The Stanberry Bulldogs and North Andrew Cardinals continue to be the dominant forces in Missouri eight-man football, ready to meet one another for the fifth consecutive November in the state championship game, with this year’s game, for the first time, to be an afternoon affair in Columbia, instead of the morning hours in St. Louis.
In the state semifinals on Friday night, North Andrew rolled past upset-minded King City 74-42, while Stanberry, looking for a repeat state championship, traveled to Sedalia and lassoed Sacred Heart’s Gremlins 80-40.
Both Stanberry and North Andrew are members of the Grand River Conference’s Western (8-man) division, and met in the regular season, with the Cardinals taking the victory.
In past years, the eight-man state championship game started the Show-Me Bowl’s slate of seven championship games in St. Louis at 9:30 AM on the day after Thanksgiving.
However, this season, with the NFL Rams move to Los Angeles likely playing a factor, MSHSAA chose to move its championship games to Springfield on the two days after Thanksgiving (November 25th and 26th). The eight-man and Class 6 divisions, citing the unfairness of having a two-week break before the championship games, had their championships moved to Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field at the University of Missouri in Columbia, with the eight-man title game at 3 PM and the Class 6 title game (between Kirkwood and Blue Springs) at 7 PM. Chillicothe and Cameron both made plays to host the eight-man final, but had their proposals rejected by MSHSAA late in the spring.
In the Class 6 semifinals on Friday night, Kirkwood won at Kansas City Rockhurst, 24-17, while Blue Springs claimed a 35-21 win at Christian Brothers College (CBC).
