Quick-scoring Lee's Summit West advnaces in Missouri football playoffs

Finding themselves down 24-14 at halftime of Saturday's Class 5 quarterfinal football game against crosstown rival Lee's Summit, Royce Boehm's Lee's Summit West Titans were looking for a spark.

Titan tight end Adam Klausing provided that flicker of hope when he latched onto a pass from junior signal caller Luke Knott and ran the rest of the way on a 51-yard scoring strike. Then Cam Johnson poured gasoline on the fire after picking off a Corbin Berkstresser pass two plays later, putting the Titans in business at the Tiger 20-yard line.

Darnay Session finished the job, scoring from 18 yards out to give the third-ranked Titans the lead for good at 28-24 with 9-minutes, 34 seconds left in the third quarter. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound senior also set up Knott's 1-yard fourth-quarter plunge with a burst up the middle as the Titans then grabbed a 35-24 advantage.

"I knew it was crucial that our offense keep the ball moving...keep the clock running," Session said of his second-half playmaking ability. "I was just trying to do everything I could to help my team out."

Unlike Lee's Summit's 45-21 regular season loss to its crosstown rival, a game in which the Tigers trailed 21-0 after a quarter of play, Eric Thomas' squad bounced back on Berkstresser's 42-yard romp and a 2-point conversion to get back to within 35-32.

But Titan receiver Keith Marks provided the winning margin when he slipped in behind the Tiger secondary and hauled in a 28-yard strike from Knott.

"I got behind the defense," Marks said of his game winning heroics. "I ran a flag route and he (defensive back) thought it was a run. I just got in the end zone, and caught it. It means the world to me. It's what I live for."

Lee's Summit came back one more time and scored on Blake Stancil's 9-yard snag from Berkstresser to pull the Tigers to within 42-39. But Ryan Hillier grabbed the onside kick and the Titans ran out the clock.

"They gave us a fight tonight," Marks said. "I mean they came out and they told us that they were going to do it. And we came out and did it."

"I thought they came out with a little chip on their shoulder because of the first game," added Session. "They made some defensive adjustments that kind of slowed us down a bit. They came out with a different attitude...a different mind set, and they made the game a lot closer."

King Frazier put Lee's Summit (8-5) on the scoreboard first with his 23-yard first quarter run. But West bounced back with a 66-yard scoring strike from Knott to Klausing and a 10-yard Session run to go up 14-7.

A 3-yard scoring run by Steven Kingsolver and Frazier's 19-yard jaunt put Lee's Summit back on top. Brevin Letner then booted a 28-yard field goal to account for the final points of the opening half.

With the win the Titans (12-1) earn the right to travel to No. 6 Staley (11-2) Friday to take on the Falcons in one of two Class 5 semifinals. Top-ranked Webster Groves (12-0) travels to Kirkwood (9-3) in the other semifinal. The winners meet at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis Friday, Nov. 26 at 7:30 p.m. to play for the Class 5 championship.

Click here to view MaxPreps' Missouri football playoff brackets.

HARRISONVILLE UPENDS CLASS 4 FAVORITE KEARNEY
What a difference a year makes. A season ago, Kearney blasted Harrisonville 41-0 in the quarterfinals before knocking off Webb City in the semifinals and then Jefferson City-Helias in the Class 4 title game.

On Friday, however, the eighth-ranked Wildcats traveled to Kearney and upended the defending champions 14-10, halting the Bulldog winning streak at 21.

"We had a bad taste in our mouth going home last year," Harrisonville coach Chuck Lliteras told the Kansas City Star. "We took advantage of the opportunities when they were there, and we held them off in the end. It was our turn today."

Harrisonville quarterback Landon Teal started the scoring when he plowed over the goal line from a yard out to put the Wildcats up 7-0 in the first quarter.

The defending champions then tied the contest on Bulldog signal caller Shane Hartzler's 42-yard strike to Ryan Rische in the third quarter and jumped out in front on Alex Prewitt's 22-yard field goal.

Harrisonville's Travis Britz stopped Kearney's 14-point scoring streak when he found paydirt from nine yards out to secure the win.

