By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Cardinal Ritter has a theme for one of its mid-week practices: Turnover Tuesdays.
It’s carried over into game action for the undefeated Lions this season, including in Saturday’s Class 3 state semifinals matchup against Mt. Vernon.
The Lions forced five turnovers on their way to a 49-6 win on the Mountaineers’ home field, denying Mt. Vernon a second straight appearance in the Class 3 state title game.
“Our defense has been thriving on turnovers,” said Lions coach Brandon Gregory. “Sooner or later, we know we’re going to get a turnover whether it’s a scoop and score, a fumble recovery or an interception. It’s something we’ve been working on every week in practice and it just carries over into the game.”
Offensively, the Lions gashed Mt. Vernon with an efficient passing attack.
Junior quarterback Mekhi Hagens finished 21-for-26 for 305 yards and four touchdowns. Freshman wide receiver Luther Burden had eight catches for 171 yards and a touchdown.
The Lions had six passing plays of 20 or more yards.
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“We knew they had a great combination of size and speed – and they had ability,” said Mountaineers coach Tom Cox. “They have so many kids that can run so well… they can take a short play and bust it open at any time.”
Two of Mt. Vernon’s five turnovers came inside the Cardinal Ritter five yardline.
Trailing 12-6, Mt. Vernon fumbled it away early in the second quarter. The Lions then drove 96 yards in nine plays and scored on a 28-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Coleman for a 20-6 lead.
Coleman later had a 97-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“We felt like we had a good plan on the two-point conversion, so we felt like we were going to take the lead at that point, 14-12,” Cox said. “You never know if that changes things. It may not have. Then the second turnover when they got the pick-six kind of sealed the deal.”
Mountaineers senior linebacker Will Boswell had 16 tackles, unofficially, to become MSHSAA’s all-time leader in career tackles.
Boswell entered the game with 614 career tackles and surpassed the record of 623 previously held by West Nodaway’s Jakob Cordell (2012-15).
Boswell also had 23 carries for 109 yards in the game.
Cardinal Ritter stopped Mt. Vernon on downs on the opening drive of the second half. After a seven-yard touchdown pass to Keith Jones, the Lions led 34-6.
“Where we struggled today was just their sheer size advantage, particularly up front,” Cox said. “They gave Hagens a lot of protection and it’s just hard to cover anybody that long.”
Cardinal Ritter (13-0 overall) faces Trinity Catholic (12-2 overall) in the Class 3 state title game at 11 a.m. next Saturday at Faurot Field in Columbia.
The St. Louis private schools moved up from Class 2 to Class 3 before this season. Trinity Catholic beat Cardinal Ritter 57-0 in the regular season and 28-7 in districts last year.
“I have a group of seniors who want to win conference, districts and, of course, a state title,” Gregory said.
Cardinal Ritter 49, Mt. Vernon 6
Cardinal Ritter 12 16 14 7 — 49
Mt. Vernon 6 0 0 0 — 6
First quarter
Cardinal Ritter – Williams 26 catch from Hagens (kick failed)
Mt. Vernon – Bowman 4 run (pass failed)
Cardinal Ritter – Burden 62 catch from Hagens (run failed)
Second quarter
Cardinal Ritter – Coleman 28 catch from Hagens (Williams catch)
Cardinal Ritter – Jackson 4 run (Morrow run)
Third quarter
Cardinal Ritter – Jones 7 catch from Hagens (kick failed)
Cardinal Ritter – Coleman 97 interception return (Morrow run)
Fourth quarter
Cardinal Ritter – Shahid 4 run (Long kick)
Unofficial stat leaders
Cardinal Ritter
Passing: Hagens 21-for-26 for 305 yards, 4 TDs
Rushing: Morrow 13 carries for 62 yards; Jackson six carries for 19 yards, TD
Receiving: Burden eight catches for 171 yards, TD; Coleman six catches for 91 yards, TD; Williams four catches for 58 yards, TD
Mt. Vernon
Passing: Jones 20-for-35 for 106 yards, 3 INTs
Rushing: Boswell 23 carries for 109 yards
Receiving: Bowman six catches for 43 yards; Miller three catches for 17 yards
