Jeremiah McClellan's 3 touchdowns lead CBC past St. Louis University High
ST. LOUIS – After opening the season with road trips to Indiana and Arkansas, Jeremiah McClellan and the Christian Brothers College High School football team made their season debut in Missouri on Friday night.
It turned out to be a happy homecoming for McClellan and the Cadets, who rolled to an impressive 49-14 victory at rival St. Louis University High School in the Metro Catholic Conference opener for both squads.
It was CBC’s 22nd consecutive win against SLUH.
“We just had to come back out and play fast and physical – that’s the main part,” said McClellan, an Ohio State commit who scored three touchdowns in the first half. “Play fast and physical and get back to what we’re used to doing.”
McClellan scored twice in the first quarter – a 61-yard touchdown reception from Cole McKey and a 3-yard run as the wildcat quarterback – to give CBC (2-1), the No. 3 team in the SBLive Missouri Power 25 rankings, an early edge.
“I just wanted to set the tone for my team, get my teammates energized,” McClellan said.
Watch: Jeremiah McClellan, Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver commit, delivers dazzling touchdown
McClellan’s three touchdowns give him seven through the first three games this season. He scored 18 a year ago as a junior and nine as a sophomore, including three in a breakout game at St. Louis University High.
“Jeremiah solidified himself as the best player in the state,” said McKey, CBC’s senior quarterback. “We already knew it, but he’s that guy.”
“Every week, I feel like every first drive it’s him scoring,” McKey added. “Every first three scores, it’s him. That’s mostly how it feels.”
CBC, the reigning two-time Missouri Class 6 champions, also got a big boost from its defense as Zakiese Smith, Corey Simms and Doreon Dubose all snagged three interceptions.
Smith picked off a pass at the 3-yard line as SLUH (2-1), No. 15 in the SBLive Missouri Power 25 rankings, was driving on its first possession. Smith’s interception set up McClellan’s touchdown reception from McKey.
University of Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz watching recruits at SLUH.
Nate Latsch photo
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In the second quarter it was an interception from Simms that set up a 61-yard touchdown run by CBC sophomore Courtney Rivers that extended the Cadets’ lead to 21-0.
SLUH answered with a nifty scoring scramble from quarterback Marco Sansone to make it 21-7 with 4:12 remaining in the first half, but then McClellan struck again with another short touchdown run out of the wildcat formation.
Sansone connected with Joe Harris for a 41-yard touchdown reception with 2:14 left in the first half to cut the deficit to 28-14, only to have Simms score on a 13-yard pass from McKey with just 28.3 seconds remaining before halftime.
CBC junior wide receiver Corey Simms
Nate Latsch photo
“Last week, it was a battle, but at the same time we had good spots,” said McKey, who has thrown seven touchdown passes through three games after tossing 23 a year ago. “But I feel like this game was a good game for us to come out and show that we are still the best offense in the state, we still can make those plays.”
CBC opened the second half with a scoring drive capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by AJ Johnson.
The Cadets defense came up with its third interception of the night – this time it was Dubose – with 9:01 remaining in the third quarter.
CBC capped off the scoring with a touchdown run by junior quarterback Jason Wiley with 4:36 left in the third quarter, extending the advantage to 49-14 and starting the running clock.
“We’ve had three games and we knew they were all hard as heck,” CBC coach Scott Pingel said. “The way we bounced back tonight I was very proud of us – how we ran the ball, how we defended them, just how we played. It was something we stressed all week. We just had to pick up our game.”
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