Spoofhounds head to Kansas City carrying banner for public schools
Maryville coach Matt Webb and captians Will McCollough, Carson Hageman, Jackson Dredge and Tyson Atwell take the field earlier this season in St. Louis. (Jon Dykstra/The Forum)
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Everything about St. Pius X screams Class 5 school, the division they were in the past two seasons and compiled a 16-7 overall record.
They have well over 100 players on their roster. They have a 16-man coaching staff. Their offensive line, led by 4-star Missouri Tiger signee Kyler Kuhn, more closely resembles Northwest Missouri State in size than the Maryville Spoofhounds.
“We are obviously very familiar with Pius,” Webb said. “They were in the MEC up until 2023. That last year that we played St. Pius we split with them. We beat them in the regular season and they beat us for a district championship. That kinda started their run of getting quality-points from a private school in the playoffs and moving up to Class 5 the last two years.
“Not seeing them since then until now, they’ve done an extremely good job of developing a Class 5 high-caliber football program. They are really talented at the skill positions. Their quarterback is a really good player. They have really talented wide receivers. Their tailback is good. They’ve got a gigantic tight end which they utilize behind what I think they are best at — the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”
And St. Pius X doesn’t hide from the fact that they want to be a Class 5 program. It’s why they left the Midland Empire Conference. They recruit Kansas City with the idea of playing the biggest programs in Kansas and Missouri. They have wins over Class 6 programs Oak Park, Rockhurst and Francis Howell. They have wins out of state over St. James and Hayden Catholic. Their two losses have been to Class 6 De Smet Jesuit and potentially the best team in the state regardless of class Kearney.
“If I was to go out and build a football team, that is how I would want to build it — at the line of scrimmage,” Webb said. “Their offensive and defensive lines average 6-foot-3, 285 pounds. They are really good and they are deep. … They are a dominant football program where we have been put into the situation where we are going to go down and compete with them.”
St. Pius X wants to be a Class 5 program. The other Class 3 programs who don’t have the resources to recruit Kansas City, and are barred by MSHSAA from recruiting, want St. Pius X to be a Class 5 program. The only entity that doesn’t see a Class 5 program when they look at St. Pius X is MSHSAA, which made rule changes to move the Warriors from Class 5 to Class 3 this season.
“I don’t agree with what MSHSAA did,” Webb said. “I don’t think that anybody who knows football agrees with that decision. But it doesn’t affect the outcome. We talk about E+R=O and there are going to be things that happen that you have to respond to.
“I know our guys and I know our seniors. I know our guys are going to compete. They are competitors and we are looking forward to a great opportunity. Nobody in the state looks at this and gives the Maryville Spoofhounds a chance to go down and compete, much less win a football game, against these guys. It is a great challenge, a great opportunity.”
That is the task in front of the Spoofhounds on Friday night. Maryville is the No. 2 ranked team in Class 3. Their only loss was to Class 4 No. 2 Savannah. They have wins over state powers Odessa and Blair Oaks this season.
Maryville also has not played a private school this season — and especially one with the recruiting footprint of the No. 1 ranked Warriors.
“We need to go in and focus on process football,” Webb said. “We need to be able to run it. We can run it and find some creases there. We have really good backs who can hit inside and outside. We have to take advantage of those opportunities. Jackson (Dredge) — the challenge for him is the same that it has been every week since Week 1. I tell him every week, and he knows it, he has to be the best player on the field.”
The challenge for Maryville is to go down to Kansas City and win a battle of No. 1 versus No. 2 where the entire state will be picking the Warriors. Webb says that challenge goes both ways though.
“The message right after the game was — Jackson Dredge is an excellent football player and they are going to have to stop him,” Webb said. “On defense with our scheme when we are playing up to our capability we are hard to move the football against. … It is just another week of accepting a challenge.”
Offensively, the Warriors are led by their enormous offensive line, but behind them are quarterback Jake Nichols who has thrown for 1,768 yards this season with 22 touchdowns and four interceptions. It’s a balanced rushing attack for the Warriors, but Kaden Locke leads the way with 638 yards and seven touchdowns.
In the passing game, Brock Chisam and Chase Brookings are Nichols’ favorite targets. As many pivate schools have the luxury of doing, Nichols, Locke, Brookings and Chisam were all brought in in the same class to play together and are all juniors this season. Chisam has 814 yards and 11 touchdowns through the air while Brookings has 722 yards and eight scores.
Defensively, senior 215-pound linebacker Thomas Dickerson leads the Warriors with 93 tackles and seven for loss.
Maryville was able to dominate the line of scrimmage in their last two games against Odessa and Richmond. The battle in the trenches will be key on Friday against the much larger St. Pius X line.
“The key for them is that they are going to have to fight hard,” Webb said. “That is all there is to it. We are not going to go out and sign any depth. We are not going to all of a sudden have kids that are sophomores gain 30 pounds overnight. We got the guys that we got. As for those guys playing both ways, they are going to have to play really hard and they are going to have to play out of their minds to be able to stay in this game.”
The battle between the two top-ranked teams in Class 3 ensues on Friday night at 7 p.m., in Kansas City. It will be broadcast on KXCV.
