Grand River Conference

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by Week 9 of high school football has been completed. The regular season is over, and district play will begin next week. GRC (11-Man) With nine teams in the conference, every week will feature four conference games and one non-conference game. All but Trenton played a conference game this week. Here are the results for Week 9. #1 Brookfield 42 #6 Marceline 0 Brookfield defeats Marceline for the 3rd straight Bell Game and the 4th straight game overall. #2 South Harrison 48 #8 Gallatin 8 South Harrison won its second straight game against Gallatin and 4th out of the previous six. #5 Milan 28 #3 Putnam County 22 Milan won its second straight game against Putnam County and 4th out of the previous six. #4 Polo 42 #8 Maysville 8 Polo won its second straight game against Maysville and 4th out of the previous five. Hamilton 35  #7 Trenton 13 Trenton is 0-3 vs. Hamilton since 2010. Power Poll District Schedule 1. Brookfield - #1 Seed in ...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by Brookfield already clinched the GRC title before their final game.  Bragging rights and an undefeated regular season were on the line in the Bell Game against Marceline.  Marceline came into the game at 4-4, but you can usually throw out the record books like any rivalry.   In the first quarter, it looked like the game would be a defensive battle.  Both teams recorded interceptions on their first possession.  Cody Rodgers stopped Brookfield's first possession with an interception, but Devan Norman returned the favor when he snatched a Marceline pass to take over for Brookfield.  Brookfield drove deep into Marceline territory on their next possession, but a tremendous goal-line stand by the Tigers kept the Bulldogs out of the end zone, keeping the game scoreless after one-quarter of play. Marceline had the ball when the second quarter started, but Kendrell Carter recorded his first interception of ...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by The GRC and GRC West continue their strong play in the postseason with four teams capturing district championships this week.  Each of them will be playing on Saturday at 1:00 pm in the State Quarterfinals for a shot at the Final Four in Springfield. Class 1 District 6 Gallatin defeated Polo 1-0 on a sacrifice bunt by Lyndsey King in the bottom of the fifth scoring Paige Heldenbrand.  Heldenbrand led off the 5th with a double.  It was a smart baserunning move by Paige who kept running when the Polo left fielder hesitated in returning the ball back to the infield.  She then took third on a passed ball.  King then laid down a perfect bunt scoring Heldenbrand.  Brynn Bird pitched a 3-hit shutout and struck out 14 Polo hitters securing the 1-0 victory. Gallatin will host defending Class 1 state champion La Plata in the Quarterfinals.  La Plata defeated Gallatin 5-3 in the State Semifinals in 2023. ...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by South Harrison followed up last year's state championship with another outstanding performance this year.  After taking a four-stroke lead into day 2, the Lady Bulldogs finished second in Class 1 behind State Champion Duchesne.  South Harrison shot 367 on day 1 and 390 on day 2 for a total of 757.  The score was a 64-stroke improvement on last year's State Championship score of 821. Worth County finished 8th with a score of 866. Abby Owens of South Harrison finished 5th in State with a score of 172, a two-stroke improvement over her fourth-place finish in last year's state meet.  Abby is a junior and has medaled all three years of high school, finishing in the top 5 each season. Here are the final team standings and the list of all GRC and GRC West Individual results: 1. Duchesne 745 2. South Harrison 757 3. Greenwood 788 4. Stover 788 4. Highland 788 6. El Dorado Springs 824 7. Monroe City 859 8. Worth Count...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by Week 8 of high school football has been completed.  We are in the home stretch of the season with only one game left before districts start. GRC (11-Man) With nine teams in the conference, every week will feature four conference games and one non-conference game.  All but Maysville played a conference game this week.  Here are the results for Week 8. #1 Brookfield 18 #3 Milan 0 Brookfield and Milan played for the first time since they were both in the Tri-Rivers Conference in 2009 when Brookfield won 46-0. #5 Polo 36 #2 South Harrison 34 Polo won its second straight game against South Harrison after losing the previous seven.  #4 Putnam County 36 #8 Gallatin 14 Putnam County won its second straight game against Gallatin after losing the previous seven.  #6 Marceline 29 #7 Trenton 27 Marceline played Trenton for the first time since 2007 when Trenton won 42-0. East Buchanan 40 #9 Maysville 8 Maysville played...