Parkway North Enters Final Week With Playoff Hopes

The final week of the high school football season is always one of high intensity and emotion, as players and coaches who have put a whole season’s worth of work into trying to chase down a championship are suddenly staring down the barrel of watching their dreams go up in smoke with a loss at the wrong time.

And this weekend, one of the most anticipated football contests features Suburban South Conference rivals and Webster Groves squaring off in such a matchup, where the winner will advance to the state playoffs, while the loser will be done for the season.

It’s especially surprising that Webster finds itself in this position, after the Statesmen spent most of the season ranked among the best teams in the state, even rising as high as No. 2 in the statewide top 10 poll.

But all that came crashing down after

Few expected the Statesmen to lose last week, and even fewer expected it to happen in the manner it did, with the usually high-powered Webster offense being grounded by the Colt defense and the previously stout Statesmen defense getting moved around by the bulky Central offense.

This week, coach Cliff Ice believes his crew has fixed its problems and is ready to get back to being the team most thought they were throughout the season.

On the field, senior quarterback Rayshawn Simmons remains one of the leading passers in the area, with 1,990 yards and 24 touchdowns, while senior linebacker D.J. Johnson ranks second in the Suburban South with 94 total tackles.

Parkway North took its own beating against Parkway Central two weeks ago, but righted its ship with a .

Senior Donavin Newsom, the highly touted running back/linebacker who’s headed to Mizzou next year, led the Vikings on both sides of the ball last week.

On offense, the 6-foot-2, 220-pounder rushed for 149 yards and scored four touchdowns, while also leading the defense with 13 tackles and four tackles-for-loss.

Teammate Jovonte Suber also had a big day for the Vikes, and even turned in one of their highlight reel plays of the season, with a 92-yard punt return for a touchdown last week against the Red Devils.

The two district wins for Parkway Central earned the Colts not only the district championship, but also a first-round playoff bye and home-field advantage in its second-round game.

The Parkway North-Webster Groves winner will advance to the state playoffs, but will have to go on the road in the first round, where it will face the winner of Friday’s out-state district championship game between perennial statewide powers Waynesville and Camdenton.

The first round of the state playoffs, also known as sectionals, will take place on Wednesday, November 2, with kickoff at the Waynesville/Camdenton winner set for 7 p.m.

Parkway Central will meet the winner of that game at home, November 7.

Stay with Patch this weekend for coverage of the elimination games involving Creve Coeur area teams.