder to Isaiah Slaughter with 1:46 remaining – that came on back-to-back possessions thanks to a successful onside kick. Holt had one final drive, moving the ball from its own 13-yard line to the Webb City 20 in the final 1:20, but the game ended on an interception at the 2-yard line as time expired.

6. Hannibal (13-1) lost to No. 4 Smithville 31-0 in Class 4 State Championship Game

A team that racked up 646 points this season (49.7 per game), the Pirates failed to score against the vaunted Smithville defense in the Class 4 state title game. In fact, Hannibal mustered all of 177 yards of total offense in the contest – 129 yards on the ground and 48 through the air – in the program’s first-ever state championship game appearance. Quarterback Courtland Watson led Hannibal with 66 rushing yards, but he completed only 6-of-15 passes and was picked off three times, twice in the red zone. Super sophomore Aneyas Williams was a complete non-factor as he rushed seven times for eight yards and caught four passes for 16 yards.

7. Webb City (11-3) beat No. 5 Holt 26-21 in Class 5 State Championship Game

For the first 45 minutes of the MSHSAA Class 5 Show-Me Bowl, the Cardinals completed controlled play. Then in the final three minutes, they had to hang on. Webb City led 26-7 late in the fourth quarter, thanks in large part to a dominating rushing attack. Cade Wilson (31 carries for 162 yards and two touchdowns) and Dupree Jackson (21 attempts for 104 yards and two scores) combined for 266 yards on the ground and accounted for all four Webb City touchdowns. In the final three minutes, Holt scored two touchdowns and had a chance to win the game, but Jackson saved the day with an interception near the goal line as time expired, helping the Cardinals claim their state-record 16th state championship.

8. De Smet Jesuit (8-3) season complete

9. St. Mary’s (St. Louis) (12-1) beat No. 24 St. Pius X 56-0 in Class 3 State Championship Game

It didn’t matter that it was the Class 3 state championship game. The Dragons not only slapped on another running-clock victory (10th of the season and sixth in row), they set a new record for the largest margin of victory in a state final as they led 42-0 at halftime. St. Mary’s piled up 497 yards of total offense in the game. Quarterback Carron Spann completed 6-of-10 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for 71 yards and two scores. Star receiver Kevin Coleman hauled in two of the receptions: a 71-yard touchdown and a 26-yard touchdown. Donovan McIntosh returned an interception 28 yards for a pick-six. Jamal Roberts led the ground game with 114 yards on only 12 carries, while Achille Kpeya and DeShawn Fuller also rushed for touchdowns.

10. Jackson (12-1) season complete

11. MICDS (12-1) season complete

12. Carthage (10-1) season complete

13. Lamar (13-1) lost to Lutheran St. Charles 33-27 in Class 2 State Championship Game

For the first time in program history, the Tigers lost a state championship game. Lamar had been 8-for-8 in title game appearances all-time. This year’s game see-sawed back and forth, as the Tigers scored the first 13 points of the game before falling behind 21-13 in the third quarter. Lamar reclaimed the lead, 27-21, early in the fourth quarter, but it lasted all of 13 seconds, as Lutheran returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to tie the score at 27 after a blocked extra point. AJ Harris scored the game-winning touchdown on a 2-yard run with six seconds left in the game. Lamar’s Joel Beshore completed 14-of-22 passes for 130 yards and one touchdown, and he rushed 83 yards and a score as well.

14. Park Hill South (11-1) season complete

15. Troy Buchanan (10-3) season complete

16. West Plains (10-2) season complete

17. Francis Howell (10-2) season complete

18. Joplin (10-2) season complete

19. Rockwood Summit (11-1) season complete

20. Lebanon (10-2) season complete

21. Raymore-Peculiar (8-3) season complete

22. Nixa (8-3) season complete

23. Valle Catholic (10-1) season complete

24. St. Pius X (Kansas City) (12-2) lost to No. 9 St. Mary’s (St. Louis) 56-0 in Class 3 State Championship Game

This marks the second straight state runner-up showing for the Warriors. St. Pius X came up just short (6-3) against Lamar in last year’s Class 2 state title game, but this one at the larger Class 3 level unfolded completely differently. The Warriors were no match for a powerful St. Mary’s club, as they mustered only 114 yards of total offense (including minus-5 yards on 22 rushing attempts) and seven first downs. Quarterback Jack Mosh completed 14-of-24 passes for 119 yards but was sacked three times and picked off twice. Jayshawn Ross caught three balls for 67 yards, which accounted for more than half of the Warriors’ total yards.