By Chad Hayworth (for OzarksSportsZone.com)
SENECA — St. Clair turnovers turned into Seneca touchdowns on Saturday as the Indians ran away from the Bulldogs in a lopsided state semifinal victory.
Seneca’s 57-20 win sends the Indians back to the Class 3 state championship game for the third-straight season, an accomplishment not lost on Coach Cody Hilburn.
“It takes a lot of common-minded people and a common-minded community,” he said. “Everybody has bought into what we want to do, starting with our kids. I’ve had the same coaching staff for four-straight years, with zero turnover, which is highly uncommon, especially at a small school. I have the perfect administration, which supports everything we do.
“When you put all those things together, you’ve got a chance, and that’s what we have.”
Seneca’s Roman Miller scored four times on Saturday, extended his hold on the Indians’ single-season touchdown record, while also eclipsing the career record for touchdowns. Miller has 42 touchdowns on the season, pushing him past Braxton Graham, who had 39 in 2013. His career total is now at 75, which bests the record of 74 set by Shannon Crouch from 1984-87.
“The best thing I can say about Roman is that I guarantee he had no clue,” Hilburn said. “I didn’t have any clue. I think it’s an awesome accomplishment for him, but that’s not what he ever thinks about. He thinks about winning football games, and that is evident by watching him run down on kickoff, play on kickoff return, and short snap on PATs. He does a lot of things to allow us to win football games and that’s the kind of guy you want to be a leader of your football team.”
Seneca (12-1) jumped on the visitors from St. Clair early, forcing a fumble from Bulldog senior Logan Bartz on the game’s opening drive at the St. Clair 45-yard line.
Miller capped an eight-play, 39-yard drive with a 5-yard run up the middle for a 7-0 lead with 5:38 to play in the first quarter.
On the Bulldog’s next series, the Indian defense met quarterback Nate Short at the line of scrimmage on third and 1 from the Bulldog 33, and then did it again, stopping Bartz for no gain on fourth down.
Seneca made short work of the short field, with Miller capping a five-play drive with a 7-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 lead with 54 seconds left in the opening quarter.
St. Clair (10-4) got its offense going on the ensuing drive, moving the ball steadily downfield, until a holding call on third and 3 from the Indian 29 put them behind the chains. Short’s pass on fourth and 6 from the Indian 30 fell to the turf, giving Seneca the ball.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
A 19-yard pass from senior quarterback Brodie Probert to senior Drew Sherwood kept the Indian drive alive, and two plays later, Miller broke free for 37 yards, giving Seneca first and 10 from the Bulldog 15. Probert called his own number on the next play, scampering into the end zone for a 21-0 lead with 4:56 to play in the half.
On the next Bulldog possession, Seneca junior defensive back Brant Laughlin stepped in front of a receiver and picked off the Short’s pass, returning it from near midfield for a pick 6 touchdown and a 28-0 lead.
St. Clair answered with a four-play, 55-yard touchdown drive, capped by Landen Baxter’s 3-yard scoring run.
Probert found Blaze Graham along the Indian sideline on the next Seneca possession, for a 42-yard touchdown that pushed the lead to 35-7 with 1:23 left in the half.
Laughlin got his second pick of the half on St. Clair’s next play from scrimmage, and the Indians looked to add to their lead. But Probert’s pass to the goal line was short, and St. Clair picked the ball off, only to have Short throw his third interception of the half, this one hauled in by Sherwood.
“That’s a team that has a quarterback who has rushed for over 2,000 yards and a running back that’s rushed for over 1,700,” Hilburn said of the Bulldogs. “We wanted to put them in those third and medium, third and long situations. Then you have to capitalize when they put the ball in the air, something they don’t necessarily want to do, and our guys did that.”
Miller added a pair of touchdowns on the Indians’ first two drives of the second half, on 1- and 25-yard runs, pushing the Indian lead to 49-7.
“We’ve built what we do offensively to play November football,” Hilburn said. “When you get to November and December, the weather is going to get bad. You have to be able to run the football and be physical.”
Seneca sent in the reserves and St. Clair capitalized, with Short throwing touchdowns of 69- and 44-yards, sandwiched around Easton Hanes’s 54-yard touchdown run for the Indians.
Miller, the reigning Big 8 offensive and defensive player of the year, finished with 177 yards on 19 carries, while Probert added 64-yards on 10 carries, along with completing two of five passes for 61 yards and a touchdown.
In addition to his touchdown catch, Blaze Graham ran the ball twice for 15 yards and senior Hunter Hanes had one carry for 30 yards.
Short completed nine of 17 passes for 219 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Bartz ran the ball 16 times for 54 yards for the Bulldogs.
The win sets up a rematch of last year’s state semifinal, a lopsided victory for Seneca over Lift For Life Academy. The teams will meet at 11 a.m. Friday at Spratt Memorial Stadium at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.
Lift For Life defeated St. Michael the Archangel 48-28 on Saturday.
“Lift For Life is a tremendous football team with tremendous athletes,” Hilburn said. “We were fortunate to get them at home last year, and we kinda jumped on them and turned them over.
“They are going to show up ready to play on Friday, and we are going to have to bring our best.”
