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Hazelwood Central Welcomes Lafayette Back to North County
McCluer North’s Anthony Kirkwood-Addison (left) competes against Lafayette’s Brandon Graft in last Saturday’s Class Six playoff win by Lafayette at North, 38-22. Jim Weiners photo
By Jim Wieners
Lafayette High School, a Suburban West Conference member from the deep West County suburb of Wildwood, will be returning to North County again this Saturday.
After winning last Saturday at McCluer North, 38-22, Lafayette will visit Hazelwood Central this Saturday because Central won last Friday at 8-3 CBC, 35-7. Before the Lancers and Hawks get ready for the 1:30 kick off in the Class Six Quarterfinal game the fate of the winner’s opponent will already be decided this Friday as Fox visits Oakville. An Oakville win means the Central-Lafayette winner will host the Semifinal, Nov. 20 at Lafayette or Nov. 21 at Central, while a Fox win means the Central-Lafayette winner travels just past the Meramec River on Interstate 55 to the Jefferson County city of Arnold Nov. 20 to play in Fox’s first-ever home playoff game.
Hazelwood Central (10-1) did not take long to take charge last Friday before a packed crowd at CBC so large that many cars were parked on the shoulders of the North Outer Road by U.S. Highway 40/61 (Interstate 64). The Hawks dominated the game to a point where they led 35-0 in the third quarter and many of the fans left early which eased the fears of some of a possible two-hour backup after the game. Quarterback Kerry Gibson threw three touchdown passes, two to Jawyne Thomas, but it was a fake punt by Gibson on the opening drive of the game that led to his first scoring pass to James Harvey.
“Our receivers did a great job,” said Hawk head coach Rich Nixon. “Our offensive line did a great job. We continue to grow each day.” “Gibson’s a great athlete,” said Lafayette head coach Boyd Manne.
Last Saturday’s rematch between McCluer North (6-5) and Lafayette (8-3) was played in sunny weather with temperatures in the 70s compared to the cloudy and cold weather last year. Unlike last year where the Stars led early and had to withstand the Lafayette rally last Saturday the Lancers and Stars played back and forth but the Lancers took charge after North led 16-14 in the third quarter by outscoring the Stars 24-6 the rest of the second half. The McCluer North loss overshadowed the efforts of quarterback Galen Brown who threw for 212 yards and hit Nevar Griffin and Anthony Kirkwood-Addison with a long touchdown each.
