The regular season is over and the state playoffs begin this week! 

Looking back to week #10 we watched some key games that determined district champions.

My vote for surprise district championship team in mid-Missouri goes to the Mexico Bulldogs. Mexico beat North Callaway in the mud in Kingdom City last Thursday night, 34-18.  The Bulldogs came into district play just 1-6 on the season, but swept all three games in districts to claim the title and host a first round regional game against Sullivan this Wednesday night. 

The Fulton Hornets also advance to the post-season as the #2 team in the district.   Fulton had no trouble beating MMA on Friday night 50-0. The Hornets will travel to Salem on Wednesday night to open the playoffs.

Best head to head match-up for a district championship featured Versailles and Osage last Thursday night. Both teams had already clinched playoff spots, but the Versailles Tigers won the crown with a 14-7 victory on the home field. Versailles will get a home game against Mountain Grove to start the playoffs while Osage goes on the road to play Logan-Rogersville.

The Blair Oaks Falcons continue the long district championship streak of 9 straight titles! Blair Oaks beat a much improved Southern Boone Eagles team 51-14 on Thursday night. This game was tied at 14-14 midway through the 2nd quarter before Blair Oaks took over. Southern Boone takes the honors for turnaround team of the year in mid-Missouri. Congratulations to the Eagles who finished 5-5, following an 0-10 season last year.

While Blair Oaks will host Wright City in the first round Wednesday night, the #2 team in the district, South Callaway, has to travel to number one ranked Centralia. This was another good finish for South Callaway though. The Bulldogs will make a second straight trip to the playoffs after beating Hallsville 48-12 last Thursday. This is also just the second playoff game in the short history of the South Callaway football program. The Centralia Panthers meanwhile, finished another perfect 10-0 regular season after hammering Hermann on the road Thursday, 61-6. Centralia looks to be a favorite to make it to the dome in St. Louis in Class 2. But never count out the Blair Oaks Falcons, who've surprised a lot of fans with an impressive 8-2 season.

Speaking of impressive, the Helias Crusaders passed their toughest test with ease on Friday night. Number 2 ranked Helias in Class 4 traveled to Hannibal and beat the 8th ranked Pirates 42-17. Helias finished the regular season at 10-0 and will host a playoff game against Warrenton at Adkins Stadium on Wednesday. The Jefferson City Jays defense was impressive in a win over rival Hickman, 28-9 on Friday night. The Jays held the Kewps to well under 100 yards of total offense. J.C. struggled on offense, but went on to win the district championship, improving to 8-2 on the season. Those two losses both came to #1 ranked Rockhurst. The Jays will host a playoff game Friday night against Francis Howell, before a probable road trip to unbeaten DeSmet the following Friday for a state quarterfinal game.

Pressure win of the week goes to Camdenton. The Lakers had to win to have any chance at a playoff spot, and they did. Camdenton beat previously unbeaten Rolla 21-13. With the help of a Lebanon loss, the Lakers won the district championship and will host a playoff game a week from Monday. Rolla also makes the playoffs at 9-1 and will play at Washington this Wednesday night.

Finally, the Tipton Cardinals keep rolling along in Class 1. Tipton won another district title with a 48-6 victory over Northwest-Hughesville on Friday night. Tipton finishes a perfect 10-0. The Cardinal seniors finished their regular season careers with a 39-1 record.  WOW! That one loss by the way came in their first game as freshman falling to Versailles. That is an amazing streak!

We'll continue our expanded high school coverage with a very busy Playoff-Extra show during our 10pm news on Wednesday night. We'll also have playoff coverage Friday night with the Jays home game and again next Monday night (Nov. 9) with state quarterfinal games for classes 1-4.

Enjoy the high school football state playoffs and good luck to all of our local teams!