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Sooner or later it was bound to happen in the Missouri State High School Activities Association Semifinals but unfortunately for the Hazelwood Central Football Hawks it happened Nov. 22 in Class Six.

What started in 1972, as Hazelwood High, ended this season for Hazelwood Central as the Hawks lost their first-ever MSHSAA semifinal game after winning 15 consecutive times. Columbia-Rock Bridge is the first team to win a state semifinal game over Hazelwood Central. Rock Bridge won at home over the Hawks 36-33 and the Bruins now head to St. Louis to play defending Class Six Champion Blue Springs Friday, Nov. 29, 7:30 at the Edward Jones Dome.

Not only it was the first time Hazelwood Central (12-1) had to settle for taking home a state semifinal trophy but it is also the first time since the MSHSAA Football championships have no St. Louis area schools competing for the state title in the largest enrollment classification. MSHSAA had four classes from 1968 to 1981, five from 1982 to 2001 and is currently in six classes since it began in 2002. Rock Bridge, who is 8-5 after starting Class Six, District Three at 4-5, is seeking to win their first state title since 1977, two years after winning their first (both in Class 3A), while Blue Springs is 13-0 and seeking their fifth state title since 1992.

Rock Bridge scored the game-winning touchdown with 2:12 left in the fourth quarter when Logan Twehous threw a 35-yard pass to Logan Reuter and secured the win in the final minute when the Bruins recovered a Hazelwood Central fumble at the Rock Bridge five yard line. It was Twehous’ fourth touchdown pass of the game, the second to Reuter who scored on a 13-yard play with 1:15 left in the third quarter and the two hooked up for a two-point conversion pass with 3:47 left in the fourth. Alex Ofodile caught the other two Twehous touchdown passes, a 25-yarder with 2:10 left in the second quarter for the Bruins first score and a 16-yarder with 3:47 left in the fourth prior to the Twehous to Reuter two-point conversion.

Eli Stout scored the other Bruin touchdown, an 11-yard run with 10:20 left in the third quarter.

The Hawk loss overshadowed the efforts of running back Kevin Batt and quarterback Mike Glass, both juniors. Batt ran for three touchdowns including a 46-yard run with 8:44 left in the second quarter and added a pair of third-quarter scoring runs, from 62 yards with 9:15 left and from three yards with 6:03 left.  Glass, who scored twice on Nov. 16 against CBC (not three times as mentioned in the previous week), threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Mike Prewitt for the game’s first score with 3:15 left in the first quarter then Glass had a one-yard touchdown run with 3:32 left in the fourth quarter to put the Hawks back up 33-29 about 15 seconds after Rock Bridge took their first lead but 1:20 before the Bruins scored the game-winner.

Both teams scored five touchdowns but the Hawks missed the extra point in the first quarter and failed to score a two-point conversion in the third quarter after Batt’s second touchdown of the game. Meanwhile Rock Bridge converted on all extra-point plays including a two-pointer.

Hazelwood Central was the only team in the Suburban North Conference to not only gets to the state semifinals but advanced past the second round of district playoffs. While Hazelwood Central was the only Suburban North team to win in the first round of Class Six, District Two Hazelwood East and McCluer North each won their first round game in Class Five, District Two before Hazelwood East fell to Webster Groves and McCluer North lost to Kirkwood in round two. Besides McCluer North another Ferguson-Florissant district high school, McCluer South-Berkeley, won Class Three, District Five before losing a Nov. 16 quarterfinal heart-breaker at home, 26-24, to California, Mo.