Blackcats and Trojans headed for district clash, Raiders stumble

CHARLESTON, Mo. — The Fredericktown football team forced three turnovers and yielded only 148 yards of total offense on Friday night while rolling past Charleston, 49-6 in a final tune-up before district play.

Ryan Gifford caught two touchdown passes and converted all seven extra-point attempts in the victory. Quarterback A.P. Lewandowski scored a rushing TD with a 1-yard sneak, and completed 4-of-5 passes overall for 126 yards.

A 58-yard scoring toss from Lewandowski to Brylan Moore punctuated the initial Fredericktown drive, and a short plunge by senior fullback Nick Franks increased the lead to 14-0.

Tailback Joey Lewandowski tallied 124 yards on 14 carries for the state-ranked Blackcats (7-0), and his 23-yard run late in the second quarter helped to produce a 35-0 spread by halftime.

Gifford hauled in a 30-yard pass from Jake Sikes during the third quarter after catching a 36-yard strike from Lewandowski in the first half. Coley Gray capped the Blackcats’ sixth scoring possession with a 1-yard run.

Fredericktown picked up 73 additional rushing yards from Jacob Farmer, who also snagged the lone interception of the contest. Linebacker Justin Menteer made seven tackles and Glen Anthony added a sack, while Caleb Matthews and Sikes each recovered a fumble.

The Blackcats will travel to conference and district rival Potosi on Friday.

Potosi 30, Festus 15

FESTUS — The Potosi Trojans running game was stymied by the Festus Tigers Friday night, but hey still prevailed by a score of 30-15. Not able to move the ball well on the ground, the Trojans got in some rare air time as quarterback Matt Marler led the team in yardage with 129 yards on 9-19 passing.

Brandon Bourbon, who had been averaging over 200 yards per game rushing, was held to only 88 by the Tigers, but Bourbon still factored into Potosi’s win by scoring two touchdowns.

A six-yard touchdown run by Dylan Wyrick for Potosi was the only scoring in the first quarter for either team. Festus tied the game midway through the second quarter on a four-yard run by Xavier Ruffin, but the Trojans maintained their one touchdown lead at the half with Danny Rulo returning a Festus punt 72 yards for a touchdown with 47 seconds remaining.

The game turned to Potosi’s favor quickly in the second half. A squib kick to prevent a run back on the kickoff hit an up man and bounced right back into the Trojans’ hands. Potosi marched to the end zone and Bourbon ran the ball in from the five.

Trying the squib kick again, the first two Tigers opted to let the ball go through to their returners, but instead the Trojans also recovered the ball again.

The two teams locked into a midfield battle until the fourth quarter when Bourbon broke loose at the 20 and ran the ball in for Potosi’s final score. Hunter Belfield hauled in a pass from Marler for the two-point conversion.

Potosi’s defense kept the Tigers in check the entire game. Will Dobbs had six solo tackles and five assists with a sack. Wyrick made seven solos and three assists, Adam Bouse had six solos and three assists, and Shawn Barker made three sacks, all in one series of plays.

The Trojans fumbled late in the game, and Festus capitalized with their last score with 16 seconds left in the game.

Potosi (5-1) will host 6-0 Fredericktown on Friday.   

 

Fox 67, North County 14

ARNOLD — The North County Raiders had their hands full in their game against a conference-title, hungry Fox Warriors team on Friday. The Warriors were able to score 10 touchdowns in the game for a 67-14 rout of the Raiders.

North County came into the game undefeated in the conference at 2-0, but Fox (5-0) soon dashed any hopes of a conference title. The Warriors scored twice within two minutes of the opening kickoff, and on the Raiders first play of their next possession, Fox ran back an interception to make the score 20-0.

Quarterback Derek Gibson got the Raiders on the scoreboard with a 25-yard dash into the end zone, and Brent Marler caught a pass for the two-point conversion.

The first quarter was full of excitement for the fans as seven touchdowns were scored in the first 12 minutes of the game. Especially for the home crowd as running back Levi Terrell raced into the end zone from 40 yards out for his second of three touchdowns in the game.      

Fox, 5-2, would score again before North County tacked on their last touchdown with wide receiver Mike Miller hauling in a 31-yard pass from Gibson with less than a minute left in the quarter. The two-point try failed.

It was all Fox from there as they scored three times in the second quarter to make the half-time score 53-14, and once more in each of the third and fourth quarters. The last touchdown added insult to injury as the Tigers recovered a North County fumble in the end zone.

North County will try to get back in the win column this Friday when they host Festus in their first district game