CoachesAid.com - High School Sports

Eight teams in Class six are one game closer to St. Louis, and there are several great quarterfinal matchups this Friday, including a rematch between Rockhurst and Blue Springs at the bottom of the bracket. And then the defending champs, Hazelwood Central, welcome Lafayette to their place on Saturday at 1:30. Here are breakdowns of the four quarterfinal games in Class 6.

Fox (9-2) at Oakville (8-3) – Game Time: 7 p.m. Friday

These two teams met two weeks ago at Fox in the district 1 championship game at Fox and Oakville came back from a 13-7 halftime deficit and scored two second half touchdowns to beat the Warriors 19-13. Oakville’s Paul Taylor was an absolute stud for the Tigers in the win, pulling the touchdown trifecta by catching a touchdown pass, throwing a touchdown pass and scoring a rushing touchdown in the win. Fox, despite dropping only its second game of the year, came back in a big way last week by knocking off previously unbeaten Lindbergh 31-28 in the opening week of the playoffs. The Warriors sent the game into overtime following a Bobby Mahoney to Jimmy Brewer seven-yard touchdown pass with 17 seconds left in the game. Lindbergh failed to score in the first OT while Fox’s Nick Bartollota kicked a 28-yd field goal to win the game. Oakville cruised through the first round with a 31-3 thumping of St. Louis University High and now prepare for the Warriors for the fourth time in two years, as these two teams also met in the playoffs last year, a 39-27 Fox win. Oakville will continue to play great defense, and don’t be surprised if this game looks a lot like the defensive battle these two teams waged in week 10. Fox will look to stop Paul Taylor from making plays like he did against them two weeks ago, and head coach Nick Gianino will need a better performance from quarterback Bobby Mahoney, who completed more passes to Oakville – two – than he did to his own teammates, one, in the last meeting. The Tigers will continue to attack with a run-first approach with some passing sprinkled in, as Arlee Connors’ group has rushed for 478 yards in its last two games while passing for 286 yards.

Lafayette (8-3) at Hazelwood Central (10-1) Game Time: 1:30 p.m. Saturday

The defending champs showed off Kerry Gibson’s arm last Friday in the Hawks’ 35-7 playoff opening win over CBC, with the senior passer who has had no problem making plays with his feet, throwing for 243 yards on 7-13 passing with three touchdown strikes and no interceptions. The defense was stout as always, as linebackers Yomi Alli, Cortland Dunlop and Alonzo Chappelle contributed 21 tackles and a sack. The Central defense also did a great job of holding CBC running back Josiah Stanfield to only 70 yards on 18 carries. Saturday the defense will try to stop the balanced Lafayette offense of quarterback JT Miller and leading rusher Thomas Swoboda. The two were great last week in the Lancers 38-22 win over McCluer North, ironically enough, the only team to beat Hazelwood Central this year. The Lancers were dominant in the second half, outscoring North 24-12 as the Miller-Swoboda tandem flourished, with Miller throwing for 156 yards and a touchdown on 13-20 passing while Swoboda ran for 87 yards and two touchdowns. While teams have found it hard to run or pass against the Hawks, Rich Nixon’s offense may show off Gibson’s arm again Saturday against Lafayette considering the Lancers allowed McCluer North quarterback Galen Brown to throw for 212 yards and two touchdowns.

Jefferson City (9-2) at DeSmet (11-0) Game Time: 7 p.m. Friday

The Spartans have leveled everything in its path this season on the way on the way to an 11-0 record. Some have argued that the Spartans have played a suspect schedule, but regardless off the schedule or if the Spartans are just that much better than everyone else, they will get the first real test of the season when Jefferson City comes to town Friday night. The scrappy, physical bunch from the state’s capital jumped on top of Howell last week 21-0 and never looked back in the Jays 37-14 win. As has been the case all season, the Jays will look to quarterback Sam Turner and his 1-2 running back punch of Kody Walker and Devon Moore to lead the way against a tough DeSmet defense. And while some may question the DeSmet schedule, Jefferson City has locked up with Rockhurst twice – its only two losses of the year, and dismantled everyone else. DeSmet will provide the biggest challenge that Jeff City has seen all year offensively as DeSmet has the best run-pass game in the state with Steve Kaiser at quarterback and the running back pair of David Hill and Malcolm Agnew. While Hill has been the horse this season, it was Agnew who ran for 184 yards and three touchdowns in the Spartans 42-6 win over Zumwalt West last Friday.

Blue Springs (10-1) at Rockhurst (9-2) Game Time: 7 p.m. Friday

While it’s hard to go wrong with any of the Class 6 games this weekend, none has more drama already than the rematch between Blue Springs and Rockhurst. These two teams met in week three and Rockhurst was 1-1 coming off an absolute drubbing from Hutchinson in Kansas, while Blue Springs was the consensus #1 team in the state. A 17-3 Rockhurst win solidified confidence in the Hawklets while Blue Springs was forced to regroup and has quietly won eight games in a row in domineering fashion thanks to the three-headed monster of quarterback Jared Lanpher, running back Darrian Miller and wide receiver Keeston Terry. Blue Springs routed Lee’s Summit 45-12 behind Miller’s 214 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Rockhurst got past Liberty 35-14 thanks to quarterback Frank Arbanas and his two touchdown passes while the Hawklet defense shut down the Liberty offense in the second half. So what’s going to be the difference Friday night? Big plays and turnovers. Whichever team makes the most plays and commits the fewest mistakes, will find itself one game closer to a Show-Me Bowl berth.