DeSmet trounces Francis Howell for district title
Heading into the Class 6, District 5 title game, the Francis Howell Vikings had a physical, feisty club that came to DeSmet with upset on their minds.
But DeSmet playmakers Steve Kaiser and Malcolm Agnew were not about to let the Vikings celebrate on their field Friday night.
Kaiser, the Spartans senior quarterback, riddled the Howell defense for four touchdowns through the air. Agnew, DeSmet's junior running back, made them pay on the ground with a pair of scores as DeSmet dispatched a gritty Howell club with a 52-0 win to claim the district championship.
DeSmet, which went undefeated for the second time in school history (10-0, 3-0 in district play), will play host to Fort Zumwalt West in a Class 6 sectional playoff game at 7 p.m. next Friday.
"We're happy about going undefeated and making school history and making the playoffs," said Kaiser, who will attend SMU next fall. "But we are not done yet. We just want to keep going and going and take this all the way to state."
Kaiser, who attended Francis Howell as a freshman, turned in his best game since the Spartans' 59-21 victory over Chaminade back on Oct. 2.
The senior signal-caller was razor sharp in the pocket, hitting 13 of 18 passes for 241 yards along the way as the Spartans air attack was simply unstoppable.
"The offensive line did a great job of giving me time to throw and I was then able to just get the ball to our play makers and let them make plays," Kaiser said.
After senior running back David Hill twisted his right ankle early and was forced to leave the game, Agnew was called upon to carry the load and he did just that as he ripped off touchdown runs of 17 yards in the first quarter and then a 2-yard run early in the second quarter which staked DeSmet to a commanding 21-0 lead.
Agnew's second TD was set up by an amazing 58-yard zig-zag run as he wore out the Howell defenders with a 6 carry, 138-yard night of rushing.
"Coach does a great job of having me prepared for whenever David or anybody goes down," Agnew said. "The offensive line did a great job of giving space and then I just went out and handled the load. I always look to be prepared each game."
Howell (8-2, 2-1 in districts) actually moved the ball well early as the Vikings took their first possession of the game from their own 11 all the way down to the DeSmet 25.
But a no gain, an incomplete pass, a sack of quarterback Brett Graves and a penalty wiped out
an early Howell scoring chance that seemed to slow the Vikings' resolve.
"I think when we moved the ball deep down into their end and we didn't score and then they came back and scored that really took the wind out of our sails," Howell Coach Brian Koch said."That was really not our team out there tonight. We didn't execute well."
Senior defensive back Josh Monroe made his presence felt for the DeSmet defense with a team-high six tackles and four assists and fellow senior corner back Jamie Placht provided a strong pass rush with a pair of sacks.
"We are now a state level team," DeSmet Coach Pat Mahoney told his club right after the game."We are now a state level team and that means we've got to get better. Let's keep getting better."
Howell, which qualified for the playoffs with last week's 42-7 win over Howell Central, will travel next Friday to Jefferson City for a 7 p.m. Class 6 sectional playoff game.
