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    • Springfield high school football: Takeaways from Week 9, scores
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    Springfield high school football: Takeaways from Week 9, scores

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    The final week of the Missouri high school football season is over and a pair of conference champions have been crowned, in addition to the handful of upsets in the Springfield area.

    Highlights of the week include a shocking loss to Mount Vernon, Fair Grove beating Strafford for the Mid-Lakes title, Lebanon staying hot and Seneca coming off one of the most impressive wins we’ve seen in a long time.

    Here are our takeaways from Week 9 as we head into districts next week:

    Mount Vernon’s football loss to Monett should excite some in Strafford

    The biggest upset of the week (and perhaps the season) should turn heads as Mount Vernon enters the postseason on a two-game losing streak after losing a three-game winning streak to Monett, 56-48.

    The Mountaineers entered the night ranked sixth in Class 3 and looked like a team that could make a deep postseason run. A loss to the Cubs will certainly raise questions.

    It’s no surprise that Monett could cause some teams problems. The “Mauk offense” that dominated Glendale for so long made its debut in the minor leagues with Ben Mauk in his first year as head coach of the Cubs. He has now achieved a big win that will inspire confidence for years to come, however this season goes.

    After the 26-11 loss to Fair Grove, Strafford now has something to be a little excited about as the second-best team in its district has fallen to a team that outscored it by 55 in the second week of the season lost. Strafford features a solid aerial attack, led by one of the area’s best quarterbacks in Jourdyn Edelstein.

    Strafford should feel like it is in a good spot to secure its first district title in a decade, but shouldn’t get ahead of itself. Mount Vernon is very capable of bouncing back and Mountain Grove is on fire as well.

    Lebanon begins district play

    The Yellowjackets might have been an undefeated Ozark Conference champion if the league was still intact. Instead, they played one of the toughest games in the region, coming away 5-4.

    Lebanon is hot after winning its last four games, each by 21 points or more. It will go to a Class 5 district with teams from Central Missouri instead of playing the teams it faces all year.

    Helias Catholic is the standout in its district, a state-ranked program whose lone loss came in overtime against state-ranked Rock Bridge. There’s a chance we could see the Yellowjackets play rival Camdenton in district play if the two are no longer in the same conference.

    Jax Glendenning is reminding everyone why he is one of the best running backs in the Ozarks. He passed for 134 yards and four touchdowns in a 64-20 win over Waynesville.

    We 👀 you, Catholic

    The Fightin’ Irish earned their best win of the year with a surprising 33-7 victory over Clever. Catholic is a winner of three in a row after starting the year 0-6.

    Catholic is following a similar path to last year, when it started 0-7 before winning its final two regular-season games. It gave Mountain View-Liberty fits in the first round of districts, but fell six points short.

    A date with a South Central Association team appears likely in the first round of districts, with Ava, Liberty and Thayer meeting Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in Class 2, District 4, where Fair Grove will be a heavy favorite. We’ll see next week if the Irish can stay warm or scare another SCA opponent.

    Seneca Football makes statement with Lamar outburst

    Seneca is so good this year that it beat Lamar by 50. You read that right: Seneca defeated Lamar 57-7 to finish the regular season undefeated and claim the outright Big 8 Conference championship.

    A year removed from a state championship appearance, Seneca has graduated its elite backfield and somehow looks better than it did a year ago heading into the postseason. If there is one team that can be described as the area team most likely to win a state championship, it is probably Seneca.

    A bye awaits Seneca in the Class 3, District 6 postseason. Forsyth and Cassville appear to be the biggest challengers when it comes to a fourth straight district championship.

    Crown them! Seven conference champions officially named

    Nixa finished the regular season 9-0 and is the outright Central Ozark Conference East champion after a 42-0 win over Glendale. The Eagles didn’t win a game by less than 20 all season. They posted on social media that they were claiming the COC, not east or west, when they got wins over Republic, Webb City, Joplin and Carthage and we can’t blame them. They have a bye next week and await the winner between Ozark and Waynesville.

    Carthage claimed the COC West with a 42-20 win over Neosho. The Tigers have a bye next week.

    Branson is the outright Ozark Mountain Conference champion after a 49-0 victory over Hillcrest, finishing the year undefeated. The Pirates entered Friday night as the No. 1 seed in their district and will wait for the final word when the postseason brackets are released to see if they have a bye or will host Central next week.

    Fair Grove is the outright Mid-Lakes Conference champion after a 26-11 win over rivals Strafford. The Eagles are the only players in their district and will host Willow Springs next week.

    Seneca defeated Lamar to win the Big 8 Conference outright. It’s free next week.

    Mountain Forest and Freedom will share the South Central Association after winning in Week 9. Liberty snuck past Houston in a 6-0 victory, while the Panthers defeated Thayer 26-7 for their share.

    Marionville won another Southwest Conference outrightdefeated Miller 24-7 to secure his fifth undefeated regular season. The Comets appear to have a bye next week.

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