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McCluer North Hosts Jefferson City 20 Years After 53-0 Show-Me Blowout
BY JIM WIENERS
In 1988 Jim Schottmueller coached McCluer North football to their first state post-season appearance since 1976 and took the Stars to their first ever Show Me Bowl.
Nearly 20 years later the Stars will face the team they were blown out 53-0 at Faurot Field, Columbia (University of Missouri), the Jefferson City Jays. Saturday, Aug. 29, at 1 p.m. Schottmueller, who will begin his 24th year as McCluer North head coach, will lead the Stars against the visiting Jays in a rare Saturday game for Jefferson City.
The Stars and Jays would meet again in 1993 in Columbia and like the 1998 Class 5A Championship game the 1993 title game, also in Class 5A, ended up in a shutout for the Jays, only it was 35-0. In total the Jays out scored the Stars in two games, 88-0.
The Stars have now made 11 post-season state playoff appearances, 10 under Schottmueller including six times in the last seven years. And the Stars, despite playing in the Show-Me Bowl five times including three in a six-year period (2000-2005), are still looking for their first state title.
Meanwhile Jefferson City has made 24 state post-season playoff appearances since the Missouri State High School Activities Association implemented the playoffs in 1968, of which 17 were under the guidance of legendary head coach Pete Adkins. During that period the Jays, who play in a stadium named “Pete Adkins Stadium,” have been to the state finals 12 times and won a MSHSAA playoff record 10 times, nine coached by Adkins who defeated Hazelwood Central twice (1977-78) and McCluer High once (1990).
Since Adkins retirement in 1994 the Jays have been to state title game twice, defeating Parkway Central with Ron Cole as coach in 1997 (23-19) while in 1998 Riverview Gardens outscored the Jays 41-34 for the Rams’ first playoff state title (Riverview was voted state champs in 1967).
Last year the Stars had an 8-3 season and were Class Five, District Two Champions. The Stars were co-champions of the Suburban North Conference (6-1) and shared the conference title as well as sharing 3-1 District Two records with Hazelwood East. The Stars won the district title and qualified for the Class Five Quarterfinals with a 17-13 win Nov. 3, 2007 at Hazelwood East but the Stars would fall in the Quarterfinals Nov. 9 at Jackson (24-7), who lost Nov. 16 in the Semifinals at eventual state champion Waynesville.
Jefferson City—which has qualified for state post-season playoffs only three times after 1998 and was eliminated in Class Six, District Six last year by Fort Zumwalt West — is no stranger to the Florissant Valley area. At least six times in the last 20 years the Jays played Hazelwood Central and the Jays won three times but only once at Hazelwood Central while the Hawks won three times, including one at Adkins Stadium.
