Blog

By Jim Wieners

Hazelwood Central Football, coming off two straight years as Missouri Class Six State Championship seasons, host a 1 p.m. game Aug. 28 against DeSmet Jesuit High, a team that had title hopes dashed last year in the Class Six Semifinals.

Hazelwood Central was 13-1 last year, losing only to McCluer North, 16-10, in Class Six, District Four but qualified for state as a district runner up. The Hawks also won the Suburban North Conference Championship with a 6-1 record.

DeSmet was 12-1 last year and won the Metro Catholic Conference title with a 4-0 record. DeSmet outscored Class Six, District Five opponents by a 175-0 margin and defeated Jefferson City, 27-6 in the quarterfinal round. However the Spartans lost in the semifinals, 53-5 to Class Six Runner Up Blue Springs, a team that Hazelwood Central defeated 35-24 in the Class Six title game.

Hazelwood East will have a new head coach as the Spartans open the season Aug. 28 with a 1 p.m. Suburban North Conference game against Pattonville. Brian Simmons is coming from Cardinal Ritter College Prep, Archdiocesan Athletic Association Champions last year and was Class Three State Runner Up in 2008 playing before Hazelwood East won the Class Five State title. Simmons also coached at Hazelwood Central, Pattonville and Washington University in St. Louis as well as the Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club.

Last year East was 6-5 overall, 5-2 in the Suburban North Conference, including a 28-13 win in district play over Pattonville but the Spartans run for a repeat title ended in the Class Five Sectional round to Chaminade. Pattonville was 2-8 overall, 1-6 in the Suburban North.

Hazelwood West will be heading to Belleville, Ill., Aug. 27, for a 7 p.m. contest at Belleville East with a new head coach..  Cordez Vaughn, who was an assistant coach last year, is the new Wildcat head coach. Vaughn assisted at Gateway Tech, St. Louis, was a graduate assistant at Southeast Missouri State and was a coach at the University of Arkansas-Monticello

Hazelwood West was 7-3 for the last two years and was 5-2 in the Suburban North Conference yet the Wildcats have not been in post-season play since 1993.Belleville East was 7-3 overall, 5-2 in the Southwestern Conference, an Illinois Class 8A State first-round participant, one of five Southwestern Conference teams to compete in the Illinois playoffs.

McCLUER NORTH OPENS AT JEFFERSON CITY— McCluer North, a Class Six, District Four champion and Sectional qualifier, returns to Jefferson City Aug. 28 for a 7 p.m. game a year after losing 40-22 at Pete Adkins Stadium. McCluer North was 6-5 overall, 5-2 in the Suburban North and lost 38-22 to Lafayette in the Class Six Sectionals. Jefferson City was 9-3 last year and was a Class Six Quarterfinalist, losing to DeSmet.

McCLUER HOSTS CLASS FIVE CHAMPION WEBSTER GROVES — McCluer will play at home on a Friday afternoon beginning Aug. 27 with a 4:15 game against Class Five State Champion Webster Groves. McCluer was 3-8 last year, 1-6 in the Suburban North yet a 6-0 SNC win over Pattonville qualified for state losing 15-6 in the Class Five Regional round to Parkway Central. Webster Groves was 13-1, 6-0 in the Suburban South Conference, only losing Nov. 26 at Kirkwood, 32-13, using junior varsity players.

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