By Richard Polen
rpolen@joplinglobe.com
When Miller head coach Dustin Baldwin watches video of Valle Catholic, he sees a lot of the Miller Cardinals.
Both teams run a spread offense, and even run many of the same plays. “They’re talented,” Baldwin said. “They might run more formations than we do. Their quarterback (Michael Greminger) is a dual threat. Everything goes through him.”
The unbeaten Warriors roll into Miller today for a Class 1 state quarterfinal playoff game against the Cardinals. Game time is 1:30 p.m.
Valle defeated Paris 56-7 Monday in a second-round playoff game in Ste. Genevieve, while Miller is coming off a 35-34 double-overtime victory at Thayer.
“We finally got over the hump with Thayer,” Baldwin said. “The kids are playing well at the right time. They’re playing hard and working hard every day.”
Injuries have affected the Cardinals, 10-2, all season. Offensive lineman Garrett Jester is out due to a knee injury. Tight end Luke Nunez was injured in the Cardinals’ district game against Thayer, which Thayer won 54-14.
Senior running back Darin Clark, who rushed for 1,003 yards and 15 touchdowns in the regular season, missed the last two games due to an ankle injury. Junior quarterback Justin Jack missed most of the season with a broken leg.
“He (Jack) works hard and he and the receivers stay after practice until I run them off,” Baldwin said. “They would stay all night if I let them.”
The Cardinals’ offensive line is led by seniors Derek Jack, Damon Dempster and Kurt Gulick. They are joined by juniors John Davidson and Kent Johnson. Derek Jack and Clark were second-team all-state selections as juniors.
Along with Justin Jack on offense, the Cardinals have juniors Daniel Parscall and Tyler Hinshaw, who was the Cardinals’ leading receiver and second-leading rusher during the regular season. Jack threw 45 passes in the playoff game against Thayer without an interception.
“They’re very fast and have some big kids up front,” Valle head coach Judd Naeger said of Miller. “It’s going to be a hard-fought battle. The team that makes the fewest mistakes probably will win it.
“Our field is surrounded by corn fields and cemeteries, so we’re not from a big city, either.”
Unbeaten Valle, which won the Class 2 state baseball championship last spring, is led by junior running back Luke Uding, who has rushed for just under 1,000 yards and is one of the Warriors’ leading tacklers. Senior quarterback Michael Greminger has thrown for about 2,300 yards, rushed for about 700 yards and has 47 touchdowns rushing and passing.
“We’re a spread team. We’re balanced,” said Naeger, who is in his sixth season as head coach, all at Valle. “We’ve gained about 5,000 yards, about 2,600 rushing and 2,400 passing. We’ve had 34 touchdowns passing and 40 rushing.”
Up front, the Warriors are led by lineman Bryan Kertz, who was a first-team all-state selection in 2008. In fact, Valle returns most of its players from last year’s team that was eliminated in the playoffs by Thayer 30-0.
“They’re just efficient at what they do,” Baldwin said. “It’s going to be a big challenge for us to stop them. We really haven’t faced a team that throws it since Jasper. We’ve been playing smash-mouth teams, so it’s going to be an adjustment for us on defense.
“I would think a lot of SRVC (Spring River Valley Conference) people, I hope, will be there to support us,” Baldwin said. “Our kids aren’t satisified with just being here. They want to continue on.”
