By Dean Backes
MaxPreps.com
Sean Wheaton's 3-yard touchdown run gave Raytown South a 34-33 lead with 30 seconds remaining in Saturday's Class 5 state football championship, and appeared to secure the Cardinal program its first state football title.
Unfortunately, for the Raytown South players and coaching staff, the late score forced Hazelwood East into some quick action and eventually a 39-34 triumph on the game's final play.
Tarrell Downing began the rally by returning the kickoff to midfield to give the Spartans some hope. Spartan quarterback Eric Brown then completed a 14-yard pass to Don Shumpert on first down.
Following an incomplete pass, Brown found Dejuan Owens for a 7-yard gain to the Cardinal 29-yard line with 4 seconds left.
After calling a time out, Spartan head coach Mike Jones sent several receivers down the right sideline toward the end zone, while Brown cocked his arm and fired a high arching aerial their way.
Downing gathered the ball in near the goal line for the championship saving catch among a throng of wanna be heroes with no time on the clock.
"We've never completed that pass," Jones told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. "As crazy as it sounds, we practice it every week but we can never get the right match-up."
The Class 5 clash was highlighted by seven lead changes. Hazelwood East held the largest advantage of 19-7 early in the second quarter following Dominic Nixon's 52-yard fumble return for a score.
The Cardinals bounced back to pull within 27-21 at intermission following Courtney Green's 11-yard scoring reception from quarterback Dennis Tanner, and Ronnell Garner's 89-yard run that ended in the end zone.
Courtney Ward's score from 26-yards out, after reeling in a strike from Brown, was a prelude to the waning moments of the thriller. Three touchdowns were scored in the final 2-minutes, 39-seconds of the contest.
Mirror Winners
Just like its Suburban North counterpart (Hazelwood East), Hazelwood Central was forced to rally in the fourth quarter to survive a 5-point state championship triumph over a Kansas City area school.
The Hawks' Maurice Scott latched onto a 59-yard scoring strike from his quarterback Kerry Gibson, with 7:04 left in the contest, to secure a 25-20 win over 2006 Class 6 champion Blue Springs South in the state's largest classification's title game.
State Football Championship Results
Class 6 - Hazelwood Central 25, Blue Springs South 20
Class 5 -Hazelwood East 39, Raytown South 34
Class 4 - Webb City 41, Helias 34
Class 3 - Cassville 31, Cardinal Ritter 7
Class 2 - Clark County 10, Maryville 7
Class 1 - Orrick 34, Thayer 28 (2OT)
8-Man - Mound City 48, St. Joseph Christian 16
Fingertips of Gold
Mound City's Jacob Parker has been one of the Show Me State's best-kept secrets throughout the 2008 football season.
Entering Friday's 8-Man championship game at the Edward Jones Dome, the senior tight end had caught nine balls all season. However, five of those aerials went for touchdowns.
In the finals, a 48-16 Panther win over St. Joseph Christian, Parker caught four passes for 99 yards and touchdowns of 17, 17, 32 and 53 yards.
State Championship Rematch
Thayer inched a little closer to knocking defending champion Orrick off of its high horse Friday in the Class 1 championship game.
To the dismay of Bobcat fans, however, Billy Webber's squad fell just short in the second go round of Missouri small school 11-Man powers.
After falling to the Bearcats 20-8 in the title game a year ago, Thayer lost a heart wrenching 34-28 double overtime thriller over the weekend.
Clayton Jones paved the way to the title for Orrick when he intercepted a Jacob Eckman pass in the second overtime.
Then, after the Bearcats mauled their way to the 1-yard line, quarterback Joe Kaufman secured the school's second straight title with his third touchdown of the contest.
Playoff Format Change Allows History
Now that two football teams qualify for the Missouri state football playoffs from each district, championship hopefuls have one more hurdle to climb. One more game to win.
Webb City (Class 4), Clark County (Class 2) and Orrick (Class 1) all took advantage of that extra football game on their respective schedules to make history by winning 15 games this season.
Cassville joined the ranks of first time feats by winning a state title after qualifying for the playoffs as a district runner-up.