The Wildcat (12-1) win sets up a semifinal contest with second-ranked Webb City (13-0) in Harrisonville. The winner will battle the winner of Warren County (Warrenton) (10-3) at No. 9 Sikeston (13-0) for the Class 4 title at the Edward Jones Dome Saturday, Nov. 27 at 3:15 p.m.

HENTGES STEPS DOWN
Jefferson City-Helias football coach Chris Hentges announced earlier this week that he would no longer be the head football coach at the school. During his five seasons with the Crusaders, Hentges posted a 50-12 record overall, which includes a 9-4 mark in the Missouri Class 4 state football playoffs.

Hentges' Crusaders finished the 2006 season with a 7-3 record, but failed to qualify for the playoffs. From 2007-10, however, Helias played beyond the regular season all four seasons, finishing as runner-ups in 2008 and 2009.

"It came down to priorities and balance," Hentges told the Jefferson City News Tribune.

MISSOURI QUARTERFINAL FOOTBALL BESTS
RUSHING
Durron Neal of DeSmet Jesuit ran for 207 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 10 carries in a 44-12 win over Lindbergh ... Sikeston's Darryl Howard carried the ball 12 times for 182 yards and a touchdown in a 47-0 blanking of Roosevelt ... James Schoonover of Mound City scored 4 touchdowns while carrying the ball 31 times for 175 yards in a 42-6 win over Worth County ... Penney's Trevor Dixon rushed for 175 yards and 6 touchdowns on 26 carries in a 51-16 win over Carrollton ... Darnay Session of Lee's Summit West ran for 166 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 21 carries in a 42-39 win over Lee's Summit ... Ray Harris of Fort Zumwalt West ran the ball 29 times for 161 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 34-28 win over Francis Howell ... O'Hara's Raphael Spencer rushed for 147 yards and a score on 17 carries in a 49-14 loss to Richmond ... Daniel Parscal of Miller scored a touchdown while rushing for 141 yards on 23 carries in a 56-26 loss to Valle Catholic.

PASSING
Cory Bower of East Buchanan completed 22 of 42 passes for 364 yards in a 54-26 loss to Wellington-Napoleon ... Wellington-Napoleon's Jacob Beckemeyer connected on 18 of 27 aerials for 342 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 54-26 win over East Buchanan ... Corbin Berkstresser of Lee's Summit threw for 256 yards and a touchdown on 17 of 30 passing in a 42-39 loss to Lee's Summit West ... John Burroughs' Sam Van Doren completed 20 of 28 passes for 248 yards and 3 scores in a 42-6 win over Dexter ... Breckin Williams of Webb City connected on 7 of 9 passes for 229 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 42-7 win over Union ... Union's Chris Savage threw for 228 yards and a touchdown on 17 of 38 passing in a 42-7 loss to Webb City ... Perry Middleton of Caruthersville completed 14 of 24 aerials for 211 yards and a touchdown in a 27-13 loss to Maplewood-Richmond Heights ... Fort Zumwalt West's Drew Hare threw a couple of touchdown passes while completing 11 of 23 passes for 203 yards in a 34-28 win over Francis Howell.

RECEIVING
Austin Daniel of Webb City caught 4 passes for 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 42-7 win over Union ... Wellington-Napoleon's Blake Seitz reeled in 9 passes for 158 yards in a 54-26 win over East Buchanan ... Jalyn Fulton of Hazelwood East hauled in 4 passes for 133 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 40-12 loss to Webster Groves ... East Buchanan's Caleb Mitchell caught 9 passes for 120 yards in a 54-26 loss to Wellington-Napoleon ... Adam Klausing of Lee's Summit West caught a pair of passes for 117 yards and a couple of touchdowns in a 42-39 win over Lee's Summit ... Will Spitzfaden of Lindbergh reeled in 7 passes for 116 yards in a 44-12 loss to DeSmet Jesuit ... Fort Zumwalt West's Kyle Echols hauled in 3 passes for 115 yards and a score in a 34-28 win over Francis Howell ... Peter Lloyd of Caruthersville grabbed 4 passes for 112 yards in a 27-13 loss to Maplewood-Richmond Heights.