Mexico 21 Kirksville 14 in Kirksville

After losing 28-13 in Week 7 at home to North Central Missouri Conference rival Kirksville, the Bulldogs (5-5) gave state No. 3 Kirksville (9-1) its first loss of the season in the first round of the Class 4 District 5 tournament, winning 21-14 in double overtime in Kirksville. Korbyn Dorsey caught a touchdown pass in the second overtime and then Leighton Hilderman recovered a Kirksville fumble to end the game. Hunter Cuno ran for 119 yards and a touchdown, Kaden Benne threw for two touchdowns on 4-for-6 passing with 58 yards, and Drew DeMint caught a touchdown and four passes for 49 yards.

Mexico plays another conference foe in a rematch next week in No. 5 Hannibal, who beat Holt 50-14 on Friday. 

Centralia 44 Carrollton 6 in Centralia

Centralia (7-3) led 16-0 at halftime but picked it up from there on Friday. The Panthers, who received votes in the latest Class 2 poll, eventually recorded a lopsided victory over Carrollton (5-5) in the first round of the Class 2 District 3 tournament. They ran for 372 yards and had five different Panthers score a touchdown, including two from Peyson Bryson on 54 yards, one from Ethan Ross on 84 yards, one from Louis Suddarth on 82 yards, one from Elliott McCoy on 62 yards, and one from Chase Kempker on 12 yards. Carrollton was held to 208 yards of total offense, and Jameson Cooper led the Centralia defense with 14 tackles.

Centralia plays Father Tolton (8-2), who beat Lexington 56-8 on Friday, for the first time next week as it will travel to Columbia to face a team that has won four straight games.

South Callaway 42 North Callaway 32 in Kingdom City

South Callaway (7-3) was a much different team from North Callaway's 20-8 Week 1 victory over the Bulldogs in Mokane. The Thunderbirds lost 42-32 in first round Class 2 District 3 tournament game in Kingdom City as South Callaway won its seventh in the last eight games and ended North Callaway's five-game winning streak. South Callaway finished with 408 rushing yards compared to North Callaway's 253, and quarterback Graden Pontius ran for 211 yards and three touchdowns. Collin Moore led North Callaway with 118 yards and three touchdowns and was followed by 96 yards by Jaiden Galbreath. David Sapp led with 10 tackles.

After going 2-8 last season, North Callaway finishes this season 8-2.

Look for full district football stories with coach comments in the Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, edition of the Mexico Ledger.