The Concordia Orioles were overwhelmed by Rock Port running back Brock Holmes, as the junior carried the ball a whopping 46 times, amassing 293 yards and four touchdowns Saturday, Nov. 29, leading the Blue Jays to a 46-7 win over Concordia. The eight-man state semifinal was played in Rock Port with two inches of snow on the ground after a heavy dose of the flaky, white stuff fell in the northwest corner of the state around four hours before the kickoff.
Holmes ran the ball nearly four dozen times with the rest of the Rock Port backfield chalking up only four carries. He had touchdown runs of four yards and three yards during the second period in addition to an eight-yard rumble in the third stanza, followed by a one-yard plunge with six minutes left in the game. For the year, Holmes has now racked up 2,800 yards on the ground along with 57 rushing touchdowns.
Those TDs wrapped up the day’s scoring for the home team as they were staked to a 16-0 lead just two minutes into the second period. That was thanks to touchdown passes of 10 yards and eight yards from Westin Amthor to Jack Meyerkorth sandwiched around a safety which got Rock Port off and running to their decisive victory.
Concordia did initially miss out on a chance to reach the end zone when they were denied on a fourth-down, quarterback sneak from the one-foot line midway through the last half. However, the Orioles eventually got on the board a little later with 8:14 left in the contest on a 32-yard scoring
aerial from Nephi Hon to Lane Hass.
Rock Port ended up with 349 yards of total offense as 297 of that came on the ground. The visitors’ defense simply couldn’t get off the field as five times during the day, Rock Port successfully converted on fourth-down situations. Concordia was totally stymied until their passing game pieced together some success in the last half. The Orioles had no first downs and negative 14 yards of total offense during the first two quarters. They ended up with three first downs and 94 yards on the day. Concordia had negative seven yards rushing and 101 yards through the air. Nephi Hon was seven of 14 passing with Lane Hass making three grabs for 73 yards and the one touchdown.
Concordia ends their year with a final mark of 9-4, reaching the state semifinals for the first time since 2011 when they were a Class 1 entrant. Ranked number-one in the state with a 13-0 record, Rock Port now advances to the championship game Thursday night in St. Joseph as they take on Worth County. It’s the Blue Jays’ first trip to the football state finals since 1990 when they were also a Class 1 school.
2025 State Football Semifinal Results
Eight-Man
Rock Port 46, Concordia 8
Worth County 36, Archie 34
Class One
Tipton 26, West Platte 0
Putnam County 53, Hayti 22
Class Two
Blair Oaks 42, Mountain View/Birch Tree Liberty 0
Festus St Pius X 40, Monroe City 36 (Friday)
Class Three
St Louis Lift for Life 48, St Michael the Archangel 28
Seneca 57, St Clair 20
Class Four
Kearney 52, Festus 24
Hannibal vs St Louis St Mary’s South Side (1 p.m. Sunday at Missouri Baptist)
Class Five
Platte County 64, Kirkwood 35 (Friday)
Carthage 20, Cardinal Ritter 8
Class Six
Lee’s Summit 35, Jackson 28
Nixa 45, Pattonville 0