Boom! Week 10 is here and it is the only games that matter for high school football. I guess that can be said each week and I would argue that most coaches say that. But this is win or go home time, each of the last 9 weeks lead up to this moment for every team. There are two terrible days for high school football coaches each season, the first one is picture day. Picture day is long, usually hot, and getting all the players organized can be a challenge. Next worst day in a high school football coaches life is equipment turn in. Not only is this grueling, it means the season is over and, other than 7 teams (including 8-man football), the team lost its final game. This Friday there will be programs that have to experience the dreaded equipment turn in day. Yes, equipment turn in day just sucks. I am beyond excited to see how the district games play out. In this feature, I want to highlight the games for all of the teams that we have covered over these last nine weeks. We have a few teams that will have byes so we will not go into too much detail for those teams until they play next week.
Fair Grove
The number 1 Fair Grove Eagles finished the season undefeated (9-0), and given that their district has 8 teams, they will be playing the number 8 Willow Springs Bears (2-7). The Eagles have been strong all season and have averaged 44 points a game while only giving up just over 11 points. The closest win margin for the Eagles this season has been 15, twice (Buffalo & Strafford). Fair Grove is ranked number 1 in the state in class 2, I would figure that they will roll on this week but they have to come ready to play. They will get everyone’s best throughout class 2 district 4.
Kickapoo
Kickapoo Chiefs (4-5) are on a bye. They are ranked number 3
in their district, however, there are only 5 teams that are in class 6 district
5 and the top three teams in the district receive a bye this week. Teams ranked 5 and 4
will play Friday night, Waynesville (0-9) versus Ozark (3-6), respectively. Kickapoo
will play number 2 Joplin (6-3) in a rematch of week 1 next week.
Marshfield
This Friday night number 5 Marshfield (4-5) will travel to
number 4 Logan-Rogersville (3-6) for a rematch of week 7 where Logan-Rogersville
won on homecoming night, 26-34. Logan-Rogersville is ranked higher than Marshfield in class 4 district 6 play because they won the head to head match causing the Bluejays to travel back to Logan-Rogersville for a second time this season. During the first match Marshfield went down by 27 points in the first half and had 4 turnovers. They cleaned it
up in the second half and made a ball game of it and only gave up 190 yards for
the game. It will be interesting to see how the two teams attack each other for
the second time this season and if Marshfield’s defense can hold them under 200 yards twice in one season.
Lebanon
The 5-4 number 3 Lebanon Yellow Jackets and number 6 Jefferson City Jays (3-6) will tee off on each other in the first round of class 5 district 5 play. Through the course of the season you could see Lebanon’s confidence grow, winning the last 4 games of the regular season leading into district play. In these 4 games, Lebanon has had an average winning margin of over 28 points. No doubt in my mind that Coach Christian will have the Jackets ready to face the Jays of Jeff City on Friday and the players will have the confidence to get it done.
West Plains
The Zizzers (6-3) are on a bye this week as they locked up the number 1 seed in class 4 district 6 play with their final win of the season against Carl Junction (5-4).
Ozark
The aforementioned, number 4 Ozark Tigers (3-6) will face off against the number 5 Waynesville Tigers (0-9). This is the only game being played in class 6 district 5. These teams met in week 5 at Waynesville and the final score was 27-19 for Ozark taking the game. It will be exciting to see if the Tigers can beat the same team twice in a season and do it in front of their home crowd. This will be a battle that Coach Cordell will make sure that his team is being the standard for. The Tiger Bowl will be exciting!
Glendale
Number 5 Glendale Falcons (2-7) will take on the number 4 Willard Tigers (2-7) in class 6 district 5. These teams locked it up in a week 2 showdown that was an excellent game, with Willard taking the game only by 2 points. I had the pleasure of catching a Glendale game this season and they were looking good! This surely will be a game to keep an eye on as these two battle it out and I believe that Coach Tristian will have the Falcons ready for the win.
Stockton
The number 3 Stockton Tigers (7-2) will take on number 6 Diamond (3-6) this Friday night in class 2 district 4. The Tigers lost a heartbreaker in the final game of the season against Pierce City and I am confident that Coach Rader will use the loss as a platform to launch his team into districts. Prior to the last game of the season, Stockton was rolling with a 7 game winning streak. During their winning streak Stockton had an average win margin of over 33 points. I am betting that the Tigers get back into that win column this Friday night.
Rolla
The number 4 Rolla Bulldogs (6-3) will take on number 5 Camdenton Lakers (5-4) in class 5 district 5 play. This is a previous match up of the old Central Ozarks Conference foe from last year. With the Bulldogs not playing in a conference this year and the Lakers heading up north for theirs, Rolla and Camdenton have not had a contest against each other this year. It will be exciting to see the outcome of this contest.
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