Thursday, August 16, 2012
The Spartans look to form a new identity now that Durron Neal, one of the top playmakers in the country, has graduated to play at Oklahoma.
The player responsible for plenty of touchdowns, yards after the catch and prolific tweets as part of the De Smet Jesuit football program has left the building. Durron Neal is now looking to make an impact on the Big 12 as a member of the Oklahoma Sooners after leading De Smet to a 9-3 mark in 2011. That means a different looking squad will be on the field Spartan graduate and KSDK sportscaster Frank Cusamano calls "The Palace on Ballas". We went four and out with De Smet Head Coach Pat Mahoney: 1. Key Returnees: Conner Harrison, Latif Adams, Jack Barry, Joey Bruning, Lucas Nikolaisen, Andy Bauer, Nick Wunderli, Mitch Palmer, Alex Downey, Donnie White, Jake Greunsfelder, Darian Harris, Dedrick Cromartie, Ryan McEnneny, Thayer Weaver, …
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Jr. Billikens advance to Class 6 state semifinals with 47-46 victory
St. Louis University High School football coach Gary Kornfeld was told by one of his assistant coaches near the end of Friday night’s Class 6 state quarterfinal game against De Smet that it would go down as an instant classic. That coach – Mark Kornfeld – was right. Following a first quarter that saw just a field goal kicked, the next three quarters exploded with 90 points and five lead changes. At the end, it was SLUH kicker Dan Tlapek’s 47-yard field goal with 59 seconds remaining that gave the Junior Billikens a 47-46 victory over the visiting Spartans. “It was, just, wow. That’s all I can say is wow,” Gary Kornfeld said. “I’m so happy, so proud of our kids. That’s a great De Smet ball club we just beat. I’m excited about the victory.” …
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Spartan quarterback Conner Harrison threw for 357 yards and four touchdowns in 35-28 win over the Wildcats. Next up is a rematch with SLUH.
EUREKA – One of the oldest and most used clichés in all of sports, is the adage ‘big-time players, make big-time plays, in big-time games.’ And as trite as it might sound, De Smet standout wideout Durron Neal showed once again why he is considered one of the area’s best “big-time” players, as he scored three touchdowns Friday night, including a sensational 41-yarder late in the fourth quarter, that helped lift the visiting Spartans to a 35-28 win over Eureka High. “I told the kids all week, ‘you’re about to play the best team you’ve played all year period,’” De Smet head football coach Pat Mahoney said. “And Eureka, since the day they laid the first brick here, is a competitive team that’s going to hit you, and just keep coming after you. …
Saturday, October 29, 2011
The Spartans will take on Eureka in the first round of the playoffs after a 51-7 victory over the Panthers Friday night.
After Mehlville returned a kickoff for a 92-yard touchdown to cut De Smet’s lead to 14-7, the Spartans rolled off 37 unanswered points to blow out the Panthers 51-7 Friday. The win means De Smet is headed for the Class 6 playoffs for the fifth consecutive year. The Spartans have advanced to the state semifinals in three of the past four seasons, and they last won a championship in 2005. “I just told the guys, it’s real simple – from here on out, only one team goes home happy,” De Smet coach Pat Mahoney said. “There’s only one team that finishes the season without a loss. “You can’t beat good teams and you can’t be the team that doesn’t lose playing sloppy football. So it’s kind of a rededication. The tempo’s got to step up in practice. …
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Spartan selected to participate in All American Game next January.
Durron Neal already has hopes of finishing his De Smet football career with a trip to a dome, namely the Edward Jones Dome, as the Spartans aim for a Class 6 state title run. But he knows regardless of what happens, his career as a high school football player will end in a dome. Tuesday, representatives from the U.S. Army All-American Bowl were on campus to formally announce Neal's selection as a member of the 2012 squad. The game will be played January 7, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX. The game has become known over the last 11 years as a venue where high profile recruits announce their college intentions in front of a national TV audience. Some had speculated that Neal, who had dozens of suitors, would take that route. Instead, he …
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Saturday, October 15, 2011
Spartans break open tight ballgame with 17 unanswered fourth-quarter points.
