Raymore-Peculiar football loses to De Smet in Missouri Class 6 football semifinals

Surround by a gaggle of players in black-and-gold helmets, Raymore-Peculiar head football coach Tom Kruse said it best:

“Teams like that, you almost have to be perfect, and we for sure weren’t today,” he said following his team’s 37-0 home loss to De Smet in the Missouri Class 6 state high school football semifinals.

Welcoming the undefeated De Smet Jesuit Spartans to Panther Stadium Saturday afternoon, Ray-Pec hoped to start out strong in front of its near-sellout home crowd.

Forcing a three-and-out in the Spartans’ own territory before advancing up the field due to a pass-interference call, the Panthers were setting the pace against the No. 1 team in Missouri.

Forcing another punt from De Smet on the Spartans’ second drive of the game seemed to be setting up a dream start for Ray-Pec — but then it all came undone.

As the ball flew from the punter’s foot toward Panthers territory, a black and white Ray-Pec jersey bundled into the legs of De Smet’s punter, resulting in a roughing the kicker penalty and an automatic first down for the Spartans.

Things went from bad to worse for Ray-Pec on the very next play as De Smet running back Derez Snider broke free for a 52-yard touchdown run.

“That ended up being a big momentum-changer because we had them stopped again,” Kruse said. “We really thought we were going to have to make a couple of plays in the special teams to hang with them.”

Ray-Pec (10-3) went on to commit three turnovers and several other self-inflicted mistakes in its season-ending loss to De Smet (13-0).

An interception thrown by Ray-Pec quarterback Conrad Hawley on the Panthers’ second drive dug Ray-Pec a deeper hole. A safety on the Panthers’ third drive followed as the ball was snapped over punter Gabe Sappington’s head.

Ray-Pec remained pinned in its own half for the rest of the first half. A fumble by senior Jordan Johnson was recovered by De Smet at the Ray-Pec 17-yard line. That was soon turned into a touchdown by the Spartans’ Rico Barfield.

“They were as good as advertised. It wasn’t our cleanest game for sure, and we didn’t feel like we could get anything going from the run game to the pass game,” Kruse said. “They’re a good football team — up front, both sides, they’ve got a group there.”

The Panthers finished the first half with just 22 yards of total offense, their only first down coming off the pass-interference call on their first drive.

Things picked up for Ray-Pec in the second half as the Panthers allowed just seven points and produced nearly triple the number of offensive yards they’d mustered in the first.

Hawley contributed most of his team’s yards both in the air and on the ground. He finished with 48 yards, including a 30-yard throw to a wide-open Sappington in the fourth quarter.

The result put an end to Ray-Pec’s seven-game winning streak. Ray-Pec started the season with a 3-2 record.

“We had a pretty good year. We got it turned around, and a lot of credit to the senior class — they kind of bought in,” Kruse said. “We were 3-2 going to Blue Springs, that same spot we were in a year ago, and we talked about running the table one game at a time. We’re going to look back and have a lot of fond memories of this season.”

De Smet will face Joplin in the Missouri Class 6 state final in Columbia next Saturday.

Other Missouri games

Staley 30, Raytown 14: In the Class 5 quarterfinals, Staley knocked off Raytown and will face Jackson in the semifinals on Nov. 30.

Odessa 53, Savannah 31: Odessa made its way into the Class 3 semifinals with a quarterfinal win. Odessa will play Kennett on Nov. 30.

Lathrop 38, Summit Christian 6: Summit Christian saw its season come to an end in Class 2 action. Summit Christian had made it to the quarterfinals with a 35-14 win over Lafayette County last weekend.

This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 6:12 PM.