Crim: Opportunity knocks for Monroe City as tradition-laden Valle Catholic comes calling

QUINCY — At long last, the high school football season kicks off Friday night in both Illinois and Missouri.

There will be the usual rivalry games — Quincy Notre Dame will host Quincy High School and Hannibal will host Jefferson City Helias. And Camp Point Central will open the defense of its state championship at home against North Greene.

One of the most intriguing matchups will be in Monroe City, where the Panthers will entertain 15-time state champion Valle Catholic. The Warriors have been arguably the most dominant program in the state over the last four-plus decades outside of Webb City, which has captured a record 16 championships.

“Valle Catholic is a crazy good team,” Monroe City running back Quincy Mayfield said. “I think it will be good for us to see how we put ourselves statewide. It will show us how hard we have worked and how much harder we have to work.”

“Crazy good” would be an understatement.

Valle Catholic won five titles in the 1980s (three in Class 2A, the rest in 1A) and four more in the ‘90s — including five in a row from 1988-92. It appeared in every Class 1 championship game for seven seasons from 2009 to 2015 after making it to the finals six straight times from 1988-93.

During an 11-season stretch from 2009-2019, it played for the championship a staggering nine times, winning six.

One of those losses came at the hands of Monroe City in 2017 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. The Panthers won 12-7.

In that game, the Panthers held the Warriors’ high-powered offense (45.6 points per game) in check and delivered two interceptions in the fourth quarter, including one in the end zone by Nehemiah Batsell (his second of the game) early in the period to preserve the lead after the Warriors had driven to the 4-yard-line.

That avenged the 2014 loss to Valle in the district championship game.

(In another historical link, Monroe City native Mark Benson coached the Warriors to their first two titles in 1981 and 1982. There were only four classes in Missouri in 1981, which increased to five the following year and since to six.)

The Warriors moved up to Class 2 last season, as did Monroe City, and came up short against Lamar in the championship game, falling 35-28 in overtime.

It was their first title game appearance since 2019 and 20th overall, ending the longest drought (if going 29-3 those three seasons can be considered a dry spell) since they failed to make it to the final weekend from 1996-2008.

Valle Catholic, as expected, has been a model of consistency. It has won fewer than 10 games just once in the last 10 seasons while compiling an overall record of 119-13. It has just six regular-season losses during that span, and only one since 2019.

Moreover, it was undefeated in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and won 51 games in a row before the streak was snapped by Lamar on Oct. 1, 2016.

Crazy good, indeed.

“When we found we had an opening, the only two schools who were open Week 1 at the time were Valle and Bowling Green (which ousted Monroe City en route to a Class 2 semifinal appearance last season),” Panthers coach David Kirby said. “We reached out to both, and Valle Catholic was on board to play us.”

A young Monroe City team finished 8-3 and in third place in the Clarence Cannon Conference last season, a drop-off after reaching the Class 1 semifinals in each of the previous two seasons with veteran teams. However, it has been no stranger to the state stage.

The Panthers have gone 83-19 since a 3-8 finish in 2015, a run that includes the 2017 championship, a runner-up finish in 2016 and two semifinal appearances. That’s in addition to four championship game appearances between 1994-98 that resulted in two titles.

And that doesn’t consider the Michael Washington-led teams in the late 1980s that were constantly knocking on the door.

“This is an opportunity to see how good we are right away on the state level,” Kirby said. “We’re going against arguably the best small-school football program in state history. It’s a great opportunity to see what we can do against an elite program.”

Let the games begin.