Webb City holds off Aquinas rally in interstate battle

Getting a break from the books for a day was just part of the fun for Webb City lineman Hunter Luna Friday. Banging heads with Aquinas (Overland Park, Kan.), one of Kansas' premier Class 5A football powers, was the other part of the entertainment.

But more importantly the Class 4 Cardinals, a Missouri power in their own right, earned a 34-26 win over a quality opponent. And Webb City was actually tested.

"I definitely loved getting out of school to come up here (Overland Park, Kan.) and play," Luna said of tackling the Saints, who played a schedule featuring three Class 6A schools, Class 5A Great Bend and defending Class 4A champion Bishop Miege (now in 5A) heading into Friday's interstate battle. "It was just a test for us, to see how good we actually are. I think that we took a step forward. I think that we can see now what we can do with the rest of our season."

"What a great football game. It was a great challenge for our football team," added Webb City coach John Roderique. "We felt like this was a great opportunity for us to play a good football team that was really going to challenge us. To see what we're made of. This week I think we responded well."

Saints kicker Jonathan Pyle was the only scoring Aquinas could muster for much of the first half after he poked through field goals of 27 and 35 yards. Webb City, meanwhile, countered with scoring runs of 3 and 10 yards by Maddison Johnson and Phoenix Johnson, and a 28-yard strike from Cardinal quarterback Scott Roderique to Austin Daniel.

The resulting 21-6 Webb City advantage was interrupted late in the first half when Shane Nachbar got behind the Cardinal defense and reeled in a 55-yard scoring pass from Saints signal caller Richard Davila with 12 seconds remaining before intermission. Andrew Gittemeier's PAT reception pulled the Saints to within 21-14.

Pyle scored the only points of the third quarter when he drilled a pair of field goals, including one from 51 yards away, to narrow the gap to 21-20.

The offensive intensity picked up again in the final quarter, with both the Cardinals and the Saints finding their groove. Webb City ended a 16-minute scoring drought when Maddison Johnson scored from a yard out, improving the Cardinal advantage to 28-20 with 9:46 remaining in the contest. Aquinas responded by driving deep into Cardinal territory only to have the drive halted by Daniel's interception of a Davila pass. The Saints defense, however, stopped Webb City and cut the deficit to 28-26 on Davila's 1-yard plunge to conclude Aquinas' ensuing possession.

The Cardinals, whose closest contest up to Friday was a 35-14 win over 4-3 Nixa on Sept. 24, batted down the PAT pass and then made sure Pyle's foot wouldn't decide the outcome when Christian Hoffman stretched the difference to 34-26 with his 27-yard romp with 48 seconds remaining.

"Looking back on the game, I think they got four field goals," Roderique said of his bend-but-don’t-break defense for much of the game. "That's a 16-point difference than if you're giving up touchdowns. I really thought our defense stepped up and played very well against a very good, explosive offensive football team."

Aquinas' Davila completed 21 of 40 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown. Nachbar caught six of those aerials for 112 yards and a score. Maddison and Phoenix Johnson rushed for 105 yards each on 34 carries collectively for Webb City, and scored three touchdowns on the ground between them. Daniel caught three passes for 72 yards and a score.

According to Webb City's MaxPreps team page, the Cardinal defense held Aquinas D-1 running back recruit Dagan Reed to 60 yards rushing on nine carries and four receptions for 38 yards.

"We knew they were a fast team. Their defense was big," Maddison Johnson said after the Cardinals rushed for more than 300 yards against the Saint defense. "We just had to out-physical them, out-hit them in the hitting game. We just wanted five yards a carry and to punch it down their throats.I didn't run the ball outside as much. I ran more up the middle trying to follow my linemen. They did a good job and I'm proud of them, I really am."

With the win, the second-ranked Cardinals remain unbeaten at 7-0 heading into their first round district contest at unbeaten and third-ranked Carthage Friday. It doesn't get any easier for Aquinas either. The Class 5A fifth-ranked Saints dropped to 5-1 heading into Friday's first round district contest at 6-0 and third-ranked Blue Valley.

Check out the rest of the latest football rankings at the bottom of this page.

