A WAVE OF EMOTION: SCOTT CITY WINS 2A SECTIONAL DESPITE TRAGEDY

SCOTT CITY -- A football player can absorb some jarring jolts on the field. But those blows must seem trivial after suffering something as crushing as the loss of a father.

Before defeating Malden High 21-0 Wednesday night in a Class 2A sectional game, Scott City's football players filed into the Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City to pay respects to Jerry Hillemann, at age 48 the victim of a massive heart attack Monday morning while he slept.

Hillemann's son, Brandon, is a senior at Scott City and a starting offensive lineman.

As Brandon grieved, so did his teammates.

"It touched us in our hearts," said fellow senior and defensive lineman Brandon Delrosa. "You can look in his eyes and tell that he's hurting. But he knows we're there for him and we love him.

"We wanted to come out with as much intensity as we could, but in this situation, there was just too much room for hurt. Hilleman's a great player and we're all very close to him. That's one thing about Scott City football -- we're very close; we're a tight family. And when somebody's hurting we're all hurting."

Scott City coach Terry Flannigan said, given the circumstances, his team's less than dominating performance was expected.

"We knew it was going to be tough," he said. "It was a hard week. I was hoping that we could kind of put it on the shelf and maybe get through it, but I think you could tell that mentally we weren't here the biggest part of the ballgame."

The Rams' Matt Underwood, who rushed for 159 yards in 31 carries, gained the first of his three touchdown runs in Scott City's second possession. Underwood, southeast Missouri's leading rusher with 1,787 yards, scored on a 2-yard burst after Brandon Amick's leaping grab of a 38-yard Lance Amick pass had pushed the Rams to Malden's 30.

On its ensuing possession the Green Wave (6-5) had four chances to score with the ball on the Scott City 2. But, amazingly, the Rams foiled them. Then, seconds before halftime, Malden had two more opportunities to score with the ball again on the Scott City 2 -- and were stopped.

Leading 7-0 at the half, Underwood capped a 10-play, 60-yard drive with a 2-yard TD blast with 8:12 remaining.

Then later in the quarter Scott Johnston intercepted a pass from Malden quarterback Chris McCoy. It was Johnston's second interception in the game, and the Rams had four in all. Starting at the Malden 25, Underwood's 9-yard run with 1:57 to go completed Scott City's scoring.

"The second half they came out and acted more like themselves," Flannigan said. "Our defense did a whale of a job, but Malden did a great job. They played well enough to win the ballgame. We're just fortunate we got the `W.'"

Scott City, which is 10-1 and ranked No. 4 in Class 2A, will travel Monday to Lutheran North, a 24-18 winner over St. Pius in a sectional game Wednesday.