The unknown awaits Blue Springs South

Mike King Special to PrepsKC

By Brian Spano PrepsKC Senior Writer
Posted: November 17, 2011 - 9:24 PM



Blue Springs South made sure there will be a new Missouri Class 6 state champion in 2011. With a 28-7 convincing victory over the defending state champion Rockhurst Hawklets last Friday. The Jaguars, 10-2, advanced to the semifinals against the Francis Howell Vikings, but more importantly, may have made a statement as the team to beat from this side of the state.
 
“We haven’t had a lot of success against Rockhurst, and there’s no one on our team that has beaten them,” said South head coach Greg Oder. “That was a big deal and the fact that we made it to the semifinals.”
 
So, what about the 9-3 Francis Howell Vikings? For one, the 10th ranked team in the state defeated Fort Zumwalt West 49-28 to get to this point. South, ranked ninth in the state, will travel to St. Charles, Mo. this Friday night to play them for the right to go to St. Louis and play in the Class 6 Show-Me Bowl.
 
“We don’t know a whole lot about them, but we’ve seen a little bit during the quarterfinals,” said Oder. “They’re good. We have watched one game, and it looks like they throw it around quite a bit, and they are fast and athletic on defense. We’ve never played Francis Howell. We’ve played Rock Bridge who did play them, but other than that common opponent, we really don’t have anything to compare them to.
 
“We traded film with them. We have three of their games, and they have three of ours, and so we just go through the film and see what they do. It’s a lot more difficult when you don’t know much about them as the teams in Kansas City that you play every year.”
 
The Vikings are led by quarterback Eric Siebenshuh. For the season, he has thrown for 2,799 yards and 30 touchdowns. He has two thousand-yard receivers to throw to in Alex Strong 1,211 yards and 14 touchdowns, and Corey King 1,101 and 10.
 
“Their quarterback has a gun which explains why they are throwing it around quite a bit,” said Oder. “The kid is a darn good quarterback, and they throw it a lot, and throw it a long way.”
 
The Jaguars defense will have its hands full; however, so will the Vikings defense as South counters with quarterback/defensive back/kicker Connor Harris and running back Steven Sullivan and Harris’ bevy of wide receivers.
 
Harris has thrown for 1,251 yards and 14 touchdowns and has rushed for 738 yards and an additional nine scores, making him a dual threat. Sullivan leads the team in all rushing categories with 1,303 yards and 17 touchdowns.
 
The good news for Oder and his squad, even at this stage of a long season, is that everyone is pretty healthy.
 
“Everybody is sore, and the Rockhurst game was pretty physical, but nobody is out for Friday,” he said. “We’ve played 12 football games, and the physical nature of the sport can take its toll on these kids, so we kind of have to take it easy in practice on them because the bumps and bruises seem to keep hanging for a little longer. We’re as healthy as we can be at this point.”
 
Whichever of these two teams makes it to St. Louis, it will have to face the winner of the St. Louis University and Christian Brothers College matchup on the other side of the bracket.
Christian Brothers is 12-0 and has a win over Francis Howell in week five of the season 47-26. St. Louis University stands 9-3 after upsetting DeSmet in the quarterfinals in a slugfest 47-46.