SAVANNAH SHUTS DOWN MARYVILLE, ENDS 17-YEAR SKID
Savannah got sick and tired of coming out on the short end of the stick to Maryville the past 17 seasons, and decided to do something about it.

So the 7-0 Savages traveled to the Hound Pound in Maryville Friday and dominated MEC football power Maryville 41-7. Now Savannah, which sits 5-0 in the league, has its eyes set on its first conference crown since 1980.

Maryville (5-2) fell into a three-way tie with St. Joseph Lafayette and St. Joseph Benton in the league standings at 4-1. Savannah battles 6-1 Lafayette (St. Joseph) and 6-1 Benton (St. Joseph) back-to-back the next two weekends.

PARKER PITCHES, SLUGS TRUMAN TO DISTRICT TITLE
To say Paige Parker was in a zone at last week's Class 4, District 15 softball championships was an understatement to say the least.

The freshman ace struck out 28 of the 36 batters she faced in leading Truman (Independence) to a 12-inning, 1-0 title win over Park Hill South. Parker was especially good in the 10th inning when South planted a base runner at third base with one out. But Parker, you guessed it, struck out the next two batters.

Truman had a golden opportunity to win the contest in the 10th inning, as well, after loading the bases with no outs. But the Patriots couldn't muster a run.

Parker and her teammates finally got the win in the bottom of the 12th inning when Emily Davis reached second base on a throwing error and Brooke Pollard singled her home.

Parker was also pivotal in getting Truman to the title game in the tournament's second round earlier in the week. The Patriots knocked off Winnetonka 10-0 in five innings behind Parker's 13-strikeout, no-hit performance. The Patriot first-year player also went 3-for-3 from the plate, with five RBIs and a home run. For the two games, Parker struck out 41 batters.

"The thing about her is she's a great teammate too," Truman coach Stephen Broughton told the Independence Examiner following the second-round win. "She wants her team to win. She'll do whatever it takes."

Truman, which battles 23-6 Liberty at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, enters the 16-team Class 4 state softball tournament with a 22-5 record. Should the Patriots win they would play either Belton (19-7) or Lee's Summit (20-10) Saturday.

BACK PAIN CANT HOLD STEINKAMP DOWN
Fighting through agonizing and recurring back pain, Alex Steinkamp struggled to an uncharacteristic front-nine score of 49 last week.

The Savannah senior golfer, however, found a way to put the pain behind her and fired a back-nine best score of 43 on her way to a fourth-place individual tie with Richmond's Leslie Russell at the Class 1, Sectional 3 tournament held at Rivercut Golf Course in Springfield.

Both players fired 20-over par scores of 92, seven strokes behind individual medalist Caroline Wieland of Barstow.

Had she not rebounded from her front nine woes, the Savages more than likely would have qualified for the Class 1 golf championships at Rivercut Oct. 18-19, having fired the best 18-hole team score of 375 to upend Barstow by a resounding 42 strokes.

But the competitor in Steinkamp came out.

"I knew she would pull through it," Savannah girls golf coach Tammy Steinkamp told the St. Joseph News-Press. "That's just how she is."

BLANKENSHIP EXTENDS WIN STREAK, NETS 100TH WIN
In just four seasons at the helm of the Washington girls volleyball program, Kym Blankenship notched her 100th victory with wins over Gateway-North League foes Duchesne (25-21, 25-15) and St. Charles (25-15, 25-10) last week.

Along the way this season, Washington has earned a No. 6 ranking in Missouri, regardless of class, according to the latest MaxPreps Freeman volleyball rankings.

"I'm surprised that I'm at the 100-win mark already. My time here at Washington High has gone by very fast," Blankenship told the Missourian. "It makes me happy to think back on the many games I've coached, and the many different players who contributed to these wins. I feel like I've been really blessed with the opportunity to work with such exceptional athletes and wonderful young women."

Unfortunately for the Bluejays and Blankenship, who is 100-25-3 at Washington, Hermann ended the GAC-North front-runners' winning streak at 24 matches Monday 23-25, 25-20, 26-24, dropping Washington's season record to 26-2. Hermann improved to 23-4-3.

