[heading]Are the Bruins the ‘Team of Destiny?'[/heading]

Rock Bridge (7-5) vs Hazelwood Central (12-0)

7 p.m. Friday Nov. 22 at Sells Field

Spread: Hawks by 2.1

Overview:

Hazelwood Central hasn’t lost a state semifinal, while Rock Bridge hasn’t won one in 20 years. That’s about it.

Breaking it down:

Coming into this state semifinal matchup, the first thing a casual fan will do is look at the records. In this case, they’d assume a Hawks’ win is guaranteed, probably a blowout. An undefeated team against one that’s barely above .500? Is it even a question?

However, you have to look farther. During the Bruins’ miraculous run for the district title the Bruins defeated teams that left the tournament with a combined 21-11 record. The Hawks’ opponents left the tournament 18-15. Each win for sixth-seeded RBHS was an away upset, while Central’s wins were all expected and at home for the number one seed.  During the playoffs so far, the Bruins have outscored their opponents by 59 points while the Hawks have only a +43 point margin.

The Bruins need to be able to stop the Hawks’ rushing game, especially Kevin Batt. The Hawks need to stop the Bruins’ receiving corps, especially Zach Reuter.

Key stats:

Bruins:

• QB-Despite a slow start in the district final, junior Logan Twehous recovered to throw for 201 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. On the year, he has 3,146 yards through the air, completing 60.1 percent of his passes. He averages 14.6 yard per completion and 8.79 yards per attempt. Twehous has 35 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, with  159.87 Quarterback Rating (QBR). He’s also quick on his feet, often extending plays with scrambles.
• WR-Zach Reuter, who deserves to be called one of the greatest RBHS receivers of all time,  has 1,321 receiving yards, averaging 19.7 yards per touch and 110 yards per game. He has 21 touchdowns. The only thing he has yet to receive is the college offers he deserves. (His only FBS offer came from Army earlier this week.) Junior Alex Ofodile, a four-star prospect considered the top recruit in Missouri’s class of 2015, isn’t far behind. He has 1,120 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.
• RB-Senior Eli Stout has 889 rushing yards for seven touchdowns, averaging 5.9 yards per carry.
• DLine-Senior Ross Alexander leads the Bruins with 140 tackles (80 solo) and 7.5 sacks. Brody Watson has 6.5 sacks and Hayden Johnson adds five. Matt Troyer  and Zach Reuter each have three interceptions for Rock Bridge.

Hawks

• QB-Junior Mike Glass, has thrown for 2,098 yards with a 49.8 completion rate. However, he averages 9.9 yards per attempt, a whopping 20 yards per completion and has 20 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Glass’ QBR is 158.88, and he’s also added 675 yards on the ground for 16 additional touchdowns
• WR-Matthew Quarells leads the Hawks with 697 receiving yards and five toudhdowns, averaging 25.8 yards per carry. Xavier Snead adds 533 yards and four touchdowns, while Mike Prewitt has 421 and six.
• RB–Kevin Batt has a whopping 1,756 rushing yards for the Hawks for 18 touchdowns. He averages 7.3 yards per carry. When you add 151 receiving yards, Batt has 1,907 total yards. That’s an average of 159 yards per game.
• DLine-Terrell Collins has 114 tackles (93 solo) including six for a combined loss of 28 yards. He has six sacks, six fumble recoveries, and one interception. Shamari Hudson also has five interceptions for Hazelwood Central.
• OT-Roderick Johnson, another four-star recruit, has offers from more than a dozen FBS schools, including Alabama, Florida State and Ohio State. When the top three teams in the nation recruit you, you must be doing something right.

Hazelwood Central is (15-0) in state semifinals, and Rock Bridge is (4-3).

Prediction:

Since their 48-18 shellacking of Jeff City in the first round a week after a 31-21 loss to the Jays, I’ve been thinking one thing about the Bruins.
They are the so-called ‘Team of Destiny.’
Rock Bridge is attempting to do something it has only done four time in history, while Hazelwood Central is hoping to make it to the championship for an incredible 16th time. They overcame senior WR Antwon Turnage’s eligibility issues in the middle of the season. They dealt with the loss of Twehous to a concussion in the first round, along with Eli Stout’s injury. Their defense has stepped up in the last few games following the absence of starting kicker Joe Barbee. That same defense, which struggled during much of the season, has been playing inspired football the last few weeks after switching formations.
Pick: Rock Bridge
By Brett Stover
The winner of this game will face the winner of Blue Springs (12-0) vs Eureka (11-1) in the Edward Jones Dome next week.