The Hickman football team made its way into the AP Class 6 state rankings, moving up to No. 5 in the polls voted on by a 12-member panel of sportswriters and broadcasters that was announced Wednesday.
The Kewpies won 32-29 Friday against Fort Zumwalt West in O’Fallon. At the time, the Jaguars were No. 4 in Class 6, but have dropped from the top five following the loss to the Kewpies.
Hickman had received votes in earlier weeks, but this is the first time this season the Kewpies have eentered the top five with 12 votes this week. Hickman improved to 6-2 with the win against Fort Zumwalt West, the Kewpies’ third straight.
The Kewpies host Fort Zumwalt South on Friday and conclude their regular season the following week at home against No. 4 Jefferson City in Class 6, District 6 play.
MU FOOTBALL: Matt Eberflus the Tigers’ associate head coach and defensive coordinator, received the Defensive Coordinator of the Week award as presented by Rivals.com for MU’s stout performance against the high-powered Texas Tech offense on Saturday. The Tigers held Tech almost 200 yards and 40 points below its weekly average coming into the game and intercepted Tech quarterback Graham Harrell four times, one more than he had thrown up to that point in the season.
Eberflus becomes the second assistant coach for MU to garner a national honor this season. Offensive coordinator Dave Christensen received the Master Coaches’ Survey National Offensive Coordinator of the Week Award after the Tigers beat Nebraska 41-6 on Oct. 6.
MU BASKETBALL: Forward DeMarre Carroll was named the No. 3 impact transfer by Rivals.com on Wednesday in yet another preseason honor for the junior in his first year with the Tigers.
Originally from Vanderbilt, Carroll was named the Big 12 Conference’s Preaseason Newcomer of the Year last week thanks large in part to his stats with Vanderbilt before leaving for MU. The 6-8 225-pounder averaged a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game and shot 51 percent for Vanderbilt in 2005-06. Carroll sat out the 2006-07 season per NCAA transfer guidelines but will be eligible to play for the Tigers this year.
BASEBALL: One of the game’s most beloved ambassadors, Buck O’Neil was posthumously honored Wednesday by the Hall of Fame with a Lifetime Achievement Award named in his memory.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig was on hand for the announcement at Fenway Park before the World Series opener between Colorado and Boston.
O’Neil, a Negro Leagues star and the first black coach in the majors, fell two votes shy of induction into the Hall of Fame during a special election in February 2006. He died last October at age 94.
A statue of O’Neil will be erected inside the museum, and the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to a worthy recipient no more than every three years.
“His impact on the game has been enormous,” Selig said. “He’s now in Cooperstown where he belongs.”