STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. — The torch has been passed.
Lamar came across the state and put an end to Valle Catholic’s 51-game win streak with a dominating 50-13 win Saturday at Father John Dempsey Field.
The five-time defending Class 2 champions and top-ranked team in its class, Lamar (6-0) now has the state’s best win streak at 27 games. The Tigers handed Valle (6-1, No. 1 Class 1) its worst loss in nine years. Maplewood-Richmond Heights beat the Warriors 39-0 in 2008. It’s the last time Valle was subjected to a running clock. It’s the first loss for Valle since Hamilton-Penney beat it 60-34 in the 2012 Class 1 title game.
“It was a big test to see how our program could compare to a program similar to ours in another class,” junior defensive end TW Ayers said. “The streak wasn’t something we worried about. We knew Monday we’d go get ready for another game. Win or lose we wanted to play to the best of our ability.”
The Tigers gave up a score on Valle’s first drive of the game. Junior quarterback Mason Skaggs scored a 5-yard touchdown that capped a 65-yard drive that spanned just more than three minutes.
Lamar responded with a deluge as it scored 42 consecutive points.
Senior running back Luke Hardman returned after missing four weeks with an injury. Fresh and fierce, Hardman caught two passes for 137 yards and scored twice. His second catch and run was a back breaker for Valle. On third-and-17 at their own 27, junior quarterback Stuart McKarus found Hardman who then shook two defenders and ran around the remaining players in the secondary for a 73-yard touchdown. Lamar led 21-7 with 7 minutes and 31 seconds to play in the first half.
“It’s my first game back and Coach (Scott Bailey) told me I didn’t have to be a physical player I could just run past them,” Hardman said. “That’s what I tried to do every time. I guess it worked.”
Pretty much everything worked for the Tigers. McKarus completed all seven of his passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown. Hardman rushed three times for 27 yards and scored a 15-yard touchdown. Junior running back Cooper Lucas had 80 yards and a score.
Sophomore running back Landon Hardman had a 60-yard touchdown scamper late in the fourth quarter.
When it’s offense wasn’t plowing up field, Lamar’s defense did its best to break Valle’s will. The Tigers were ferocious and relentless. They sacked Skaggs six times and blasted him at every opportunity as the ball left his hands on pass attempts.
“They’re extremely physical. They’re a different breed,” Valle coach Judd Naeger said. “You don’t see teams that have 10-12 guys benching over 300 pounds and they do.”
Senior defensive back Anthony Wilkerson got in on the scoring action. He ripped the ball from Valle receiver Cole Wood and returned it 25 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 2:01 to play in the first quarter. Lamar was never threatened again.
Skaggs completed 16 of his 29 passes for 188 yards, one touchdown and was intercepted once. Wood caught six passes for 77 yards and a score.
Ayers was a key piece of the defensive effort. A sledgehammer with feet, the 6-foot-2 and 230-pound Ayers was either making tackles or driving Valle opponents into the dirt. When his over mitts for hands locked on there was no shaking him. The Tigers just wore out the Warriors with their hard nosed play down after down after down.
“That’s how we always try to play but there was some pressure on today to play more physical than we ever have,” Ayers said. “We knew we had to play to our full potential.”
