Statesmen win Class 5 title
Chris Lee - Post-Dispatch | Webster Groves' players, including quarterback Derrick Dilworth (10), celebrate winning the Class 5 championship trophy.
Webster Groves didn’t need a dramatic finish on Saturday night.
The Statesmen, who used come-from-behind victories against Eureka and Chaminade earlier in the playoffs to advance, scored three touchdowns in the final 20 minutes to defeat Fort Osage 31-14 in the Class 5 championship game at the Edward Jones Dome.
“We played exactly like we have all year,” Webster Groves coach Cliff Ice said. “We were brain dead half of the first half. Thankfully our kids came out in the second half and shut them down and offensively we did enough with some big plays. It was a mirror of our entire season.”
It was the fourth state championship for Webster Groves (14-0), which claimed its third title with a come-from-behind win over Raymore-Peculiar in the Class 5 title game back in 2002.
Fort Osage (14-1), which was ranked second in Class 5 behind Webster Groves, was playing in the championship game for the first time and had allowed just 8.2 points per game this season before Saturday.
The Webster Groves defense held the Indians to just 92 rushing yards on 31 carries and limited standout running back E.J. Gaines, a University of Missouri commitment, to 78 yards on 19 carries.
“I thought our defense did a great job of stepping up when it counted,” said Webster Groves middle linebacker Jason Meehan, who finished with a game-high 10 tackles. “When they were driving and they were rallying, our defense did a great job of getting turnovers when we needed it and also staying strong and being dependable when it came to it.”
Webster Groves scored the first points of the game on Conor Barker’s 28-yard field goal with 2 minutes, 55 seconds left in the first quarter.
Fort Osage took the lead with a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive capped by Edward Pearl’s 1-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak on fourth down with 4:22 remaining in the second quarter.
Webster Groves answered quickly.
On the first play of the next series, quarterback Derrick Dilworth connected with wide receiver David Scanlon on a short middle screen and Scanlon turned it into a 53-yard touchdown pass with 2:59 left in the first half.
The Statesmen led 10-7 at halftime.
Fort Osage took a 14-10 lead when the Indians scored on their first series of the second half. Pearl connected with Garry Frisk for a 79-yard touchdown pass after the Webster Groves defensive back fell down and Frisk then ran into the end zone untouched.
The Statesmen answered with a scoring drive of their own, capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Desi Brown with 5:11 remaining in the third quarter to give Webster Groves a 17-14 lead.
The Statesmen added two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter.
Dilworth hooked up with Scanlon for a 21-yard touchdown pass with 10:12 left and then, following a 62-yard punt return by sophomore Michael Cole, Marquis Clemons hit Ryan Mack for a 19-yard touchdown pass with 7:30 remaining to make it 31-14.
“I can’t wait to walk up into my kitchen tomorrow and see the state championship trophy sitting on the table,” Ice said. “It’s a great feeling.”
