Crim: Intriguing matchups await area football teams still alive in postseason play

QUINCY — It’s getting down to nitty-gritty time in the high school football postseason.

Now that preliminary playoff rounds are out of the way, three area teams have advanced to the quarterfinals in Illinois and three Missouri teams will play for district championships this week.

Reigning Illinois Class 1A champion Camp Point Central has been nearly unbeatable the last three seasons. The Panthers have won 37 of 39 games, with their only losses coming in the 2022 state championship game against Lena-Winslow and Week 2 this season on the road against Hardin Calhoun.

The only other close call for this season’s 10-1 team was a 22-21 road win over Jacksonville Routt on Oct. 5. They have beaten their first two playoff opponents — Nokomis and Toledo Cumberland — by a combined margin of 74-6.

Yet, following the 40-0 trouncing of Cumberland last Saturday, quarterback-linebacker Elijah Genenbacher alluded to how it has been a “rough season” for Central.

Naturally, given the team’s continued success despite significant graduation losses from last season’s state champions, he was asked to elaborate.

“I think after winning state last year and then losing Week 2 against Calhoun and then having a close game against Routt there,” he explained. “We’ve had our struggles now and then. This was a big momentum win for us, and we needed it. I think we’re at our strongest now.”

The third-seeded Panthers will need to be at the top of their game when they travel to second-seeded Hardin Calhoun for a rematch at 2 p.m. this Saturday. 

The first game ended in dramatic fashion.

On fourth and goal from the 2-yard line with seven seconds remaining, Calhoun’s Conner Longnecker took the handoff and plunged left, appearing to fall short of the goal line. Several Central defenders were waving that Longnecker had indeed come up short.

The official on one sideline did not signal a touchdown, and after a delay, the official from the other sideline held up his arms. The game officials convened and ruled Longnecker had scored, tying the game at 13. The extra point proved to be the difference in a 14-13 victory.

That win avenged a 32-14 loss to the Panthers in the second round of the 2023 playoffs.

“They’re running on all cylinders,” Central coach Brad Dixon said of Calhoun. “It’s going to be a great high school football game.”

• Two teams with different playoff pedigrees will square off when second-seeded Quincy High School (11-0) travels to 10^th-seeded Chicago St. Rita (9-2) for an Class 7A matchup at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Quincy has won seven of the 20 playoff games in its history, with five of those coming in the last three seasons. The Blue Devils reached the quarterfinals for the first time in 2023, losing to eventual champion Chicago Mt. Carmel. Another win would set a single-season school record.

St. Rita, on the other hand, has won 69 of the 101 postseason games it has played. The Mustangs won state titles in 1978 (in Class 5A) and 2006 (in 7A) and finished second in 2019 (in 5A) and 2021 (in 7A).

The Blue Devils have scored 40 or more points in all 11 games and are averaging 47.6, while allowing 12.4. Quarterback Bradyn Little has passed for 3.841 yards and 47 touchdowns, and running back Jeraius Rice Jr. has compiled 984 yards and 19 touchdowns rushing and another 895 yards and 14 scores receiving.

St. Rita is scoring at a 30.3-point clip and is allowing 13.5. The Mustangs’ two losses came against Mt. Carmel (28-0) and Nazareth Academy (45-21), two teams still alive in Class 7A and 5A, respectively. The Mustangs allowed only 69 points in their other nine games.

• Likewise, third-seeded Quincy Notre Dame (10-1) will face a team that is no stranger to postseason success when it travels to second-seeded Maroa-Forsyth (10-1) for a Class 2A game at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The Trojans have reached the state championship game 10 times, with seven of those coming between 2009-18, winning in 2006 and 2012. They were runners-up three straight seasons from 2016-18.

QND has won 10 straight games since a season-opening 40-12 loss to QHS that was a one-score game at halftime. The Raiders have been dominating on defense, allowing only 85 points in their 10 victories, and have scored 34 or more points seven times. Special teams have been a major contributor to their success.

Taylin Scott had 22 tackles, five tackles for loss and a sack against Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond in last Saturday’s 34-7 victory, which sent QND to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2019.

Maroa-Forsyth is averaging nearly 49 points per game while allowing just under 17. The Trojans’ only loss came to Williamsville (28-21) in Week 8.

• Hannibal quarterback Waylon Anders continues to leave an imprint on the school’s record book after completing 5 of 6 passing attempts for 98 yards and a touchdown in last Friday’s 42-27 victory over Mexico.

Anders now has 297 career completions, eclipsing the record of 295 by Courtland Watson. His career completion percentage (.656, 297 of 453) ranks first all-time. He needs two more TD passes to reach 20 for the third straight season and tie Watson’s career mark of 65.

The 5-foot-9 senior has thrown for 4,460 yards in his career, second only to Watson (4,825). He has passed for 1,201 yards and 18 touchdowns versus just three interceptions this season.

Anders’ steady leadership was evident when Hannibal marched 88 yards on 16 plays to bleed more than 10 minutes off the clock on a fourth-quarter drive that sealed the win over Mexico.

“A lot of those calls (on the drive) were Waylon coming to the sideline saying, ‘Hey, we need to run this,’ ” Hannibal coach Jeff Gschwender said. “We trust what he sees. He’s as cool as can be. He never gets flustered. Everybody out there trusts him, including the coaching staff.”

• Third-seeded Hannibal (8-3) travels to top-seeded Warrenton (10-0) on Friday night in a rematch of last season’s Class 4 District 5 title game.

The Pirates scored five consecutive touchdowns to take a 34-6 halftime lead and went on to torch the previous unbeaten Warriors 55-32 a year ago. All-purpose back Aneyas Williams rushed for 331 yards and four touchdowns to help Hannibal to its fourth straight district title.

Hannibal also beat Warrenton 62-7 in the 2002 district opener.

However, the status of Hannibal’s leading rusher, Michael Ferreira, is unclear. The senior tailback who has rushed for 1,281 yards and 13 TDs did not play against Mexico for what Gschwender said were “personal” reasons.

When asked if Ferreira would be available this week, Gschwender said, “I don’t know.”

• Top-seeded South Shelby (9-1) will host second-seeded Monroe City (8-3) in a Missouri Class 2 District 7 at 7 p.m. Friday. The Cardinals won the Clarence Cannon Conference regular season meeting 44-22 in Week 3, scoring 18 points in two and a half minutes late in the first half to take a 30-6 lead.

South Shelby has won 19 of its last 21 games and continues to be an offensive juggernaut. The Cardinals have scored 40 or more points eight times and are averaging 44.6 per game. Their only hiccup was a 28-14 loss to Centralia.

Monroe City has won four straight since a 39-20 loss to Lawson, but two of those came against winless Highland and the others versus three-win teams Macon and Clark County.

The winner will face either Brookfield or Mid-Buchanan.