Catch up on the results from last week’s games.
Parker Perry wanted to make sure he fully understood the plan.
So the Festus High quarterback asked coach AJ Ofodile to repeat what he said to him prior to the outset of last season.
Ofodile told Perry that he would be inserting him into the lineup for an offensive series or two in each game in 2024.
The Tigers were in good shape at QB with standout Essien Smith.
Yet Ofodile, a former tight end at Mizzou, was dead set on getting Perry a few reps under center.
“I was a little bit surprised,” Perry recalled. “I was sure there was a good reason behind it.”
That reason has become apparent this season.
Perry, now with plenty of game of experience, has moved right into the open spot that came about after Smith graduated.
Instead of struggling to get his feet wet, Perry has come out of the gates with the confidence of a seasoned leader.
Festus is off to a 5-0 start and has outscored its opponents 194-49, thanks in part to Perry’s maturation.
The Tigers turned in their finest effort of the season by knocking off Mississippi Area Blue Conference rival Hillsboro 40-14 at home on Friday.
It marked the first time Festus won back-to-back games in the series since it captured seven in a row from Sept. 30, 2005, to Sept. 9, 2011.
Festus had lost six in succession to Hillsboro prior to breaking the string with a 14-7 win on Sept. 27, 2024.
Perry’s ability to lead the offense is one of the key reasons for the lightning-quick start. He has guided his team to at least 30 points in each game this season.
The Tigers are averaging 38.8 points per contest and have won each outing by at least 16 points.
“He’s just a great equalizer,” Ofodile said. “You have a (quarterback) that’s special there, you have a chance to beat anybody.”
Perry has connected on 58 of 69 passes for an eye-popping 84 percent completion rate. He has thrown for 12 touchdowns and has yet to toss an interception.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound junior is the first to admit that his experience last season has paved the way for success this time around.
Perry connected on 19 of 32 passes last year for 298 yards. He got a chance to run the offense for two series in a 34-14 win at Francis Howell Central in week two. In that contest, he rushed for 74 yards on just two carries and engineered a long scoring drive in the first half.
Perry’s season came to end when he suffered a broken collarbone in a mid-season loss to De Smet.
But he learned enough in his seven appearances that he came into this season with plenty of confidence.
“I’m not surprised at all by the way he’s balling out,” Festus linebacker Antonio Pinkston said. “This year he’s a more mature Parker. It’s nuts the way he’s playing, and we’re all very proud of him.”
Parker said he could not get the job done without his offensive line. Aric Luo, Carson Grass, Connor Rush, Eli Tilley and Mason Weinhouse have paved the way for the high-octane attack.
“He’s got a big arm, he can throw the ball 65 yards or so,” Ofodile said.
Parker passed his first big test Friday. He lost a fumble early in the game that helped Hillsboro to a 7-0 lead. Yet he bounced back to post 40 points the rest of the way.
“My teammates just came and picked me up,” Parker said. “I was kind of down, and they were there for me.”
Longtime buddies Parker and Pinkston are helping the Tigers in their encore after last year’s 11-3 team reached the state title game for the first time in school history to before losing to Lutheran North 46-7 in the Class 4 championship affair.
Eight defensive starters and five offensive regulars graduated from that uber-talented group.
But Pinkston, along with returnees Aiden Clifton and Kamden Yates, have held the opposition to 14 points or less in each game.
“Last year we had so many guys that were so stout,” Pinkston said. “I’m very grateful for the guys that have stepped in. We’re holding it down. Every day in practice everybody is going as hard as they can.”
The Tigers set a new standard last season.
Now, reaching the state final is a legitimate goal each and every year.
“This time, we’re going to get the job done,” Pinkston said.
Knights keep rolling despite key injury
Triad football coach Calvin Potthast called it a “gut punch.”
Potthast watched helplessly when starting quarterback Brody Hasquin suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the second quarter of an opening week loss to O’Fallon.
Enter untested sophomore John Holloway.
“I wasn’t scared,” Holloway said. “Maybe just a little nervous.”
It didn’t show.
Although it might have taken Holloway a few quarters to get his bearings, he has ultimately helped save the season with his stellar play.
The Knights have won three games in a row after an 0-2 start. Both losses came to quality opponents. In addition to dropping a 24-8 decision to O’Fallon, it also lost 21-14 to Washington, which is 4-1 and recently put up 69 points against Bartonville-Limestone.
Holloway has helped steady the ship with triumphs over Mississippi Valley Conference foes Civic Memorial and Highland.
The 42-22 win over Highland on Friday served as a coming-out party of sorts for Holloway, who rushed for 189 yards and three scores. His 80-yard scoring gallop in the first half broke the game open.
Holloway has rushed for 331 yards during the three-game run. He has hit on 27 of 48 passes for 423 yards.
“He works so hard on and off the field and it starting to pay off,” Potthast said.
Holloway played on the freshman and junior varsity levels last season and he came into this campaign expecting to learn while watching Hasquin, a junior who has already received an NCAA Division I offer.
It didn’t quite work out that way.
Yet Holloway has been able to roll with the punches.
“At first, I just wanted to go out there and not make sophomore mistakes,” Holloway said.
Holloway felt he was “just OK” over the first two games before getting the hang of the system in a 16-0 win at Alton in week three.
“I had to get used to the crazy atmosphere,” Holloway said. “But now, I feel pretty good and pretty confident in what I can do.”
Triad snapped a three-game losing streak to Highland in grand fashion. Holloway hit Gavin Dobbs on a 77-yard TD strike to break a 7-all tie early in the second quarter.
Holloway is hoping to progress with each outing. The ultimate goal is to help the team to the MVC title in the last year of the league, which was formed in 1971.
The Knights and Mascoutah are the lone unbeatens in the MVC at 2-0.
Wright City is right city thanks to winning streak
The Wildcats won their fourth in a row on Friday with a 41-20 triumph at Mark Twain in Center, Mo.
It is their longest streak since winning four successive games Sept. 2-Sept. 23, 2022.
Wright City, which went 1-8 in 2021, has not had a winning season since going 7-3 in 2019.
But this group is in position to finish well over .500.
“Is it super-surprising? No,” coach Tyler Rickard said. “It was something that we knew was a possibility.”
Senior quarterback Dayton Humphreys and junior running back Benji Rodriguez combined for 248 yards on the ground in the win over the Tigers. Humphrey hit on seven of 13 passes for 78 yards and two scores.
The Wildcats’ defense had been their calling card during the blitz. The starting stop unit has given up just seven touchdowns over five games.
Wright City began the run with a 14-8 win at Winfield in week two. It followed that up with a 34-8 victory over Bowling Green before knocking off Louisiana 27-14.
“I knew coming into the season that we had the talent and the potential,” Rickard said. “I just told them that we’ve got to handle the mental side of things, preparation, building off of mistakes. So far, they’ve been able to handle that.”
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Steve Overbey | Post-Dispatch
High school sports reporter
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