Top Individual Championship Performances
David Welchert of St. Joseph Christian rushed for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 48-16 loss to Mound City...Miles Clifton of Mound City completed 6 of 14 passes for 170 yards and 5 touchdowns in a 48-16 win over St. Joseph Christian...Mound City's Jacob Parker caught 4 passes for 99 yards and 4 touchdowns...Mound City's Patrick Treece (2 1/2), Jacob Parker (2 1/2) and Clifton (3) combined to make 8 tackles resulting in losses...Thayer's Lance Schneider caught 6 passes for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 34-28 double overtime loss to Orrick...Jacob Eckman of Thayer completed 7 of 14 passes for 147 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Maryville's Adam Mattson rushed for 186 yards and 1 touchdown on 21 carries in a 10-7 loss to Clark County...Cardinal Ritter's Julian Edwards was credited with 11 total tackles, including 3 for losses of 5 yards in a 31-7 loss to Cassville...Jay Shimmens of Helias completed 9 of 21 passes for 149 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 41-34 loss to Webb City...Webb City's Mack Kyle rushed for 110 yards and 1 touchdown on 20 carries and completed 7 of 10 passes for 214 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 41-34 win over Helias.
Eric Brown of Hazelwood East completed 12 of 22 passes for 287 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 39-34 win over Raytown South...Hazelwood East's Tarrell Downing caught 3 passes for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns...Raytown South's Ronnell Garner rushed for 92 yards and 1 touchdown on 5 carries, caught 3 passes for 75 yards and 1 touchdown and returned 2 kicks for 106 yards...Dennis Tanner of Raytown South completed 17 of 32 passes for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 39-34 loss to Hazelwood East...Blue Springs South's Blaine Dalton completed 16 of 30 passes for 226 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 25-20 loss to Hazelwood Central.
Final 2008 Rankings
Class 6
1. Hazelwood Central (12-2) 395-207 8
2. Blue Springs South (11-3) 415-256 2
3. Rockhurst (10-2) 452-153 1
4. Blue Springs (9-2) 356-274 3
5. Jefferson City (9-3) 524-276 4
6. Liberty (7-3) 398-258 6
7. Fort Zumwalt West (9-3) 586-279 5
8. DeSmet Jesuit (8-3) 306-132 7
9. Fox (9-4) 403-277 -
10. McCluer North (6-6) 340-287 -
Class 5
1. Hazelwood East (11-3) 357-223 9
2. Raytown South (12-2) 493-190 4
3. Raymore-Peculiar (11-2) 470-270 2
4. Fort Osage (8-3) 417-147 3
5. Lee's Summit West (9-4) 439-164 5
6. Timberland (10-1) 485-123 1
7. Waynesville (7-5) 347-267 -
8. McCluer (8-4) 274-200 10
9. Jackson (8-6) 320-261 -
10. Eureka (10-2) 341-130 6
Class 4
1. Webb City (15-0) 534-233 2
2. Kearney (13-1) 558-80 1
3. Helias (13-2) 524-237 7
4. Smith-Cotton ((12-1) 580-182 4
5. MICDS (11-1) 387-168 5
6. Harrisonville (9-3) 391-247 6
7. Bolivar (11-2) 514-210 9
8. Union (11-1) 551-152 3
9. St. Charles West (10-2) 419-251 8
10. Gateway Tech (9-4) 339-179 -
Class 3
1. Cassville (12-3) 406-162 -
2. Chillicothe (13-1) 535-155 2
3. Monett (11-1) 420-76 1
4. Cardinal Ritter (13-2) 557-173 -
5. Pleasant Hill (10-3) 376-215 5
6. Holden (11-1) 454-154 4
7. Sullivan (12-2) 392-180 7
8. Mountain Grove (9-2) 389-157 3
9. New Madrid County Central (10-3) 465-266 -
10. McCluer South-Berkeley (9-4) 371-159 -
Class 2
1. Clark County (15-0) 586-64 5
2. Maryville (13-2) 528-183 3
3. Blair Oaks (11-2) 491-165 4
4. Maplewood-Richmond Heights (13-1) 614-99 2
5. Carrollton (11-2) 431-142 9
6. Hogan Prep (11-1) 445-191 1
7. Centralia (11-1) 548-139 6
8. Fair Grove (13-1) 533-158 7
9. Liberty-Mountain View (9-3) 421-178 10
10. Lawson (9-2) 319-220 8
Class 1
1. Orrick (15-0) 584-93 1
2. Thayer (12-2) 523-189 4
3. Penney (10-1) 483-62 3
4. Tipton (13-1) 445-96 2
5. Princeton (12-2) 429-143 6
6. West Platte (11-2) 444-289 7
7. Miller (10-2) 419-205 9
8. Greenfield (11-2) 431-134 10
9. Valle Catholic (10-3) 482-189 -
10. Wellington-Napoleon (9-4) 395-210 -