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McCluer North, Kirkwood Have a Semifinal Clash
BY JIM WIENERS
McCluer North Football is 11-0 for the first time ever but before thinking of the Stars finally winning a state title, or even about the title game at the Show-Me Bowl, consider the words from ESPN College Gameday analyst Lee Corso; “Not so fast my friend(s).”
McCluer North, ranked first in the Missouri State Class Five rankings according to the Associated Press, visits Kirkwood, ranked second, Friday, 7 p.m., in the State Semifinals. Kirkwood, 9-0 not including a possible make up game with Rockwood-Marquette, is in their seventh semifinal appearance and looking for their first win after losses to Hazelwood Central (three times), Sumner, Riverview Gardens and Hazelwood East.
McCluer North is in their eighth semifinal game and has won five out of the previous seven.
The winner plays Nov. 25, 6:30, at the Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, against 8-3 Raymore-Peculiar, defending two-time state champions, or 5-6 Park Hill.
The atmosphere at a semifinal site is “great for the school (especially the host school) and community,” said McCluer North head coach Jim Schottmueller.
McCluer North, Suburban North Conference Champion, and Kirkwood, Suburban West Conference Champion, both played in five-team districts, each going 4-0 and each secured a post-season appearance by winning in the final week of districts. While Kirkwood eliminated last year’s quarterfinalist and Public High League Champion Roosevelt (48-14 on Nov. 3), McCluer North needed an overtime field goal by Tom Latimore for the second year in a row to win a district title, this time 38-35 over Hazelwood East on Nov. 4.
Kirkwood has won the first nine games played by an average margin of nearly 28.5 points per game, with three shutouts. In the last five games, including last Friday’s 35-11 Quarterfinal win at Rolla, the Pioneers have outscored the opposition, 210-31.
McCluer North, in the first nine games, have outscored the opposition by an average margin of 35.67 points but in the last two games the Stars have outscored the opposition 73-68 winning by an average margin of two and a half points. Last Saturday’s home Quarterfinal win over Parkway West, 35-33, was closer than the Stars anticipated, with two turnovers resulting in two Longhorn touchdowns. “The kids (who left in a low-key mood) felt disappointed in how they played against Parkway West,” Schottmueller said.
Cold, cloudy, windy weather last Saturday after Friday’s rains, although the sun came out late in the game may have made some impact but the special teams after touchdowns provided the final margin since both teams scored five touchdowns. McCluer North made up a missed extra point with a two-point conversion run by Quarterback/holder Ben Hendrix after a fake point after attempt by Latimore. Parkway West missed three extra points but a two-point conversion after the game’s final touchdown by Eddie Watkins, quarterback Blaine Gabbert to running back Dan Phillips resulted in the final margin of 35-33.
Hendrix also helped the Stars win with a 20-yard first-quarter pass to Jonny Gordon, a nine-yard touchdown run in the second-quarter and an 80-yard pass to Norris Johnson in the third quarter. Quartize Jackson added a pair of touchdown runs, 20 yards in the second quarter and three yards in the third. Gabbert also threw three touchdown passes — two to Conner Mach, one to Tercel Seiber — ran for another.
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