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by How dominant have the GRC and GRC West teams been in MSHSAA postseason softball? GRC and GRC West teams are 11-0 vs. teams from other conferences All four semifinalists in Class 1 District 8 were from the GRC West All four semifinalists in Class 2 District 6 were from the GRC All District Championships are matchups of conference opponents Class 1 District 6 (at Polo) #1 Gallatin will play #3 Polo on Tuesday, October 22, at 6:00 pm.  Gallatin and Polo are playing for the District Championship for the 3rd consecutive season.  Polo defeated Gallatin 2-1 in 8 innings in 2022. Gallatin defeated Polo 6-3 in 2023.  Gallatin's win in the District Championship last year snapped a 5-game losing streak in the series.  The two teams also played earlier this season, with Gallatin winning 11-1. Class 1 District 7 (at North Andrew) #2 Stanberry will play #4 North Andrew on Tuesday, October 22, at 5:30 pm. Stanberry last won...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com It's a mere 12 miles that separate Brookfield High School and Marceline High School, as per Google Maps.  But what's truly remarkable is the 54-year hiatus since these two schools last clashed in a conference football game. Brookfield and Marceline were both in the North Central Missouri Conference (NCMC) in 1970.  In 1970, the NCMC decided to fold.  A new conference with the same name would be organized,  Brookfield remained in a revamped NCMC from 1971 to 1975 before going independent until 1986, when they joined the Tri-Rivers Conference.  They jumped to the Clarence Cannon Conference (CCC) in 2010. Marceline was in the Northern Missouri Conference from 1971 to 1974 before joining the Lewis & Clark Conference in 1975, where they would be members for almost 50 years. However, the history between these two teams goes back much further. They played against each other for the first time in 1909. Brookfield won the fi...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by Week 7 of high school football has been completed.  We are in the home stretch of the season with only two games left after this week. GRC (11-Man) With nine teams in the conference, every week will feature four conference games and one non-conference game.  All but Putnam County played a conference game this week.  Here are the results for Week 7. #1 Brookfield 48 #2 South Harrison 6 Brookfield and South Harrison have not faced each other since 2007. #3 Milan 38 #8 Gallatin 12 Milan won its second straight game against Gallatin after losing the previous three. The two teams have split their last ten games in the series. #6 Polo 35 #3 Marceline 13 Marceline defeated Polo in the 1984 and 1986 Class 1A State Quarterfinals.  MSHSAA did not have any games between the two schools since then. #5 Putnam County 26 Scotland County 14 Putnam County has won four of its last five games against Scotland County, including a 2...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by Brookfield Bulldogs and South Harrison Bulldogs entered Friday night's game with a 6-0 record.  With only two games remaining afterward, the winner would be in the driver's seat for the Grand River Conference championship.   South Harrison took the opening kickoff and drove into Brookfield territory before fumbling at the 21-yard line.  Kendrell Carter started the Brookfield offense with a 31-yard run on their first snap to move the ball to the South Harrison side of the field.  They would eventually get to the South Harrison 25-yard line, but a pass into the end zone on 4th and 10 was incomplete.  After an initial drive by both teams, there was no score. South Harrison would drive into Brookfield territory again on their second drive, but this time, they would be stopped on a 4th and 2 at the 39 with 2:41 left in the first.  Brookfield took advantage the second time with only 36 seconds left in t...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by Astrid Soriano, a senior at Trenton, knocked off defeated Benton's Bella Thomas 6-2,6-0 in the Class 1 District 8 Championship on Thursday and will advance to State on October 24 at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.  Soriano came into Districts as the #1 seed and won all three matches in straight sets, only losing one game in her first three matches before she faced Thomas in the championship.  Astrid participated in the state doubles tournament in her freshman and sophomore seasons. She won districts last year but lost in sectionals.  The format changed this year where the district winner advances to state.  Astrid will compete as part of the team when they start districts on Monday. Join me in wishing Astrid good luck at state. Photos courtesy of the Trenton High School Facebook page.

