By MATT PIKE
As promised, 14 of the best football teams from around the state of Missouri came to St. Joseph and put on seven great football games at Spratt Memorial Stadium at Missouri Western Stadium over the last three days.
The MSHSAA Show Me Bowl wrapped up on Saturday, with action from Classes 2, 4, and 6. The seven games over the three days of the event drew in several football fans from around the St. Joseph area, as well as several fans that followed their teams from all across the state, as far as the southwest part.
The action started on Thursday with the 8-man championship game between two teams from northwest Missouri, the Worth County Tigers and the Rock Port Blue Jays. A rematch of week one in the regular season, in which Rock Port won, Worth County came out on top 56-46, earning their first state title since 2017.
On Friday, the odd classes battled. Class 3 took the field first with the Seneca Indians and Lift for Life Academy Hawks. The Indians held the lead throughout a tough battle, earning a 33-26 win, and their first state title since 1995 in their third consecutive trip to the championship game. Northwest Missouri featured again in the second game of Friday, with the Putnam County Midgets taking on the Tipton Cardinals. The Cardinals held the Midgets scoreless in the second half on way to a 39-14 win, for their first state championship in their first ever trip to the state title game.
Friday wrapped up with what may have been the best game of the weekend, again featuring northwest Missouri as the Platte County Pirates faced the Carthage Tigers. The two teams battled, the Pirates leading 21-7 at one point, before going to halftime tied at 21, ending up needing overtime for a 34-28 win for Platte County. It was the Pirates second consecutive state title. Also in the game, senior and Northwest Missouri State commit Adam Gisler ran for a 98 yard touchdown, which is the longest in MSHSAA Show Me Bowl history.
Saturday opened with the Class 4 championship game between the Kearney Bulldogs and the Hannibal Pirates. The Bulldogs retook the lead midway through the fourth quarter, winning 21-14 to take home another championship, after last winning one in 2023. The Class 2 championship between the Blair Oaks Falcons and St. Pius X Lancers of Festus was controlled by the Falcons from the opening quarter, scoring 31 in the second quarter, on way to a 59-0 win for their second consecutive championship.
Closing out the championships was another classic, between the Lee's Summit Tigers and the Nixa Eagles. Nixa led 28-21 at the halftime break, and both teams battled back and forth through the second half before the Tigers came away with a 41-37 win, earning their first state title in the programs history. In the game, standout running back Preston Hatfield had 457 rushing yards with four touchdowns, far surpassing the record held by Kyren Williams set in 2018 of 298 yards.
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