Southwest Missouri high school football state quarterfinals takeaways and scores
A great weekend of state quarterfinal football action in southwest Missouri has five regional high school teams still alive heading into the semifinals.
At least one team from the area will make it to a state championship with the possibility of five reaching the Show-Me Bowl in Columbia come the first two days of December.
Here's what happened this weekend and what's coming next week.
We have Republic vs. Webb City for a trip to the Class 5 state championship
A Week 3 rematch will find its way back to Republic after the Tigers and Webb City Cardinals both won their state quarterfinal games this weekend.
Republic's 28-21 win over Helias Catholic was a thriller while the Cardinals came out on top with a 49-35 victory over Grain Valley on Friday night. The Cardinals rushed for 450 yards, with Gabe Johnson accounting for 250 of them.
More: Republic beats Helias Catholic in thriller for first state semifinal appearance since 1986
Webb City won the game 42-21 at Republic on Sept. 8. The Cardinals rushed for 274 yards and six touchdowns while containing the Tigers to just 168 rushing yards. Republic turned the ball over five times during the game.
Lamar looked like postseason-Lamar in dominant quarterfinal win
Another year, another semifinal appearance for the Ozarks' best football program over the last decade. Lamar advanced to the Class 2 semifinals with its 41-7 victory over Lafayette County.
Lamar only led 13-7 at halftime but exploded in the second half to put any questions to rest.
Lamar will get a home game and will play undefeated Bowling Green for a trip to the championship. The Tigers have finished as a Class 2 state runner-up in each of the last two seasons while winning it all in 2020.
Fair Grove advances to Class 2 semifinals by beating Father Tolton
Kellen Lair has shined all season and continues to do so on the biggest stage. He helped lead Fair Grove to a 27-13 win over Father Tolton to advance the Eagles to the Class 2 state semifinals. The semifinal appearance will be the Eagles' first since 2008.
Lair scored three first-half touchdowns for the Eagles with a 30-yard reception, kickoff return for a score and a 25-yard reception. When Father Tolton brought the game within six with 4:47 left, Spensar Seiger hit Gavin Thompson for a long touchdown connection to put the game on ice.
More: Nixa football's seniors helped build an area power. They depart after a quarterfinal loss.
Fair Grove will travel to play Valle Catholic, which is coming off a 47-14 win over Lift for Life on Saturday afternoon.
Seneca dominated Ava in battle of area undefeateds
Seneca, the most consistently dominant team of the 2023 high school football season in southwest Missouri, advanced to the Class 3 semifinals with a 56-8 win over previously unbeaten Ava.
A balanced attack from Seneca, its best-looking stats came through the air with Gavyn Hoover completing 7 of 10 passes for 239 yards and four touchdowns. Receiver Ethan Altic caught for of the passes for 151 yards and three touchdowns. Hoover also had 92 rushing yards and a score, with Jackson Marrs adding 91 yards and two touchdowns. Seneca's elite defense held Ava to 159 total yards.
Seneca will host Kansas City St. Pius X (11-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
McDonald County bows out in thriller vs. Jefferson City
A historic season for the Mustangs came to an end in what was a thriller in the southwest corner of the state.
The Mustangs fell 31-28 to Jefferson City, which scored its go-ahead touchdown on a six-yard run with 1:58 left in the game. McDonald County got the ball to its 41 but turned the ball over on downs.
More: All of our 2023-24 Missouri State, high school basketball preseason coverage in one place
One of the great seasons in McDonald County history ended with an 8-5 record while having to play through one of the most loaded conferences in the state. The program has put together winning seasons in three straight years after having gone at least a decade without one.
The loss marked the end for a few of McDonald County's standouts from over the previous seasons, including Destyn Dowd, Toby Moore, Sam Barton and others.
Kearney shuts out Nevada in Class 4
A great season for Nevada ended with a 35-0 loss to Kearney in the Class 4 quarterfinals. The Bulldogs were on the scoreboard early and often while the Tigers struggled to get much going.
Kearney led the game 35-0 at halftime en route to continuing its recent string of dominance. The Bulldogs haven't allowed more than 13 points in a game since the third week of the season. They'll play Jefferson City next week in the state semifinals.
Nevada had one of the best rushing attacks in the state behind an elite offensive line. The game marked the end of a great two-year career in southwest Missouri for offensive lineman Talan Chandler, who will play for Deion Sanders at Colorado next year.
Area state quarterfinal scores
Class 1, District 1 (district championship)
Marionville 17, Portageville 14
Class 2
Fair Grove 27, Father Tolton 13
Lamar 41, Lafayette County 7
Class 3
Seneca 56, Ava 8
Class 4
Jefferson City 31, McDonald County 28
Kearney 35, Nevada 0
Class 5
Republic 28, Helias Catholic 21
Webb City 49, Grain Valley 35
Class 6
Rockhurst 38, Nixa 14
Area state semifinals schedule
We'll have verified locations, dates and times for semifinal games in a later story. Semifinal games are typically played on Saturday afternoon
Class 1
St. Vincent @ Marionville
Class 2
Fair Grove @ Valle Catholic
Bowling Green @ Lamar
Class 3
St. Pius X @ Seneca
Class 5
Webb City @ Republic
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the host of the weekly "Wyatt's World Podcast" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield area high school football state quarterfinals scores
