WEBSTER GROVES- Northwest Cedar Hill coach Scott Gerling called a timeout prior to a crucial two-point conversion attempt.
As Lions’ junior quarterback Cohenn Stark reached the sideline, Gerling was deciding between a few different play calls. In a scene straight out of the movie “Hoosiers,” Stark became Jimmy Chitwood.
“We had a couple things in mind and he said, ‘Just let me follow (left tackle) Hunter (Williams), and we’re going to get in,’” Gerling recalled. “He called the two-point play.”
Stark powered into the end zone to provide the closing scene in a remarkable performance that included 214 yards passing, 202 yards rushing and five touchdowns as Northwest Cedar Hill defeated Webster Groves 42-35 Friday in a Suburban Orange Conference thriller at Moss Field.
Northwest Cedar Hill (3-1; 2-1), which lost to Webster Groves by an identical score last season, defeated the Statesmen for the first time in the last four meetings.
“It’s exciting. We’ve had some close games (with Webster Groves) the past couple years, and it’s good for the kids to see that they can pull through and end up on the plus side,” Gerling said.
Trailing 35-28 with just over two minutes remaining, Cohenn and the Lions faced a crucial third-and 20 from outside the red zone. Williams hoped the incoming play call would allow him to pave a path for Stark to run.
“I looked at him before the play, and I said, ‘Cohenn, let’s do it.’ I wanted to run it.” Williams said. “He said, ‘Hunter, it’s third-and-20, we’re not running the ball.’ Then he got the play, looked at me and said, ‘Ok. We’re going to do it.’”
Cohenn caught the snap, took a step backwards, then followed Williams goalward on a quarterback draw. He pinballed off two tacklers, cut left, saw the end zone and dove into it to produce an electric 25-yard touchdown run.
“Those are the opportunities I fight for, and I’m happy that they trust me to make those plays,” Stark said.
The gutsy play call and brilliant run appeared to provide the tying score, but Webster Groves senior Jonas Fagin flew off the edge and blocked the extra point, and the Statesmen maintained a 35-34 lead with 1:57 remaining.
Northwest sophomore kicker Cayden Richard had little time to shake off the failed extra point attempt before delivering the ensuing onside kick.
My coaches and teammates told me, ‘It’s over with. Flush it. We need you right now. We need this onside kick.’ They were uplifting me,” Richard said.
Richard delivered a perfect bouncer that was unable to be obtained by the Statesmen, and Northwest senior Drew Spratt recovered it at midfield.
“In pregame, I walked the entire field with one of my coaches and picked spots where we wanted to kick it,” Richard said. “On PATs, I picked a spot on both ends, and for onside kicks, I picked a spot and I aimed for it.”
With the go-ahead score in reach, Stark showed how he has developed into a complete quarterback. He fired a strike to junior Chase Belcher along the right sideline for a 19-yard gain. Then, after a penalty moved the Lions back 15 yards, Stark lofted a perfect pass down the seam to senior Braeden Wade for a 28-yard pickup.
Last season, Stark had more than six completions in a game only once. On Friday, he went 11-of-21, the third consecutive game he has reached double-digit completions.
“I really worked in the offseason to make teams respect my passing,” said Stark, who threw for over 200 yards for the second time in his career. “(Webster Groves) was really moving down for the run so that opened it up, and I don’t think they were expecting us to air it out like that.”
And when the Lions moved towards the winning touchdown and subsequent two-point conversion, Stark powered his way forward with four successive quarterback runs and powered Northwest to a hard-fought victory.
“That’s what he does. He’s a competitor,” Gerling said.
During a highlight-reel first half in which the two teams combined for three touchdowns of 50-plus yards and five takeaways, Stark provided the most dynamic of the big plays. He slithered out of the grasp of two oncoming pass rushers, spun to his left, stumbled and flipped a pass over another defender to senior Adam Banks, who carried it 52 yards to give Northwest an early, 14-10 lead.
Webster Groves (2-2; 2-1) had its own highlight reel to create. A perfectly-placed rainbow from Will Travers to Kyron Brumley down the left sideline went for a beautiful, 52-yard touchdown connection.
A 50-yard touchdown run by Stark reclaimed the lead for Northwest, but just before halftime, Travers threw a pass that deflected off the hands of Brumley and fluttered to Fagin, who raced 43 yards down the sideline. It set up a last-second, 30-yard field goal by Grant Shelton and gave Webster Groves a 22-21 lead at intermission.
“It was just big play after big play,” Stark said of the first half. “You’re just hoping that you can put a drive together, but later in the game, we knew we were capable of hitting big plays and we didn’t have to drive the ball down the field.”
Webster Groves, which created three takeaways in the first half, emerged from the locker room and produced its most sustained drive of the game. A punishing 12-play possession elapsed half of the third quarter and concluded in a one-yard touchdown plunge from senior Daniel Madison to increase the lead to 28-21.
Spratt tied it for Northwest with a short touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, but Travers found Fagin with a perfect, back shoulder throw for a 17-yard touchdown connection to give the lead back to Webster Groves with 4:17 reamining.
Travers went 15-of-33 for 279 yards and two scores. Brumley caught six passes for 113 yards and Fagin caught four for 102.
“Offense had some great, big plays and we made some big plays on defense, but football games are won and lost on third and fourth down in the last two minutes of a game,” Webster Groves coach Conner White said. “We didn’t get off the field on third down and we have to execute better in key situations.”
And much of the final outcome had to do with the brilliance of Stark, who leads the St. Louis area with 782 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns while quickly approaching his totals for completions and passing yards from all of last season.
“Hats off to Coach Gerling,” White said. “I told him after the game that Cohenn Stark has my vote for conference player of the year. He’s been doing that to everybody.”
For a full photo gallery from this game, visit https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Football/Football-2025/Northwest-Cedar-Hill-at-Webster-Groves-9-19-25