Eureka Football Team Outlasts Brown, Mehlville

Although they led 22-19, Eureka went into halftime wondering what it would take to stop Mehlville’s Chayse Brown.

Behind a dominating offensive line, Brown spent the first half of Friday night’s Suburban West Conference matchup bobbing, weaving and sprinting toward Eureka’s end zone with over 150 yards in the game’s first 15 minutes.

“At halftime we simply said ‘go to 28’ [Brown],” Eureka coach Farrell Shelton said.

Easier said than done, however. Brown returned the second-half kickoff 53 yards, and then two plays later he scored his second touchdown of the night. It took just 39 seconds. That’s the kind of player Brown is, though it was not enough, as Eureka won the shootout, 57-33.

“He’s special,” Shelton said after the game. “He’s one of the best in St. Louis.”

But even a player as talented as Brown couldn’t handle a team as balanced as . Every time Mehlville marched down the field and scored, the Wildcats matched them. The lead changed hands five times before Mehlville tired and Eureka pulled away in the final quarter.

With 11:49 left in the game, the Panthers clawed their way back to within three on Brown’s third touchdown. But three minutes later, Eureka’s Spencer Stein scored on a five-yard run. Shortly afterward, the Wildcats’ Matt Hentges caught a 33-yard touchdown pass, and 28 seconds later Aaron Schnurbusch intercepted a Mehlville pass and returned it 50 yards to seal the win.

“They flat out wore us out,” said Mehlville Coach Eric Meyer.