North County battles Hillsboro for football district title on KJFF

(Hillsboro) A champion will be crowned to wrap up another season of Jefferson County Friday Night Football Friday on KJFF.

The Hillsboro Hawks host the North County Raiders in the Class 4 District 1 title game.

It’s a rematch of a playoff meeting last year that North County won 36-28 in Hillsboro.

Hillsboro is ranked seventh in the state and has won eight straight to reach 9-1.

It’s the first season with at least 9 wins for the team since they last won a district championship in 2017.

But lead by the powerhouse duo of junior running backs Jaxin Patterson and Austin Romaine, they might be returning to their former glory.

Hillsboro head coach Bill Sucharski believes this is the start of building a powerhouse program.

Hillsboro’s greatest strength has been its defense, which has posted 5 shutouts this season and is giving up less than 10-and-a-half points per game.

Juniors Alex Tabares and seniors Tyler Watson and Jordan Jarvis were terrific when the Hawks beat the Raiders 42-7 earlier this season in Bonne Terre.

But Sucharski knows it won’t be that easy this time around.

North County is 10-1, has won seven in a row and is in the middle of the program’s best season of the 21st century.

Senior quarterback Nolan Reed and junior running back Jobe Smith have combined for over 2,400 yards and over 40 rushing touchdowns.

Raiders head coach Brian Jones says they can pile up those numbers because they have equal star power at the line of scrimmage.

The defense has been stingy as well for North County, yielding just over 14 points a game and terrorizing the opposition thanks to senior defensive lineman Payden Allen and Joe Ortmann.

Jones says his team has shown up with the right attitude day in and day out.

While the Hawks look for their first title in 4 years, the Raiders try to redeem a loss they took in this title fight to Festus last season.

North County visits Hillsboro for the Class 4 District 1 football championship Friday evening.

Coverage of Jefferson County Friday Night Football starts with the Flieg’s Equipment Pregame Show at 6 o’clock leading up to kickoff at 7 on AM 1400 KJFF.