Week 2 St. Louis area Games to Watch

The first two weeks of the Missouri high school football season featured some heavyweight matchups and Week 3 has another strong slate of games. Here is a quick look at some of the top games and players to watch... FRIDAY, SEPT. 10 <h5>DE SMET (1-1) AT CBC (1-1), 6 PM</h5> The No. 2 team in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch large-school rankings, De Smet has won four straight against its Metro Catholic Conference rival, which is ranked third among St. Louis area large schools. These two teams have accounted for three state championships and four straight trips to the championship game in Missouri’s largest class, with CBC winning back to back titles in 2017 and 2018 and then De Smet winning in 2019 and finishing second in 2020. De Smet opened the season with a 44-17 comeback win against visiting Edwardsville and then lost at East St. Louis 32-17 in Week 2. CBC opened with a 48-44 loss to visiting East St. Louis and then went on the road to defeat O’Fallon 49-2 last week. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/CBCCSN">WATCH LIVE STREAM HERE</a> PLAYERS TO WATCH: DE SMET QB [player_tooltip player_id="37660" first="Christian" last="Cotton"], 5-10, 185, Class of 2023 Cotton, a transfer from Trinity, threw two touchdown passes in the Week 1 win and threw a late TD pass against East St. Louis. He played better than the score would indicate in Week 2 but will face another good defense, including a pair of Division I cornerbacks, in CBC. The Spartans have some talented weapons on offense, including senior WR [player_tooltip player_id="101667" first="Gavin" last="Bomstad"] and junior WR [player_tooltip player_id="37686" first="Demetrion" last="Cannon"]. RB [player_tooltip player_id="37659" first="Allen" last="Mitchell"], 5-11, 175, Class of 2023 Mitchell is a Division I prospect who can line up in the backfield or as a wide receiver. He scored a touchdown in Week 1 but didn’t have much room to run against the Flyers last week. He’s going to have a breakout game soon and it could come this week. RB [player_tooltip player_id="101710" first="Keshawn" last="Ford"], 5-11, 190, Class of 2023 Ford, another transfer from Trinity, had two touchdowns against Edwardsville but, like Mitchell, didn’t have many opportunities to show what he could do last week. The Mitchell-Ford duo should be one of the best in the area, if not the state, this fall. CBC QB [player_tooltip player_id="37608" first="Patrick" last="Heitert"], 6-1, 190, Class of 2022 Heitert has completed 57 percent of his passes for 582 yards and three touchdowns and also has a rushing touchdown. He threw for 410 yards and two scores against East St. Louis but will face another difficult test this week against De Smet’s talented defense, led by senior DB [player_tooltip player_id="37536" first="Kaleb" last="Purdy"] and junior CB [player_tooltip player_id="37662" first="Christian" last="Gray"]. RB [player_tooltip player_id="171841" first="Dylan" last="Van"], 6-0, 185, Class of 2023 CBC has three good junior running backs in Van (107 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries), [player_tooltip player_id="103779" first="Jeremiyah" last="Love"] (96 rushing yards and one touchdown on five carries) and [player_tooltip player_id="37738" first="Ralph" last="Dixon"] (104 rushing yards and three touchdowns on eight carries). That group will need another productive day against De Smet to keep the defense honest and give Heitert time to work. DL [player_tooltip player_id="37675" first="Tyler" last="Gant"], 6-4, 270, Class of 2023 A Division I prospect with several offers already, Gant has made an impact the first two weeks with 18 tackles, two sacks and an interception. He leads CBC in tackles and sacks and is tied for the team lead in interceptions. He will need another big game if the Cadets want to slow down the Spartans’ ground game.   <h5>HAZELWOOD CENTRAL (2-0) AT EUREKA (2-0), 7 PM</h5> Hazelwood Central has outscored its first two opponents, Hazelwood East and Pattonville, by a combined score of 89-13. Now the Hawks go on the road at Eureka, which is coming off road wins at Fort Zumwalt West and Marquette. PLAYERS TO WATCH: HAZELWOOD CENTRAL RB [player_tooltip player_id="178556" first="Lionel" last="Banks"], 5-5, 185, Class of 2022 Banks has rushed for 82 yards or more in seven straight games going back to the beginning of the spring season. He has rushed for 803 yards and 10 touchdowns in those seven games. RB [player_tooltip player_id="103085" first="Jamarion" last="Price"], 5-10, 180, Class of 2022 Price has 559 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns in his last seven games, going back to the start of the spring. He has scored three touchdowns in each of the Hawks’ first two wins. WR-QB [player_tooltip player_id="172292" first="Armani" last="Turner"], 5-8, 160, Class of 2022 Turner shifted from his usual wide receiver spot to quarterback last week and rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown and also threw a touchdown pass. If [player_tooltip player_id="122413" first="Bryson" last="Brown"] isn’t back at quarterback this week, Turner will likely have to have another strong performance. If Brown is back, look for Turner to make an impact at wide receiver. He had 24 receptions for 361 yards and six touchdowns in five games this spring. EUREKA RB [player_tooltip player_id="199041" first="Kevin" last="Emmanuel"], 5-8, 190, Class of 2023 Emmanuel has been a breakout performer through the first two games for the Wildcats, rushing for 287 yards and three touchdowns on 58 carries. He also has three catches for 68 yards and two touchdowns. QB [player_tooltip player_id="199039" first="Carson" last="Smith"], 6-5, 195, Class of 2022 Smith has completed 67 percent of his passes for 355 yards and five touchdowns, against one interception, and has 43 rushing yards and a touchdown. He has thrown touchdown passes to four different receivers and completed passes to eight different players. LB [player_tooltip player_id="199040" first="Will" last="Nelson"], 6-1, 220, Class of 2022 Nelson leads the Wildcats with 22 tackles through two games and he should be busy on Friday against the Hazelwood Central rushing attack. <h5>DUCHESNE (2-0) AT LUTHERAN-ST. CHARLES (1-1), 7 PM</h5> Duchesne opened the season with a 14-6 win over Lift For Life and a 21-14 win over Macon but faces a stiff test in a loaded Lutheran-St. Charles squad. The Cougars opened the season with a 35-14 loss in Denver against Denver Lutheran but bounced back with a big 46-6 win at Chaminade last week. PLAYERS TO WATCH DUCHESNE LB [player_tooltip player_id="96266" first="Nathan" last="DeGuentz"], 6-4, 220, Class of 2022 A tackling machine, DeGuentz has 23 tackles and an interception through the first two games after recording 113 tackles, four sacks and an interception a year ago as a junior. RB-DB [player_tooltip player_id="37741" first="Terrell" last="Peete"], 5-10, 165, Class of 2023 Peete has rushed for 176 yards on 21 carries, an average of 8.4 yards per carry, through the first two weeks. He had 111 yards on just 10 carries last week. He also has 11 tackles and an interception. DE-RB [player_tooltip player_id="101687" first="Jamond" last="Mathis"], 6-4, 225, Class of 2023 One of the state’s top Division I prospects in the junior class, Mathis is a big, physical two-way player who is a handful for opponents. He has 105 total yards (66 receiving, 39 rushing) and three touchdowns on just 14 touches in two games. He also has eight tackles and a fumble recovery. LUTHERAN-ST. CHARLES RB [player_tooltip player_id="37528" first="Arlen" last="Harris Jr"], 5-11, 205, Class of 2022 A Stanford commitment who is one of the top prospects in the senior class, Harris didn’t make much of an impact in the Cougars’ season opener but broke out with 164 total yards and four touchdowns in the big win over Chaminade. He rushed for 96 yards and four scores on 15 carries and caught five passes for 68 yards. QB [player_tooltip player_id="37540" first="Aaron" last="Coffey"], 6-6, 215, Class of 2022 Coffey had a big game in the Cougars’ win over Chaminade. He completed 17 of 20 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns. He threw for 1,067 yards and 10 touchdowns in seven games a year ago as a junior after throwing for 2,020 yards and 18 touchdowns as a sophomore. ATH [player_tooltip player_id="37653" first="Aidan" last="McLean"], 5-8, 175, Class of 2022 McLean has scored three touchdowns in two games this season and he’s scored them in three different ways – rushing, receiving and on a kickoff return. McLean scored six touchdowns in seven games a year ago as a junior. You can follow Nate Latsch on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/natelatsch">@natelatsch</a>.