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BLUE SPRINGS — When you are the last man standing, you earn the right to not mince words.

So as Austin Baska was soaking in the postgame love, he simply told it like he saw it when it came to the final 48 minutes of his high school football career.

“It’s not really for us. It’s for the state,” said the Park Hill South graduate following Missouri’s 10-7 victory against Kansas in the 18th edition of the Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association Metro Classic on Thursday, June 18, at Blue Springs South High.

“After having a two-year drought … nobody likes Kansas at all. It’s really good to beat them in anything we do. To show them we’re a better football state means a lot.”

Hyperbole? Sure, especially given the fact the game features the best players just from the Kansas City area, not the entire Show-Me or Sunflower states.

That doesn’t mean it lacked any importance or urgency for a Missouri team that came in with a significant chip on its shoulder in the wake of two consecutive losses in the series, not to mention a 10-6 Kansas advantage all-time in the annual border war.

“Awesome. A great feeling,” said Missouri head coach Phil Lascuola, dripping wet from the ice-water bath he didn’t see coming while gathering his squad for a postgame huddle. “I’m just happy for the kids because they get to brag for the next year, and hopefully years after that.”

As is typical with most high school all-star games, defense was the story. That made Missouri’s ability to hit for a big play early, and ultimately see it pay off in points, a key moment.

On its second offensive series, Kearney quarterback Conrad Schottel immediately put Missouri in the red zone, hooking up with Raytown South wideout Ronnell Garner on a 54-yard completion. Three plays later, facing a third-and-goal from the 12, the two connected again for 11 yards.

Facing a fourth-and-one, Lascuola by-passed the chip shot field goal and instead gave the ball to Fort Osage’s bruising tailback, Dalton Krysa. He rumbled into the end zone behind the right side of the Missouri line with 2:14 remaining in the first quarter, and Kearney’s Matt Slenker drilled the point-after kick for a 7-0 advantage.

“That was huge,” said Schottel about the decision to go for broke. “If we only settled for three we might lose this. That was big for us.”

It took until its second series of the second half for Missouri to pad the lead. Following two big runs by Blue Springs South tailback Winston Wright, the offense again eventually found itself facing a fourth-and-short inside the 10. This time, Lascuola opted for easy points, and Slenker’s 21-yard field goal with 4:28 to play in the third quarter made it 10-0.

That was enough thanks to a Missouri defense that, outside of a 79-yard touchdown run by Bonner Springs running back Jeremy Walker midway through the fourth quarter, surrendered just 140 yards of total offense. In fact, the defense was so dominant that the Missouri game MVP came from that side of the ball — Blue Springs defensive lineman Gus Toca.

“Words can’t even describe how the offense was feeling about the defense,” Baska said. “Without the defense we couldn’t have done it, no doubt.”

Sports Editor Scott Tittrington can be reached at 389-6632 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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