Semifinal Football Preview: Kirkwood Looks to Reverse History vs. Hazelwood East Saturday

In both 2004 and 2008, the Football team’s State Championship hopes were dashed by the Hazelwood East Spartans. The 2011 Pioneers (11-0) hope to change that as they take on the Spartans (8-4) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Hazelwood East High School (map) with a trip to the Class 5 State Championship on the line.

Hazelwood East’s record doesn’t tell the whole story. All four Spartan losses have come to larger schools in Class 6.

, Hazelwood East is primarily a running offense. In Hazelwood East’s 42-15 quarterfinal win over Parkway Central, they ran the ball 54 times while only attempting seven passes. Six different Spartans have run for 100 yards in a game this season.

Kirkwood’s two quarterback tandem, and Jordan Bishop, lead the Metro Saint Louis area in Passer Rating combining for 1882 yards with 33 touchdowns and only five interceptions. 941 yards and 19 touchdowns have been completed to Northwestern University recruit . The balanced Kirkwood offense also features 1,000 yard running back who averages a staggering 11.6 yards per carry.

The has been just as balanced and just as dominant. The defense allows less than 10 points per game and has shutout the opponent five times. Nine players have recorded sacks, nine players have recovered fumbles and eight players have intercepted passes.

Kirkwood is looking to advance to the second state championship game in school history; the previous appearance resulted in a 42-32 loss to Raymore Peculiar in 2006. The Pioneers haven’t been pushed to play a full game all year. They have lead by at least four touchdowns in every game and have only trailed briefly in two games. Hazelwood East poses the biggest challenge to Kirkwood’s undefeated season so far.

Don’t miss the action this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Hazelwood East High School!

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