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Week 2 Road Trips Include Central-DeSmet, East-Kirkwood Rematches
By Jim Wieners
With The Independent News not publishing next week there are top matches for week two that can not be ignored.
On Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. Hazelwood Central returns to DeSmet for the third year in a row in the regular season while Hazelwood East heads to Kirkwood in their first home game as defending Class Five State champions.
Hazelwood Central has lost to DeSmet three times in two seasons including twice during regular season games at DeSmet including last year moved from Hazelwood Central due to remnants of what was Hurricane Isaac. The most recent came during the second week of Class Six, District Two at Hazelwood Central where DeSmet won 40-30 and after DeSmet won the district title at CBC, 56-35, lost 42-7 at home in the Semifinals to eventual Class Six State Champion Blue Springs.
Van Vanatta, prior to being promoted to head coach in 2011, assisted Rich Nixon, now Maplewood-Richmond Heights athletic director and head coach, to three straight Class Six title games appearances including back-to-back state titles in 2008 and 2009 faking short in 2010 by a 10-7 score to Kansas City Rockhurst. In 2010 Hazelwood Central won twice at home over DeSmet, in the season-opener and in the Class Six Semifinals.
Hazelwood East has lost three straight to Kirkwood including two that eliminated the Spartans from the playoffs. Last year Hazelwood East lost twice on artificial turf first in week two succumbing to a Kirkwood come from behind win 32-22 in the East St. Louis, ill., City of Champions Classic then in Round Two of Class Five, District Two at Kirkwood’s Lyons Stadium, 33-12. In the 2011 Class Five Semifinals at jam-packed Gorzynski Field, with Kirkwood fans sitting behind the Hazelwood East Marching Spartans on a cloudy-windy day, Kirkwood won 41-20 before taking second in state to Staley.
In the 2004 Class Six Semifinals Hazelwood East, who would take second in in the State title game to Columbia-Hickman, defeated visiting Kirkwood 34-27. In that year Kirkwood had Jeremy Maclin, former Mizzou star now with the Philadelphia Eagles but will not play this year due to injuries.
UNIVERSITY CITY AT McCLUER SOUTH BERKELEY — This Sept. 7 1 p.m. game is the first of three key games for McCluer South-Berkeley, who will play the next two against Suburban East Conference rivals, Ladue on Sept. 12 and Clayton on Sept. 21. Last year U. City, Ladue and Clayton each defeated 8-4 McCluer South-Berkeley, who was 3-2 in the Suburban East and was Class Three, District Five Runner Up.
