Kirkwood High Releases 2011 Football Schedule

With the first day of fall practice set for Aug. 8, and the first day of school slated for Aug. 17, the Kirkwood High Athletics Department began the official start of its 2011-2012 sporting year by releasing its 2011 varsity, junior varsity, and freshman football schedules.

The three Pioneers teams, who will play a combined 27 games in 2011, are all set for their first official training camp workouts at 7:30 a.m. on Monday. The first week of game action will come during the final days of the month for all three squads.

The varsity will actually host a four-team jamboree at Kirkwood’s Stadium Field, which is affectionately called “The Wood,” on Friday, Aug. 19 against Ladue, McCluer and Berkeley.

But the first actual game of the season will come the following week when the Pioneers host Rockwood Summit High at “The Wood” at 7 p.m.

Summit, a 6-5 playoff team that lost in the first round to Webster Groves last year, will be led by emerging QB Tyler Karst and bruising running back/linebacker Eric Beisel.

The JV and freshman Pioneers will also open the season with home games against Summit.

Those games will be Monday, Aug. 29 at “The Wood,” with the ninth-grade game at 4 p.m. and the JV contest scheduled for 6 p.m.

The varsity will host Seckman High in Week 2. That game is also slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Beginning with Week 3, Kirkwood will begin one of the toughest three-week stretches facing any team in the area all season.

On Saturday, Sept. 17 the Pioneers will play their first road game against three-time Show-Me Bowl state championship game participant Hazelwood Central, which won state titles in 2008 and 2009, and lost by just a field goal in last year’s game.

Even with the loss of their coach, who joined the staff at Lindenwood, and some of its great talent, which moved on to college as well, many area prep football experts expect Hazelwood Central to be among the state's best teams.

The JV and freshman Pioneers won’t play Hazelwood Central though. Instead, they have road games against Webster Groves and Seckman in Week 3.

For the varsity, Week 4 brings a matchup against Parkway North, which went 7-3 last year and features quite possibly the state’s best prep linebacker in Mizzou recruit Donavin Newsom.

Last season, Newsom led North with 91 tackles, including 12 and two quarterback sacks in the Vikings’ 21-14 win over the Pioneers.

This season, the Pioneers will see Newsom at “The Wood” on Friday, Sept. 23.

The third matchup in Kirkwood’s brutal early-season stretch comes Friday, Sept. 30 when the Pioneers will travel to Chesterfield to take on Parkway Central.

The Colts were 6-4 last year and feature one of the most highly recruited players in the area in receiver Brandon Shepherd.

But the game of the year, as it is every year for Pioneers fans, is the Turkey Day game against Webster Groves, which in 2011 will be played at “The Wood” on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24.

This will also be the Pioneers’ chance to gain a measure of revenge on the Statesmen, who knocked Kirkwood out of the playoffs last year with a 28-0 defeat in the state championship semifinals.

Another key stretch for Kirkwood will come when it plays three straight road games in October against University City (Oct. 7), Vianney (Oct. 14), and Washington (Oct. 21).

2011 KIRKWOOD PIONEER FOOTBALL SCHEDULES