SAPPINGTON – For the first three quarters of Friday night’s high school football district playoff opener at Lindbergh’s Flyers Field, De Smet head coach Pat Mahoney wasn’t particularly happy with how his team played. The Spartans made a number of mistakes, including committing several ill-timed penalties, poor play execution, and even committed a couple of turnovers. But in the fourth quarter, De Smet finally found its form and looked like the No. 5-ranked team in Missouri Class 6, with a dominant 12-minute effort that led to 17 unanswered points, which allowed the Spartans to pull away for a 30-13 win over the host Flyers. “I tell our kids all the time, that winning is fun, it’s what we come out here to do, but I’d rather play well,” …
Thursday, October 6, 2011
De Smet's Durron Neal has a 72-yard touchdown reception and returns a punt 50 yards and an interception 96 yards for TDs in a lopsided victory.
Durron Neal has seen De Smet take the first big hit in games this season and need to claw its way back. He left little chance of seeing that again Thursday against Miller Career Academy. The Oklahoma recruit and Spartan senior laid a jarring tackle on Markeese Marbley in front of the Miller sideline on the first play to set the tone in a 53-8 nonconference victory at Sumner. “Like I tell them, we have to make the first noise,” said Neal, who had a 72-yard touchdown reception and returned a punt 50 yards and an interception 96 yards for TDs. “This year, we’ve been getting hit first, but this is a change of the season next week. We’ve got to start hitting people first in the mouth. That hit…I just read it perfectly and set the tone for the …
Friday, September 16, 2011
Spartans head to Vianney Friday after a tough day at the dome last weekend.
Two teams coming off tough losses last week in which offense was at a premium, with both teams in search of their first Metro Catholic Conference win, De Smet (2-1, 0-1) and Vianney (1-2, 0-1) have similarities entering this week’s contest Friday at Vianney at 7 p.m. The differences the teams do share are more striking. De Smet uses a balanced attack of passing and running, while the Golden Griffins prefer to give the ball to sophomore running back Markel Smith, who has 463 yards this season. “We have always been balanced in our approach,” De Smet coach Pat Mahoney said. “We read coverages, therefore the ball is spread according to what the defense gives us. Our running backs are similar so we try to keep them fresh.” The balance starts …
Sunday, September 11, 2011
CBC scores touchdowns on seven straight possessions for a big win over rival De Smet, 52-22.
ST. LOUIS—The final game of the Great American Football Classic at the Edward Jones Dome might be remembered most for the all-time, standout second-half performance that CBC gave on its way to a 52-22 win over rival De Smet. “We found something that kind of worked, and we just kind of went with it,” CBC head coach Scott Pingel said. “We just kind of up-tempo’ed it a little more and those big guys they’ve got up front were getting a little tired. That was kind of our plan, and it worked.” Boy did it ever, as CBC totaled 569 yards of offense against a De Smet defense that had stifled the Hazelwood Central and Hazelwood East offenses it had seen earlier this season. Things didn’t start out that way as CBC actually trailed De Smet, 14-3, until…
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Spartan senior Durron Neal scores three touchdowns, while defense holds Hawks to 53 total yards in dominating De Smet win.
After a late interception ended De Smet High’s upset chances of then-undefeated Hazelwood Central High in last year’s state championship semifinal game, Durron Neal was almost inconsolable. The De Smet superstar wide receiver/running back/kick returner/and defensive back, had just played one of the most incredible games any area performer ever had, but it was an off-target pass that a Central corralled by a Central defender which ended the Spartans’ season. “I’ve been thinking about that for a whole year,” Neal said. “We’ve all been thinking about it, and working this whole offseason, because we knew we we’re going to play them again. And we wanted to be ready.” And boy were they ever, as De Smet completely dismantled Hazelwood Central, …
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233 N New Ballas Rd, Saint Louis, MO
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Gregg Palermo
8:29 pm on Thursday, August 16, 2012
I would be curious to know who did invent the phrase, although I didn't give Frank the credit in the story! more ›