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by GRC and GRC West teams competed in Class 1 District Golf today at Moberly (District 3) and Plattsburg (District 4).  South Harrison won District 4, and Worth County finished 2nd.  Both teams advance to state.  Abby Owens of South Harrison (District 4) and Ella Sportsman of Marceline (District 3) both won individual District Championships. Team Results District 3 1 Highland 400 2 Monroe City 418 3 Brookfield 426 4 South Shelby 426 5 Trenton 441 6 Canton 442 7 Putnam County 479 8 Salisbury 490 9 La Plata 492 10 Princeton 499 11 Meadville 505 12 Northeast (Cairo) 513 13 Paris 552 District 4 1 South Harrison 361 2 Worth County 402 3 Tarkio 410 4 East Buchanan 418 5 Rock Port 428 6 Plattsburg 446 7 St. Joseph Christian 466 8 Bishop LeBlond 483 9 Mid-Buchanan 486 10 Gallatin 493 South Harrison Photo courtesy of Clifton Grooms   Worth County Photo courtesy of Clift...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by Worth County won the GRC West Girls Golf title, with Bridgette Hightshoe of Worth County winning the individual title. Princeton finished second, and St. Joseph Christian finished third. This is Worth County's first championship since 2006.   Photos courtesy of Jon Dykstra of the Maryville Daily Forum Team Scores 1. Worth County 392 2. Princeton 516 3. St. Joseph Christian 525 Individual Scores 1. Bridgette Hightshoe, Worth County 84 2. Lani Briggs, North Harrison 93 3. Clare Staley, King City 93 4. Hayleigh Wink, Albany 97 5. Lyla McKinnon, King City 100 6. Eva Engel, Worth County 101 Georgie Taylor, Worth County 101 8. Hailee Hein, Princeton 103 9. Lindsay Sherman, Stanberry 106 Abbi Brown, Worth County 106

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by South Harrison won the GRC Girls Golf Championship for the third consecutive year, leading the way with a score of 365. Abby Owens of South Harrison also won the individual championship for the third consecutive year, with a score of 75. South Harrison dominated the tournament, with all four of its golfers finishing in the top seven. All Photos are courtesy of Kale Watson, South Harrison Girls Golf Coach. Brookfield girls finished 2nd with a score of 410 while Trenton finished 3rd at 427. Team Scores 1. South Harrison 365 2. Brookfield 410 3. Trenton 427 Individual Scores 1. Abby Owens, South Harrison 75 2. Maggie Bennett, Brookfield 93 3. Kierstyn Sutch, Brookfield 94 4. Reece Weldon, Trenton 95 5. Ainsley Klindt, South Harrison 96 6. Chloe Hodge, South Harrison 97 7. Ashlee Cannon, South Harrison 97 8. Ella Sportsman, Marceline 103 9. Kinsley Otto, Trenton 104 10. Tayla Turner, Putnam County 106

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by Week 6 of high school football has been completed.  Both conferences are in the middle of conference play. GRC (11-Man) With nine teams in the conference, every week will feature four conference games and one non-conference game.  All but Marceline played a conference game this week.  Here are the results for Week 6. #1 Brookfield 52 #8 Gallatin 0 Brookfield avenges a 42-6 loss to Gallatin in the 2022 District Semifinals. #2 South Harrison 46 #9 Maysville 7 South Harrison snaps a two-game losing streak to Maysville. #6 Putnam County 22 #3 Polo 20 Putnam County wins their 7th straight game over Polo. #4 Milan 28 #7 Trenton 27 Milan defeats Trenton for the 2nd straight year.  Milan has won 5 of the last 7 in the series.  More coverage from this game is  here . Salisbury 34  #5 Marceline 8 Salisbury snaps a 14-game losing streak vs. Marceline. Power Poll Next Week's Schedule #2 South Harrison at #1 B...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Sponsored by When Trenton's Mason Rongey intercepted a Hunter Reed pass with 2:38 left in the game, the chances of a Milan Wildcat victory on homecoming night looked bleak.  They were down 27-20, and all that Trenton had to do was probably get a first down or two and hold on to the ball.  And since Milan had not stopped Trenton on their other three drives of the half, it looked like Trenton was heading toward a sure victory. However, on the next play, Ethan Bennett forced a Trenton Bulldog fumble at midfield. Milan still had to drive half the length of the field in just a little over two minutes to have a shot.  Eddy Garcia, who had missed some of the second half with cramps, ran 32 yards to the 18-yard line.  The Wildcats had 3rd and 6 at the 19-yard line with about a minute left when Reed found Keaton Weter at the 6-yard line for a first down.  Eddy Garcia ran up the middle to the 4 on the next play.  A Bull...