Football

District Semifinals Playoff Preview: Herculaneum Blackcats

The Herculaneum Blackcats will travel to University City to take on the Lions in a Class 3 District 2 Semifinal showdown.

After a 28-24 nail-biter in the Class 3 District 2 Quarterfinals against Bayless, the Herculaneum Blackcats advanced to the Semis, but they will have their work cut out for them. It’s no small feat taking down anyone in the playoffs, but sometimes the reward can be more sour than sweet.

The University City Lions earned the second seed behind undefeated powerhouse Cardinal Ritter, and made short work of their first opponent in the opening round. They promptly pummeled Bishop DuBourg 61-26 and will host the Blackcats on Saturday, November 5th, looking to move on to the Finals.

The Lions had a middling regular season at 4-5 overall, but they had a tough schedule. Still, in the games they lost, the defense struggled mightily. That is something the Blackcats can exploit. In their five losses they surrendered 69, 28, 34, 49 and 48 points, so there are certainly holes that can be found and stretched out.

Offensively, their scheme is more or less based around Quarterback Mekhai Gover, who has thrown for over 1,400 yards and 18 touchdowns, while rushing for another 300 and three scores. He is prone to the pick though, with 10 INTs on the year. His two favorite targets are Derron Finnie (430 yards, 8 Tds) and De’Mario Battest (454 yards, 6 TDs), and the ground game is captained by Christian Carter (549 yards, 10 TDs). Those young men will be the focal points of the Herky defense.

As for those Blackcats, they earned the three seed in the District, and hosted Bayless, who they manhandled 44-6 earlier in the year, but they barely skated by with a 28-24 win. That doesn’t exactly inspire hope, considering they lost their two prior games to Perryville and Crystal City. Still, before that slide they were sitting at 5-2 and having a revelation of a season for the program.

Their strength is most certainly the offense, which centers around QB Jackson Dearing, WR/RB Lucas Bahr and RB Mike Moloney. Dearing has 1,841 yards passing and 18 TDs this season with another 171 on the ground and three additional scores, but he has thrown 14 picks. Moloney (a stalwart on defense as well) has 711 yards on the ground and 12 total touchdowns, while Bahr has 974 yards through the air and 458 with his legs. He has 16 total TDs, but missed last game due to injury, so his status for Week 11 will certainly play a role in this game.

The Blackcats are likely the underdogs in this one, but this is certainly a game they can win if they stick to the script, and the big boys on offense show off their talents. It should be interesting regardless. Kickoff is Saturday at 7pm.

Good luck Blackcats! District Semifinals Playoff Preview: Herculaneum Blackcats

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