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Hawks Repeat As Class 6 State Football Champions
Members of the 2009 Hazelwood Hawks gathered for a team photo at the Edward Jones Dome before going on win the Class 6 state football championship for the second year in a row.
Story & photo by Jim Wieners
It was a happy trip for the second year in row from 701 Convention Plaza, St. Louis, to 15875 New Halls Ferry Rd., Florissant, for the busses taking the Hazelwood Central Football team late last Friday night.
Hazelwood Central won the Class Six State title for the second year in a row, thanks to a 35-24 win over Blue Springs High at the Edward Jones Dome joining Kansas City-Rockhurst to win Class Six more than once. Central became the first team to repeat as Class Six State champions, the first Suburban North Conference team to repeat as state champions since McCluer won Class 4A in 1968-1969 and the first from North County to repeat since Lutheran North won three straight in Class 3A in 1988-1990. The Hawks also avenged a 53-0 loss to Blue Springs in the 2003 Class Six Championship, also at the Edward Jones Dome.
It was the fifth title for Hazelwood Central, including a 1972 Class 4A co-championship by Hazelwood High with Kansas City-Southwest and two more in Class 5A, most by any Suburban North Conference team. The Hawks now share the most state titles in North County with Lutheran North, who won four Class 3A titles and a Class 2A title. The 11-point victory is the largest margin in Hazelwood Central history.
“These guys are special young men,” said Hazelwood Central head coach Rich Nixon, “fantastic human beings. They happen to be great athletes.”
The 13-1 Hawks won despite having the ball for only 13:28 to 34:32 for Blue Springs and having 12 first downs to 23 for Blue Springs. While Blue Springs took an average of 5:21 for each of the four scoring drives the Hawks scored the first three touchdowns on five plays in 44 seconds combined.
Blue Springs junior running back Darrien Miller, who averaged over 201 yards rushing and has scored 36 touchdowns including three Nov. 20 against DeSmet, ran for 181 yards on 36 carries and scored only one touchdown, a three-yard run with 4:00 left in the first quarter. About 17 seconds after Blue Springs broke on top, 7-0, Central struck back quickly on a 55-yard pass from senior quarterback Kerry Gibson to senior wide receiver Jawayne Thomas. Meanwhile, Miller, who ran for 130 yards in the first half, was held to 51 in the second because the physical nature of the Hawk defense and the ability to “adjust to play around the edge,” Nixon said.
Blue Springs went back up 14-0 thanks to a 15-play, 74-yard drive that took 6:07, capped off by an 18-yard roll out by senior Keeston Terry. While it appeared the Hawks were to have their third drive of the game stopped on three plays they got the ball back after Blue Springs junior Jordan Nubine fumbled a return of a Gibson punt and Cortland Dunlap recovered at the 50. Two plays later a 42-yard run by junior running back Tra Brown set up a three-yard Gibson quarterback keeper to tie it at 14-14, with 7:42 left in the first half.
Blue Springs took less time to get the lead back at 21-14, thanks to a 40-yard kickoff return by Terry to the Wildcat 47 and 11 plays later senior quarterback Jared Lanpher, who completed 22 out of 46 passes for 161 yards, scored a one-yard quarterback sneak. However the Hawks quickly countered on another one-play drive as Brown ran 78 of his team-high 138 yards to tie the score at 21. That was the score at halftime, despite the fact that the Wildcats had the ball for 18:32 while the Hawks were on offense for just 5:28. Brown said the offensive line is what helped him score.
The second half the Hawk defense took over as they limited the Wildcats to a 30-yard field goal by senor Cody Best, with 1:56 left in the third quarter that put Blue Springs ahead 24-21. However the Hawks managed to put together a 10-play, 83-yard drive, 3:00 drive that was capped off by a five-yard touchdown run by junior running back Alonzo Chappelle, with 10:51 left in the game put the Hawks up for the first time and for good at 28-24.
Blue Springs, on the next possession, got no farther than their 44 and Lanpher punted to the Hawk 24 on one bounce, senior Spencer Davis picked it up, got a block while going left and ran down the sideline untouched for a 76-yard touchdown. “All I got to do is get a ball in my hands,” Davis said. “I try may hardest to get to the ball” and result was a 35-24 lead which became the final score.