MISSOURI FOOTBALL RANKINGS
TOP 10
1. Rockhurst (Kansas City) (7-0) 209 95 1
2. Webster Groves (6-0) 265 68 2
3. Hazelwood Central (Florissant) (7-0) 212 110 3
4. Blue Springs (5-2) 250 90 4
5. Christian Brothers (St. Louis) (6-1) 257 161 6
6. Howell (St. Charles) (6-1) 289 155 10
7. Blue Springs South (5-2) 240 138 –
8. Kearney (6-0) 274 30 7
9. Webb City (7-0) 297 72 9
10.Staley (Kansas City North) (6-1) 199 76 8

CLASS 6
1. Rockhurst (7-0) 209 95 1
2. Hazelwood Central (7-0) 212 110 2
3. Blue Springs (5-2) 250 90 3
4. Christian Brothers (6-1) 257 161 4
5. Howell (6-1) 289 155 5
6. Blue Springs South (5-2) 240 138 6
7. Fort Zumwalt West (O'Fallon) (5-2) 298 196 8
8. Lindbergh (St. Louis) (6-1) 237 120 9
9. McCluer North (Florissant) (5-1) 174 124 10
10. Eureka (6-1) 235 123 –

CLASS 5
1. Webster Groves (6-0) 265 68 1
2. Staley (6-1) 199 76 3
3. Chaminade (St. Louis) (5-1) 224 132 2
4. Parkway North (St. Louis) (6-1) 270 93 4
5. Lebanon (7-0) 218 71 5
6. Lee's Summit West (6-1) 199 74 6
7. Fort Zumwalt East (7-0) 305 114 7
8. Parkway Central (Chesterfield) (6-1) 282 132 9
9. Rolla (6-1) 199 132 10
10. Camdenton (5-2) 177 78 –

CLASS 4
1. Kearney (6-0) 274 30 1
2. Webb City (7-0) 297 72 2
3. Carthage (7-0) 323 69 3
4. Bolivar (7-0) 366 73 4
5. Ladue Horton Watkins (St. Louis) (6-1) 218 124 5
6. Harrisonville (6-1) 192 52 6
7. Sikeston (7-0) 329 88 8
8. Savannah (7-0) 266 71 9
9. Miller Career Academy (St. Louis) (6-0) 157 58 10
10. Hannibal ((5-2) 242 108 –

CLASS 3
1. Cassville (7-0) 263 41 1
2. Burroughs (St. Louis) (7-0) 309 81 5
3. Richmond (7-0) 244 56 6
4. Springfield Catholic (6-1) 267 137 7
5. Seneca (6-1) 207 67 8
6. Bowling Green (5-2) 241 47 9
7. Aurora (5-2) 174 103 3
8. Logan-Rogersville (5-2) 223 71 4
9. Maryville (5-2) 235 76 2
10. Cardinal Ritter (St. Louis) (6-1) 286 46 –

CLASS 2
1. Penney (Hamilton) (7-0) 366 73 1
2. Maplewood-Richmond Heights (7-0) 267 73 2
3. Lawson (7-0) 228 75 3
4. Centralia (7-0) 222 56 4
5. Macon (7-0) 329 48 5
6. Hogan Prep Charter (Kansas City) (6-1) 214 120 6
7. Brookfield (7-0) 273 32 7
8. Liberty (Mountain View) (6-1) 252 64 8
9. Caruthersville (7-0) 247 66 9
10. Blair Oaks (Jefferson City) (6-1) 195 104 10

CLASS 1
1. Concordia (7-0) 360 26 1
2. Westran (Huntsville) (7-0) 293 44 2
3. Tipton (7-0) 259 38 3
4. Pierce City (7-0) 328 19 4
5. Valle Catholic (Ste. Genevieve) (6-1) 327 41 5
6. South Shelby (Shelbina) (6-1) 222 75 6
7. Miller (6-1) 339 58 7
8. Wellington-Napoleon (6-1) 261 110 8
9. Salisbury (7-0) 186 38 9
10. East Buchanan (Gower) (6-1) 276 90 10