McCluer North Football Falls to CBC

The that managed to create havoc against every team this season finally met its match against Friday night in a Missouri Class 6 quarterfinal game.

The combination of a swift CBC offensive machine, the lack of execution on offense in the first half and a neutralized North defensive line resulted in a 31-10 win for CBC.

The heavily favored Cadets held a slim 10-3 lead at halftime thanks to the Stars coming away with a single field goal, despite having the ball inside the 20-yard line four times during the half.

North (10-2) played well in the first half but couldn't finish drives and simply ran out of gas in the second half.

"They were better than us, bottom line," Stars coach Jim Schottmueller said. "They just played better than us. Our defense did a good job, but offensively we didn't play very well. They did a good job at stopping us.

"The first half inside the 20 four times, and we only came up with three points, and that was big," Schottmueller said. "Their defense did a good job against us, and we had some penalties that hurt. I have to give CBC all the credit. They did a great job against us."

CBC coach Scott Pingel said one of the keys was stopping the North defensive line.

"We knew they had four tremendous defensive linemen," Pingel said. "We felt like they had some of the best hands we've seen all season. We worked on getting our hands inside their hands. I thought our whole line did a good job at opening up the line and our guys took advantage of it."

The Cadets (12-0) started fast, and it looked like it could be a long night for North. CBC needed just five plays to score on the opening drive when quarterback Dalton Demos hit Aarion Maxey Penton from 40 yards. John Moldthan hit the extra point, and CBC led 7-0 with 10 minutes, 53 seconds remaining.

North answered on the next possession with a 31-yard field goal from with 7:31 left.

Quarterback Galen Brown hit Peter Jackson for 25 yards to setup the field goal. Jackson had to comeback and get the ball to make a nice reception.

Two series later, Maxey Penton missed a 39-yard field goal after CBC was called for being offsides, and the Stars looked to get back into the game.

The North offense stalled inside the 20 when Brown just missed Jackson in the right corner of the end zone. Sam Switzer missed a 43-yard field goal as it came up about five yards short.

Brown killed a CBC drive when he picked off a Demos pass intended for Marcus Wheat with 7:31 remaining in the half.

The Stars moved the ball well on a six-play drive, and kept it going on a gutsy fourth and three call when Antwaun Williams ran for five yards to the 25-yard line.

Ken Kendricks was called for pass interference on the next play, but the Stars couldn't take advantage of the penalty. Evan Johnson tried a field goal from 44 yards, but it fell short.

The score looked to stay the same with time running out, but a personal foul by Brown on a late hit with 27.5 seconds left kept the Cadets on the field and moving. Moldthan hit from 39 yards for a 10-3 lead.

"They had great pressure, and they were in my face the whole game," Brown said. "We just had to make plays, and we didn't make them. We didn't convert, and we didn't play our game."

The Cadets looked to break it open on the first drive of the third quarter. Antonio Brown scored from two yards for a 17-3 lead with 9:30 remaining.

Just when it looked like the Stars were done, Laquane Young scored on a 66-yard run down the left sideline with 8:36 left in the third to cut the lead to 17-10. Young was in for Williams, who was suffering cramps in his right leg. He came back later in the half but wasn't 100 percent.

Trying to get back into the game with your top back on the bench was difficult for the Stars.

"I don't understand that," Schottmueller said. "You have to have other people step up and play."

Brown killed another CBC drive late in the quarter when he intercepted a Demos pass intended for Wheat.

CBC scored on its first possession of the fourth when Jonathan Parker scored on a 54-yard draw play for a 24-10 lead with 10:13 left.

The Cadets put the game out of reach with a slick double reverse when Corey Patterson hit Wheat from 41 yards for a 31-10 lead with 9:32 remaining.

"We put that (play) in this week, and the kids like to work on a few different wrinkles of that play," CBC coach Scott Pingel said. "I asked the guys what they thought. It was the only time we got the ball over No. 7 (Brown) all night. He did a nice job against us."

The combination of Parker and Brown kept the Stars guessing all night. Parker led the attack with 131 yards, and Brown finished with 78 yards.

"That's one of our nasty weapons for us," Demos said. "I bet the defense had a real tough time planning how to play against us. We have so many weapons on the field."

Demos hit 9 of 22 passes for 137 yards but he said he was forced to earn his numbers.

"Kudos to them on their pass defense, they made it tough for us tonight," said Demos. "I had a really hard time throwing on them tonight."