Wednesday's national letter of intent signing day marked the end of the recruiting process for many of the area's senior football players and the unofficial beginning of the process for junior prospects.
The 2005 graduating class will feature several good prospects, including two of the top running backs in the state: Hazelwood Central's A.J. Jimmerson and Fort Zumwalt North's Darrell Lloyd.
Hazelwood Central coach John Pukala said Jimmerson, a 5-foot-11, 200-pounder, will get as much recruiting attention as senior wide receiver-defensive back Nick Patterson, who chose Ohio State over Missouri, UCLA, Notre Dame and Wisconsin. Pukala said Jimmerson already has scholarship offers from Missouri and Kansas State.
Lloyd, a 6-0, 190-pounder, was the Post-Dispatch sophomore of the year but was hampered by a hamstring injury last fall. When he's healthy, Lloyd runs a 4.4-second 40-yard dash and has big-play ability.
"He has been getting a lot of letters, even as a sophomore he was getting a lot of D-I letters," Zumwalt North coach Leroy Shumaker said. "I get mail for him every week. Maybe it doesn't come every day, but by the end of the week he's got a nice stack of mail."
Missouri, Kansas State, Illinois, Iowa, Colorado and Arkansas are among the schools showing the most interest in Lloyd.
Hazelwood East has produced numerous Division I players over the last few years, and the Spartans again have one of the area's top prospects in 6-4 wide receiver Chris Brooks.
"He's getting serious looks from all over," East coach Corey Johnson said. "One, because of his size and two, because of his athletic ability."
McCluer North coach Jim Schottmueller has a pair of standouts in Steve Davis, a defensive end-tight end, and Donald Allen, a running back-linebacker.
"They are going to get a lot of interest," Schottmueller said. "They are going to be hot numbers, both of them."
The three quarterbacks expected to receive the most attention are Mehlville's Ronald Roberts, Clayton's Jairus Byrd and Riverview Gardens' Johnnie King, but Byrd and King could be recruited as defensive backs.
Roberts "has a lot of people looking at him," Mehlville coach Gary Heyde said. "He has good size, good speed and good arm strength."
Other juniors to watch include O'Fallon linebacker Dan Moore, East St. Louis lineman Jordan Thomas and linebacker Trevor Dismukes, Hazelwood East lineman Jason Townsen, Belleville West wide receiver Arthur Sargent, Hazelwood Central tight end Kazeem Alli and defensive end Frank Burrell, Francis Howell lineman Andy Lozano, Sumner defensive tackle Anthony Jackson and Parkway Central lineman Mike Reiter.
- Nate Latsch
Mid-States Hockey
playoffs are underway
The Mid-States Club Hockey Association playoffs are off and running.
First-round action in both the St. Louis Blues Challenge Cup and Doug Wickenheiser Cup brackets are under way and will run through the championship games, which will be played Monday, March 1, at Savvis Center.
This is Mid-States' 33rd season.
The 24-team St. Louis Blues Challenge Cup bracket is headed by defending champion CBC. The Cadets captured their sixth Mid-States' title last February, beating Marquette 4-2 in the title game.
DeSmet, Oakville, Parkway South, Fort Zumwalt South, Lafayette, Marquette and Kirkwood round out the top eight seeds in the Challenge Cup.
In the 22-team Wickenheiser Cup competition, Francis Howell is seeded first, followed by Duchesne, Fox, MICDS, Priory, McCluer North, Eureka and Webster Groves.
Althoff knocked off St. Charles West 5-3 for last year's Wickenheiser Cup championship.
Mid-States has announced its schedule for the Senior All-Star Games. The North Conference game will be played at 7 p.m. March 6 at Wentzville Ice Rink. The South Conference contest is at 4:45 p.m. March 7 at Webster Rink.
- Joe Lyons
Pukala, Smith honored
John Pukala of Hazelwood Central and Bill Smith of Roxana were honored recently by the St. Louis Metropolitan Football Coaches Association.
Pukala, who led his team to a runner-up finish in Class 6, was the association's choice as Missouri area coach of the year. Smith, whose Roxana team went 10-1 and advanced to the second round of the Class 4A playoffs, was named Illinois area coach of the year.
Edwardsville rolls
to bowling state title
With Zach Hahs capturing the individual title, Edwardsville wrapped up the team title in the Illinois state bowling competition last weekend at St. Clair Bowl in O'Fallon.
Hahs, a senior, posted a six-game total of 2,897 pins, more than 200 pins ahead of Freeport's Brian Lillevold, who finished second.
With senior Daulton Colligan (sixth), junior Kyle Reinneck (21st) and sophomore Brian Gebhart (24th) joining Hahs in the top 25, Edwardsville held off Roselle High of Lake Park, 12,737 pins to 12,346 for the team title.
Collinsville, paced by senior Aaron Dellamano (ninth), finished seventh. Belleville West was 12th.
Adam Kusmierczak, a sophomore from Metro-East Lutheran, finished seventh in the individual competition.
- Jerry Stack
